Salesforce Project Management and PSA Solution Update
Mission Control v1.65 just dropped on the Salesforce AppExchange and this article dives into some of the amazing new features and exciting new enhancements included in our latest release!
Portfolios
One of the most exciting new features in the v1.65 update is Portfolios.
The Portfolio Custom Object sits above the Program Custom Object. A Portfolio can have multiple Programs related to it. This provides a 7-layer project structure as outlined below:
- Portfolio
- Program
- Project
- Phase
- Milestone
- Action
- Checklist Item
To provide our customers with a view at the portfolio level we have built a Portfolio Overview Page which includes access to the Detail Tab of the Portfolio Record, you can also access the Gantt Chart component which will show you all Projects related to Programs relating to that Portfolio. Additionally you can access Whiteboard, Program Charts and Chatter Feed.
This popular new feature allows for better visibility and management of projects.
Program Enhancements
A number of enhancements have been added to the Program Custom Object within Mission Control.
Project Field Roll Up
Fields have been added to the Program Custom Object that will provide a roll up summary of information from the Projects related to the Program. These fields are automatically updated and include Status, Program Budgets, Start & End Dates Hours Completed and Remaining as well as other variables.
Program Lightning Page
A Lightning Page Layout has been added to the Program Custom Object that provides access to the following tabs:
- Details – the record detail of the Program
- Gantt – displays all Projects within the Program
- Whiteboard – displays all Actions related to Projects within the Program
- Charts – the Program/Project Charts summarises data from Projects related to the Program
- Related – Related Lists of records under the Program
- Feed – this Chatter Feed for the Program
- Planner – the Program Planner displaying Requirements related to this Program
Phase Enhancements
A number of enhancements have been added to the Phase Custom Object within Mission Control.
Project Clone
When cloning a Project, if the source Project has related Phases, these Phases will also be cloned. The relationships between the Phases and Milestones will also be present on the new Project.
Opportunity Auto-Generation
When generating a Project via the auto-generation feature available from the Opportunity Object, any Phases that relate to the Project specified as the ‘Project Template’ will also be cloned. The relationships between the Phases and Milestones will also be present on the new Project.
Project Requests
When generating a Project via the Project Request feature, any Phases that relate to the Project specified as the ‘Project Template’ will also be cloned. The relationship between the Phases and Milestones will also be present on the new Project.
Gantt Chart Enhancements
A number of enhancements have been added to the Gantt Chart.
Portfolio / Program Gantt Views
When viewing the Gantt Chart via the Portfolio or Program record, the Portfolio and Program records will be visible directly on the Gantt Chart.
CSV Export
The Portfolio, Program and Phase records will now be included in the CSV Export, depending on where you generate the file.
PDF / PNG Export
Similar to the CSV Export, Portfolios, Programs and Phases will be included in the PDF / PNG Exports.
Dependency Enhancements
A number of additional Dependency options have been added to provide greater flexibility in managing predecessor relationships.
Phase Dependencies
Phase records can now be used within dependency relationships as either the parent or the child.
Cross Project Dependencies
You are able to create dependencies between records in separate Projects.
Filter Enhancements
This has been requested a number of times from our customers so we’re excited to be delivering this.
On any of our key Pages like the Whiteboard, Scheduler and Action Pad and others you can create your own custom Filters. These have now been expanded to support sharing filters with other users, so rather than each individual user having to create their own filter, one person can create the filter and make it available to other users as well.
The other key feature that’s coming with this enhancement is that you can set a specific filter to be a default for specific users as well.
Project Overview Enhancements
A number of enhancements have been made to the Project Overview. You can also access Phase Records and control which fields are displayed for each of the individual record layers. The Expenses tab has been expanded to factor in purchase orders we well.
Create Actions Enhancements
Multi Line Editing
You are able to apply edits to multiple lines on the Create Actions page at the same time.
Copy Action Owner
The copy icon located to the right of the Action Owner field on the Create Actions page enables you to copy the Action Owner from the row above to the selected row.
Copy Contributors
The copy icon located to the right of the Resource Assignment Wizard icon on the Create Actions page enables you to copy the Contributors from the row above to the selected row.
Holiday Allowance Enhancements
Rollover Allowance
This feature was previously referred to as Accruals. However, with the introduction of an Accrual Setting, this has now been relabelled to Rollovers.
Accrual Setting
When using Holiday Allowance feature, you can choose whether the full allowance is available immediately or if it accrues throughout the period it applies to.
Cancelled Hours Setting
We introduced a setting in the Control Pad that allows you to chose what happens to the hours scheduled values when the status of an Action is set to canceled. You can choose to enable the feature and determine what happens.
Scheduler Enhancements
Action View – Cell Hours Summary
Within the ‘Actions’ View of the Scheduler, you can choose to display an hours summary for each cell within the Timeline.
Polling & Pagination
For customers with large volumes of data, the Polling & Pagination settings can assist in optimising the performance of the Scheduler.
These Settings are controlled from the ‘Scheduler Settings’ Tile on the Control Pad of the Mission Control Console.
Quick Search
The ‘Role Search’ field located at the top-right of the Scheduler enables you to perform a quick search/filter based on the Role Name.
Role Forecast Enhancements
When adding a Role Forecast within the Manage Forecast Component, you can leverage the Resource Assignment Wizard (RAW) to search for a Role based on their Teams / Skills / Skill Proficiencies / Availability.
What else is new?
Version 1.65 is also packed with a number of other enhancements outlined below:
- Resource Planner Enhancements
- Holiday Enhancements
- Time Log Approval Enhancements
- Force Financials Recalculations Enhancements
- Control Pad Enhancements
- Action Pad Filters Enhancements
- Action & Checklist Item Date Setting
This is just a taster of all the awesome new capabilities and improvements to our Mission Control project management software. You can find the FULL release notes and a detailed webinar outlining Release v1.65 here. To find out more about our Salesforce project management and PSA Solution, enquire now for a free trial.
