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Greetings!
Here it is! The Christmas edition of AMS News.
The articles in this and subsequent issues, keep you
informed regarding latest information and developments.
Thanks for your feedback so far regarding previous
Newsletters. Please keep it coming in the new year. If
you would like to express any views or opinions
regarding AMS News, or would like to contribute to
editorials in future editions, we would be delighted to
hear from you.
| Partnerships - Project Plus Ltd |
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AMS has a long established partnership with New
Zealand based 'Project Plus Ltd' who operate in the
Australasia sales region. Project Plus assist large and
small organisations to implement project based
management strategies.
The company has been in business since 1991. They
are ISO 9001:2000 accredited as well as accredited by
IPENZ (Institute of Professional Engineers in NZ) and
also registered by PMI. They have represented AMS
REALTIME for 3 years and have clients in Australia,
Malaysia, New Zealand and Singapore. Current clients
include Kellogg Brown & Root, Air New Zealand, Safe
Air, Vector Ltd, Transpower Ltd and Woodside Energy.
Project Plus have recently contributed to a conference
in Singapore & Malaysia, as well as running 2 workshops
at the event, on Benefits Realisation and The Project/
Programme Management Office, creating further
awareness in the marketplace of the AMS REALTIME
Solution. As we write, they are likely to have secured a
similar slot for the large national PMI conference (350
delegates) in New Zealand in November.
Managing Director, Iain Fraser comments "As a leading
professional services provider, we are delighted to be
aligned with AMS and to be able to offer a range of
services around the AMS REALTIME product suite. We
consider AMS REALTIME to be the leading best value
programme, project and resource management suite
available."
for more information »
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| RTR - Workplan mode demystified |
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How do I find the right person to work on a task? - How
can I stop people booking more time to tasks? - How do
I close down my project? - How can I get rid of old
tasks from my staff's timecards?
All of the above can be carried out in Workplan mode.
This mode provides powerful and invaluable features for
resource managers.
Different filters allow the user to display only the
data that is of relevance to the particular process they
are trying to carry out. For instance, it is possible to
apply a filter to select a project, display tasks within
that project that have a skill request outstanding and
then display a list of those resources with the
appropriate skill (for example, Project Management) and
so suitable to work on this task. With the shortlist of
resources in view, it is then possible to see their
availability (based on their workload across all projects)
and assign an available resource (or resources) from
the list to satisfy the skill request.
Closing down tasks and assignments is often overlooked
by resource managers. Doing this is critical for
maintaining control of your projects. In Workplan mode
tasks can be opened or closed with a single click.
Closing a task automatically zeroises the remaining work
(Estimate-to-Complete) for all resources assigned to it.
for further information, or help with setting up workplan mode to best meet you needs.... »
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| AMS REALTIME Projects 6.0 (Beta Version) |
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AMS REALTIME Enterprise Server, Resources, Solo, and
Projects 6.0 are in final stages before a beta release in
December 2003. AMS REALTIME Projects 6.0 is already
in beta-1 testing. A number of current AMS REALTIME
Projects users are contributing to the quality of the
product release by participating in the Beta program. In
addition, they are gaining a sneak preview of what the
eventual product will look like and how it will operate.
Enterprise planner is a new, simple, yet powerful
planning tool which works directly with project data
stored on the AMS REALTIME Enterprise Server 6.0. It
is aimed at the 95% of project managers who tend to
need 5% of the functionality most of the planning tools
today offer.
New and powerful graphical interface mechanisms,
enhanced messaging and synchronization between
various components, a new timecard supporting user
and supervisor modes, web based graphical reporting
system, virtual file system, licensing mechanisms
(concurrent and named) on the server, integration with
Python 2.2 release, improved reports, portfolio and
database capabilities, integration with ODBC 3.x,
extended workplan functionality, standard XML input
and output from AMS REALTIME Projects client, are
some of the features of 6.0.
We invite you to sign up for the Beta testing program
and get a preview of these features. Your participation
in Beta testing and feedback testing is welcomed.
learn more about our Beta program... »
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| I didn't know you could do that! |
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AMS REALTIME PROJECTS - TIME-PHASED
RESOURCE HISTOGRAMS
In Schedule mode of RTP, when any Resource view
other than Conflict is selected (Usage, Usage+, Cost
etc), clicking on the resource name will change the
view to a histogram.
If the 'Shift' key is then depressed and another
resource selected, additional histograms will appear for
each selected resource, allowing for graphical
comparison of resource usage.
Selecting the Planned, Actual or Baseline plane will
display the histogram for that plane.
If RZUHMULTIPLANE (in your rtp32.ini file) is set to 'Y',
it is possible to view multiple planes thus allowing you
to compare Planned, Actual and Baselines graphically.
You do this by holding down the shift key and selecting
each plane in turn. With these views active, reports
using the Resource Summary meta-frame, will allow the
histograms to be printed out.
Questions? Why not contact our friendly support staff? »
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| A year in the life of a new Managing Director |
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As many of you know, I became the Managing Director
of AMS UK Ltd in October 2002. Having come through
my first year, I can state that some people are born to
be a managing director, some people achieve that lofty
status through hard work and success, and others have
it thrust upon them and have to sink or swim. I fell into
the second and third categories. Thankfully, I am a
good swimmer!
Prior to my change in role, as Professional Services
Director, I was busy defining our implementation
methodology, training consultants, overseeing
implementations, implementing support processes, and
supporting sales. I was usually out of the office, at a
client site, when the company financials were being
reviewed, and so my first task was to learn how these
worked and how I should be using them to help manage
the company. The cash-flow was relatively easy and I
soon got involved in one of my favourite pastimes,
creating useful Microsoft Excel spreadsheets, to
improve the way this was updated and managed. It
took me a little bit longer to understand and use the
P&L effectively as a tool to help me make key AMS UK
commercial decisions.
I then set about improving our processes. We found
that many steps in our key business processes were
being carried out because that's they way we had
always done it! I shouldn't have been surprised as we
often find this when AMS consultants engage with our
clients and run process mapping workshops. Soon, our
sales forecasting process was tightened up, our billing
process was improved via a more formal interface
between the AMS REALTIME Enterprise Server and our
accounting system, our lead generation and sales
process was revamped to improve the way we
measured the probability of a sale and how sales would
impact the cash-flow and P&L forecasts.
I have enjoyed my first year in charge, and I am looking
forward to reaping the benefits of our improved
processes, and a hopefuly friendlier economic climate,
in this coming one. Seasons greetings and
wishes ................... Ervin Munir, Managing Director,
Advanced Management Solutions Ltd, UK
visit our web-site...
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