| First things first: What is Clarity* and what is the | | | | supported in Clarity. They will acquire their Clarity |
| difference between Clarity and MS Project*? Do we | | | | internal ID as the task name upon the save to Clarity |
| need to use both? Why? | | | | " Split tasks - Clarity does not support the split task |
| Clarity (formerly Niku) is a project management | | | | functionality of MSP |
| information system with functionality to do | | | | " Do not use Effort Driven - Clarity does not support |
| communication management, time management | | | | Effort Driven tasks. Do not mark tasks as Effort |
| (including scheduling), cost management, resource | | | | Driven in MSP |
| management, risk management, and portfolio | | | | " Do not use Fixed Work - Task type Fixed Work is |
| management. You can create projects, create a | | | | not supported by Clarity because of its effort driven |
| budget, add/remove resources to projects, manage | | | | nature; do not mark a task with this type in MSP or |
| project risks and issues, baseline a project, enter | | | | it will create unexpected results down the road |
| project actuals, store project documentation and | | | | " Do not use recurring tasks - Recurring tasks are |
| monitor the project health. | | | | not supported by Clarity and, in the best case |
| MS Project (MSP for short) is a project scheduler. | | | | scenario, will be converted to ordinary tasks once |
| You can add/change/remove tasks and milestones, | | | | saved to Clarity, in the worse case, you will get |
| create task dependencies, add/remove resources to | | | | unexpected results when uploading the project back |
| tasks, estimate task work or duration, identify the | | | | to Clarity |
| critical path, and level resources. | | | | " Terminology - Get the terminology straight. For |
| Because MSP does project scheduling better than | | | | example, allocation in MSP is always used loosely |
| Clarity they are used in conjunction so that all | | | | when talking about both allocation and assignment, |
| scheduling tasks are performed in MSP and uploaded | | | | however, in Clarity, allocation is when a resource has |
| back to Clarity. The user interface in Clarity is not | | | | been added to a project, and assignment is when |
| conducive to doing project scheduling as easily as in | | | | that resource has been assigned to at least a task in |
| MSPs Excel-like already familiar interface. | | | | that project |
| When MSP is used as a scheduling tool with Clarity, | | | | " Field names - Be aware that some fields in MSP do |
| there are rules and one of them is that Clarity "rules": | | | | not share the same name in Clarity. For example, |
| Clarity owns everything, including the schedule. It just | | | | Remaining Work in MSP is called Estimate To |
| allows you to temporarily "borrow" the schedule by | | | | Complete (or ETC) in Clarity. You can always rename |
| downloading it into MSP so that you can make the | | | | the MSP column name (a nice feature of MSP) |
| necessary changes and hand it back; all of this via a | | | | " Clarity reserved fields - Clarity has reserved some |
| Clarity-MSP interface that neither Clarity nor Microsoft | | | | fields for its exclusive use: Text1 through Text5, |
| are proud of. | | | | Flag1, Resource Name, Initials, Email, Number1, and |
| The other rules are not as simple and are not spelled | | | | Number2. Bad things will happen if you use them, for |
| out anywhere except by third party vendors and | | | | example, Text3 holds Clarity's unique ID for each |
| consultants that have been there and done that. If | | | | task and you can imaging what will happen if this is |
| you follow these best practices that I have collected | | | | changed |
| through some years of working with both tools you | | | | " Calendars - Clarity is the source of calendars. |
| will avoid a lot of trouble and frustration: | | | | Changes made to the calendars in MSP will not be |
| " Interface installation - Follow the interface | | | | saved to Clarity and will only persist until you close |
| installation instructions from top to bottom without | | | | MSP |
| missing anything. You want to do it right the first | | | | " Resource leveling - There is no resource leveling |
| time so that you can continue to the "MSP | | | | functionality in Clarity similar to MSPs. Continue to |
| configuration" | | | | perform a manual leveling in MSP for each project; |
| " MSP configuration - Ensure MSP is configured to | | | | you can try the automatic leveling if you are |
| work with Clarity as per the installation instructions | | | | comfortable with the unexpected results it always |
| provided by Clarity's manufacturer. Clarity limits the | | | | give you (in any case, always save a copy of the |
| functionality of MSP. This means that you cannot use | | | | schedule before trying it) |
| MSPs functionality to their full extent when it works | | | | " Baseline - Do not baseline in MSP. Clarity owns the |
| in conjunction with Clarity | | | | project baseline and this is done in Clarity |
| " Password protection - Don't password protect the | | | | " Actuals - Do not manipulate project actuals in MSP. |
| project in MSP, Clarity does not support it | | | | Actuals are entered via Clarity's timesheet |
| " New projects - Don't use the "Save As to Clarity" | | | | functionality |
| (on MSPs Integration Toolbar) to create and save a | | | | " Task completion - If you use MSP to mark tasks as |
| new project from MSP to Clarity. All projects have to | | | | "Complete" remember to change the Remaining |
| be created in Clarity first using the project creation | | | | Work (ETC in Clarity) to zero. If a task's Remaining |
| functionality | | | | Work Hours or Remaining Work is zero in MSP and |
| " Project save - Don't use the MSPs File/Save or the | | | | the completion is 100%, the complete task must be |
| File/Save As functions because they don't save to | | | | changed to 100% and the status changed to |
| Clarity | | | | Complete |
| " Copy/cut and paste - In MSP, we are all used to | | | | " Save frequently - Frequently, save your plan to |
| copy or cut and paste a whole row. Clarity doesn't | | | | Clarity. The more often you save it, the easier it will |
| like it because each row of the schedule is provided | | | | be to recover if you do something you want to back |
| with a unique Clarity ID that cannot be duplicated | | | | out of |
| " Drag and drop - Same as "Copy/cut and paste" | | | | The best advice of all is to completely avoid MSP |
| " Resource assignment - Only assign resources to a | | | | functions that are not supported by Clarity and you |
| task in MSP that are already allocated to the project | | | | will save yourself and others a lot of time. Don't you |
| in Clarity first. If you create resources directly into | | | | think so...? Well, I do. |
| MSP that are not in the Clarity project the project | | | | * Clarity (version 8.1.1 as of this writing) is a product |
| will not be saved back to Clarity | | | | of CA, Inc; MS Office Project (version 2007 as of |
| " Blank task names - Blank task names are not | | | | this writing) is a product of Microsoft Corp. |