The IPM Blog

Here at IPM we’ve been busy developing a new product in the IPM suite; an integration tool for Oracle Primavera P6. As an additional product in the IPM suite, the integration tool gives you the option of extending your project management capabilities by incorporating features from both systems.

But what exactly does the integration tool do? Primarily, it synchronises all your Primavera P6 job activities with IPM, which gives you a more comprehensive break down of all the work being completed on your job. Within IPM, you then have the ability to manage the job activity completion dates and update resource, purchase order item and subcontract item information for each activity. This gives you a better overall view of each of your projects as you have the ability to link job activities to information that is not available in Primavera P6.

The integration tool also works both ways, so once you have finished adding information to job activities in IPM, you can synch the information back to Primavera P6 to accurately record and track the expenses on your project.

This tool is an exciting addition to the IPM suite as it gives project managers a way to fill small gaps in their project information, and it also means you get a fully encompassing view of exactly what is happening on your project.

We are currently running the Beta version of the Primavera P6 integration tool, so if you’re a current IPM customer and would like to be involved with putting it through its paces, please contact us or leave a comment below. Feel free to contact us too if you’d like more information on the whole IPM suite.

Managing projects can often be a very demanding task, one that requires skill, dedication and a very cool head. But there are also a few tips and tricks you can implement to ensure your projects run smoothly.

1. Plan for everything
One of the best things I’ve heard when it comes to project management is that failing to plan is planning to fail. Bringing your projects in on time and on budget needs a great deal of planning, even before the very first foundations are laid. What’s more, you have to keep planning as you go along to ensure you always stay one step ahead. You need to continually monitor the schedule to anticipate which tasks need to be done next and what effect any notices of delay from subcontractors will have. It is also imperative to keep a comprehensive and updated issue and risk register so nothing catches you off guard. In other words, hope for the best but plan for the worst.

2. Keep track of communication
There’s nothing worse than having to trawl through six months worth of emails or project documents to answer an RFI, or misplacing a vital piece of communication in the event of a dispute or claim. That’s why good project managers keep track of all their project communication, no matter how small. It helps to have a central database that everyone on the project team has access to and can store all project documents and can keep a history of any edits or changes made to a document. Automatic email filing can also help, and IPM’s facility can file all incoming and outgoing emails against a transaction, rather than against the job.

3. Introduce a little automation
While sometimes computers and IT may feel frustrating, you have to admit technology really has made our lives a lot easier, particularly when it comes to project management. When done right, automation can be a project manager’s best friend; completing certain tasks so you don’t have to worry about them and ensuring all the right data is in all the right places. Using project management software is one of the best ways to bring automation to managing your projects. IPM’s project management software has features like customisable workflows you can use to convert change requests into change orders or subcontract change orders, automatically file your emails, automatically generate email reminders for meetings and track and store the information for RFIs and RFQs as it is emailed back and forth.

4. Keep all your team members on the same page
Managing a project is not just about juggling the schedule, subcontracts and budget, but also about managing the people you are working with. Many different people contribute to a project and in order to be able to manage everyone and ensure they all know what their job is, it’s important that everyone has access to the same, up-to-date information. You can make sure of this by using a central database that team member can access from anywhere, both online and offline. This means there are not multiple spreadsheets being emailed around and creating confusion as to which is the most up to date. Another simple way to keep everyone on the same page is to have standardised project reports across your whole organisation, meaning people are all familiar with the report design and know exactly where the content they are looking for is located in the report.

Are there any other fail safe ways you use to manage your projects? Have your say in the comments below :)

If there is anything the global economic crisis has taught us is that there's no escaping globalisation. Whether we like it or not, the marketplace we operate in is global, and things that happen in one country affect people and organisations in another. No longer are we our own islands, responsible for our own directions, and immune to the decisions of others.

The same is also true for projects, with construction, IT and community projects often spanning different countries, but all team members working towards the same outcome. Case in point, I know an estimator based in Brisbane, Australia, working on a project in Gladstone, North Queensland. Parts of the project are being subcontracted to companies in Australia, other parts to companies in Malaysia, who in turn are subbing work out to companies in India. Gone are the days where projects are run, subcontracted and completed all in the same country, let alone the same city.

So how do we go about managing these projects across a broad range of countries, languages, cultures, timezones and currencies? The good news is the tool that has helped facilitate this global market is also the tool that can help us work effectively in it. Technology. Technology is now more important than ever when it comes to managing projects in the global marketplace.

With advancements in technology like cloud computing, project information can be available to users instantly, regardless of their location or time zone. Online central databases mean users have access to all the same information, and it is the most current and up to date. Databases like those used in IPM also have the ability to store all subcontractor information, including the currency each one operates in. Exchange rates can be applied to convert currencies so all your figures are telling the same story.

What’s more, developments in mobile technology like the one just released by Microsoft on Monday mean you can take your project information with you where ever you go, and access it from anywhere in the world – very handy should you need to visit any of your project stakeholders in other countries.

So even though coordinating a global project can seem like a logistical nightmare, the exciting developments in technology in recent years are helping project managers navigate the global marketplace and ensure nothing gets lost in translation.

For more information about how IPM can help with managing your projects, both national and international, please do not hesitate to contact us.

I’m very pleased to let you know we have recently developed a brand new addition to the IPM Suite called the IPM Mail Manager. As an additional product, the mail manager can extend the capabilities of IPM’s current RFI and RFQ functions, so it works well for both project managers and estimators.

So how does this neat little tool work? Basically, you link an email account to IPM (either your own email or a generic team email address multiple people can use) and when you create a new RFI or RFQ, indicate you want to use the mail manager. The mail manager will add a specially formatted area to your outgoing email, where the person receiving the RFI or RFQ can add their response and email it back to you. The mail manager then takes the information from the return email and automatically updates the appropriate area of IPM.

This means that when you receive an answer to an RFI or a quote from a vendor, that information is automatically updated in IPM for all the appropriate team members to see. Not only does this save time re entering data from emails, it also means the information is available to everyone, even if the team member who receives the email is absent from work, or briefly out of the office.

We are currently running the Beta version of the mail manager, so if you’re a current IPM customer and would like to be involved with putting it through its paces, please contact us or leave a comment below. Feel free to contact us too if you’d like more information on the whole IPM suite.