The news that the next version of Project Server is going to have "server side scheduling" is quite interesting. I think it is going to open up some new uses for Project Server. Uses that don't even require the use of Project Pro. If I had time and energy I'd be thinking about getting to work on a timesheet system which takes advantage of Project Server.
Of course, having scheduling available on the server also means that people will try to implement "real-time" scheduling, where the schedule reflects the impacts of the latest updates. This is a very attractive idea in theory, but in practice it has the problem that there is a level of uncertainty in the schedule at all times. You never really know if it is up to date. How many of the tasks are updated? And what was the status date of that update? It is often better to have an acccurate snapshot of where you were at a certain point in time than an impressionistic picture of where you might be now.
Comments (1)
Not only the uncertainty in the schedule from the realtime aspects it is from the statistical nature of the task network itself.
Anyone using task duration "as is" e.g "it says 15 days so it must be 15 days," without assessing the probablistic nature of that duration is headed for serios trouble.
Add now the "realtime" update process and real problems will emerge
Posted by Glen B. Alleman | October 27, 2005 9:21 PM
Posted on October 27, 2005 21:21