Determine the number and types of users (Project Server 2010)
Applies to: Project Server 2010
Topic Last Modified: 2011-11-18
The number and types of users in your organization who use Project Server features have a direct effect on the scalability and performance needs of your organization.
Number of users
When you determine the number of Project Server users that your organization needs to support, also consider the maximum number of concurrent users. This is especially critical if your organization plans to support the time tracking scenario.
It is helpful to categorize users to determine the different types of them that you need to support, as well as how many of each type. For example, project managers who use Project Professional create the greatest load on the system; viewers create the smallest amount of load.
Types of users
The types of users that you need to support, and the percentage of each compared to the total number, affects the configuration decisions that you make during your planning process. Each user type places a load on the system. The most common user types are as follows:
Project managers
Resource managers
Team members
Executives
Administrators
Project managers
Project managers are responsible for overseeing and completing projects, sometimes coordinating with other project managers and resource managers in the organization. Project managers use Microsoft Project Professional 2010 to do the following:
Create and publish projects to the Project Server database
Modify projects based on feedback
Assign team members to project tasks
Track progress by incorporating task updates from team members
Determine target and actual project timelines and costs
Resource managers
Resource managers are responsible for managing resources and defining skills based on capabilities. They work with project managers and other resource managers to ensure that qualified resources are assigned to tasks in projects. Resource managers use Microsoft Project Web App (PWA) to do the following:
View workload and availability by project over time
View workload and availability by resource over time
Add team members to project teams
Post issues and upload documents
Use Portfolio Modeler to determine resource availability
Modify resource skills and other codes
Team members
Team members are resources who are assigned to tasks in projects. A team member typically works on multiple projects at any given time and is responsible for completing tasks according to a schedule. Team members can use both Project Web App and Microsoft Outlook 2007 or 2010. (Exchange Server integration with Project Server enables team members to integrate Project Server data with Outlook.) Team members use PWA to do the following:
Meet deadlines by identifying current and upcoming tasks to prioritize daily work
Report time spent working on tasks by entering progress in timesheets
Delegate and add tasks
Record and respond to project-related issues and risks
Link issues to tasks
Submit status reports
Work collaboratively with other team members on project-related documents
Team members use Outlook to do the following:
View assigned tasks
Report on assigned tasks
Executives
An executive is a user who uses PWA to view status or reporting on a project or multiple projects. For example, an executive can oversee several different projects that are managed by different project managers to gain an overall perspective on schedule and budget. Executives use PWA to do the following:
View project and resource reports in Portfolio Analyzer
Submit issues to project and resource managers
Administrators
Administrators deploy and manage Project Server 2010 and related applications. These users manage access to the server and the server database. PWA provides access to the Project Server administrative tools. Administrative tools are also provided with Microsoft Windows Server and SQL Server. Administrators use PWA to do the following:
Define timesheet views
Lock reporting periods and actuals in timesheets
Create standardized reports for Portfolio Analyzer views
Add team members to, and delete team members from, the Enterprise Resource Pool