Project Management in Research – Your IT Solution

Proven IT Industry Solutions for Project Management in Public Research

Public research projects differ significantly from those in the private sector. This industry is often characterized by projects with a very long duration combined with many uncertainties that can impact planning. Furthermore, funding from different public sources, associated with frequent and detailed reporting to the public funders, is typical of these kinds of projects. In addition, the research facilities usually work with fixed annual cost budgets that cannot easily be transferred to the following fiscal period.

Benefits of Professional Project Management

Research environments often work with a heterogeneous set of tools that has grown piecemeal over the years. This leads to complex communication channels and inconsistent analyses. Project participants often work with outdated data, and there is usually no way of obtaining a complete overview of all projects throughout the organization.

Professional organization-wide project management is based on an integrated solution that eliminates all of the above problems. This is why it is becoming increasingly prevalent in public research projects.

For over 25 years, TPG The Project Group has carried out numerous projects in the field of public research.

Expand the following text modules and read about the proven components of solutions for project management in the public research sector based on Microsoft or Planisware technologies.

Customer Feedback

“During the preparation phase for the IT project, TPG provided us with advice that was fully customized to our needs and demonstrated which project management approaches work in a scientific environment and which don’t. Working with TPG, we were then able to quickly develop the processes required for a successful IT solution. We’re extremely impressed with their professional approach and with the solution we collaborated on together that meets our requirements.”

Birgit Kellner-Leidl, Project Manager, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY)

Microsoft Project Server / Project Online (Microsoft PPM) is a powerful and easy-to-use tool for organization-wide project and portfolio management (PPM). Research directors, project managers and project staff all use a common work and information platform.

Benefits of Microsoft PPM

Special “Education” licenses from Microsoft for the public research sector
Central storage of structured information from all projects
Multiple options for reports and evaluations of all projects
Centralized and standardized document filing storage in SharePoint
Projects can be edited in the browser as well as in Project Client

More information on Microsoft Project Server or Project Online.

Microsoft Project Server / Project Online is a powerful tool for centralized, enterprise-wide project management. Used in conjunction with an add-on tool designed especially for multi-project management and program management, it enables users to easily monitor the status of sub-projects and communicate top-down targets from the program level to the sub-projects.

Bottom-up planning is also available, as project participants can report current plan data from their sub-projects to program management for further control.

Method and Benefits for Program Management

The decision-making committee has a clear basis for decisions on all projects by simply generating a milestone overview of several projects
The status of each project can be visualized by traffic light symbols in a chart. Other status information is available for the decision-making committee when needed
Automatic milestone rollups at the click of a mouse! This enables users to visualize key milestones of the sub-projects in the program schedule
Top-down planning: the program manager creates a plan on the program level with target milestones and important key data. These are automatically displayed in the operative sub-projects
The project managers of the sub-projects now align their planning to the set targets
Bottom-up planning: important milestones in the operative sub-projects can be transferred back to the program level for the next plan

More information on TPG ProjectLink or TPG MultiProject^(QS).

Microsoft Project Server / Project Online can be extended with “Softlinks” to show users important tasks in other projects. In the context of in-kind collaboration, users can easily share important information within Microsoft Project plans.

Method and Benefits

Project managers can easily select important tasks from other projects to link or mirror them in their schedule
The selected tasks are displayed for information in their own project plan
Project managers can select the tasks to be mirrored without having to see entire external projects
Links across organizations are easy to implement using “Softlinks” as well

More information on TPG ProjectLink or TPG MultiProject^(QS).

Project managers plan best in a PM system (e.g. Microsoft Project or Planisware), while financial controllers prefer to work with the ERP system (e.g. SAP). The integration of both systems streamlines processes and makes things a lot easier for everyone.

Benefits of the Integrated Environment

Managers can import detailed budgets, actual costs, actual work and commitments from SAP enabling them to check the projects’ costs and time against the plan and the budget
Project managers are always well-informed on the spent, assigned and available budget at the level of work packages
Data sharing is triggered manually or automatically. This simplifies many steps due to consistent project management processes
Project management and accounting staff each work with the tool that is best and most familiar for them
Project scheduling, controlling, collaboration and document management are integrated
Dual data entry is eliminated, providing better quality of data for project managers, controllers and management and a better basis for decision-making

More information on TPG PSLink^®.

Microsoft Project Server / Project Online provides important reports on individual projects or project portfolios at your fingertips. A role-based concept and access rights ensure that project members and managers only see the reports intended for them (“seeing instead of searching”). The automated reporting system is tailored to your needs, bringing a wealth of benefits to the entire organization.

Benefits of a Centralized Reporting System

Current reports at your fingertips ⇒ elimination of manual work
Standardization of reports ⇒ better comparisons
Current data of all projects ⇒ strict compliance with reporting periods
Immediate availability of important data ⇒ better decision-making ability
Overview of all projects and statuses ⇒ consolidated project information (traffic lights, amounts and more)
Focus on key projects ⇒ project selection criteria
Details for deep-diving into individual projects ⇒ status report, cost report, risk analysis, etc.
Output of the reports on demand ⇒ Excel, PowerPoint, PDF or other formats in the corporate design

More information on TPG ReportPack or Microsoft Power BI.

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TPG Customers in Public Research & Development

DESY (German Electron Synchrotron) (DE)
FAIR (Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research in Europe) (DE)
GSI (Institute for Heavy Ion Research) (DE)
HZG (Helmholtzzentrum Geesthacht) (DE)