The future of project management is built on the new Project for the  web.   More details to be presented at this years Ignite 2019 at Orlando Florida’s Orange County Convention Center.  Over ten sessions are slated for this years conference.

Microsoft has release a new version of Project Online called Project Web.   The user interfaces is simpler and integrates with many of online projects, such as Power Apps, Power Bi, Office 365, Dynamics and other tools using Common data Service (CDS) for apps.

Its slated to fill the gap between Planner and Professional.  Below is a screen shot of the simpler and easy to used form to enter task.  The number of fields presented are few at the start. Project manager can add or remove fields as desired.

In the example below, I am tracking the deliverable, assign to resource, number of days, start and finish date.  The last three columns were added because I am from old school, however, it can be a simple list of tasks (deliverables) and assignment.

For those who require Agile, the “Board” few shows the tasks in a Kanban view, making it fit into agile environments.  Same task with the cards that make it easy for the team to manage.

Finally, a “Timeline” view for predicting them the project will be completed.

 

Getting ready for WSMixxer ConnExxp.  Its all about community that work on robots.  It should be good. Schedule for November 8, 2019.

Heading to PowerShell Saturday in Raleigh.  I wonder if I can use some PowerShell on my new friend.  He (or She) needs a name.

I like to use PowerShell for searching SharePoint logs and send me email when there are errors or warnings.

I’m still the MyProjectExpert and expert with SharePoint and Project Server, but this is so much more fun!!!

Even though I spend some much time with SharePoint Server, Project Server, Project Online, Office automation, SharePoint upgrades, I do find time to work on my InMoov robot.  Started building this at the WSMIXXER (Maker Space in Winston Salem) on June, 2019.  3D printing is slow and  I figure it will take about two  years to complete. Plus there is the software and hardware needed to make it move.  Who knows maybe other robot nerds will come join me and help.  Is this the birth of the Terminator?

Check demo of InMoov robot that was done 5 years ago.  InMoov now has legs.

Man, i got a lot on my mind. Above shows progress as of August 23, 2019 my head, hand and wrist parts are coming together.  3D printing is so slow.  Parts of the forearm are printed.

Left hand printed and needs cords attach for finger movement.  I’ll be eating chicken once the fingers are working.

Sun so bright, I got to wear shades.  “Dire Straits”

Some of the head parts printed and on right is stand to mount the head on pedestal.  The little blue man is scaled version of InMoov when fully printed.  He’ll be about six feet

Above shows progress around June 2019.  The head is printed. Notice the eyes had issues, and will be printed again.  On the right side is a Steam Punk cube.  All the corners spin causing the other corners to spin.

 

I’m speaking at SharePoint Saturday in Charlotte, NC on August 10, 2019.  Below is an outline of things covered.

1. Envisioning
   1. Vision / Requirements
   2. Cleaning up
   3. Be Familiar with new SharePoint 2019 Server
2. Planning
   1. Migration or Upgrade?
   2. SharePoint / Project Server Architect
   3. Upgrade Path and Strategy
3. Building
   1. SharePoint Installation / Upgrade Scripts
   2. Upgrade Discovery and Issues
4. Stabilizing
   1. Finding and fixing SharePoint / Project Server Issues
5. Deploying
   1. The final upgrade

SharePoint Saturday Charlotte 2019

 

In this blog I ran across an interesting scenario that a customer requested.  The customer is running a three tier Project/SharePoint Server 2013 server farm on Windows 2008 R2 server.   The company required all servers to be on Windows Server 2012 R2 or higher and so the client wanted to migrate their Project/SharePoint 2013 farm to Window 2012 R2.  SQL server was not a concern, because it had already met the companies polices.

My first impression is why not migrate Project/SharePoint 2013 to either 2016 or 2019 and at the same time, install Project/SharePoint farm on Windows 2012 R2 servers.  Seems reasonable, however, the PMO (Project Management Office) didn’t want to migrate to newer version of project server, because of different SharePoint architecture, reports and customization.  This makes more sense to me now and so I came up with two possible scenarios to accomplish this with least impact.

• Install new SharePoint/Project server farm on new Windows 2012 R2 servers and then move databases and configure services on new environment.
• Swing new nodes in the existing farm by adding a new SharePoint front-end and app server on Windows Server 2012 R2 server. Configure app server to run same services as the 2008 R2 servers and then configure 2012 R2 front-end server

Three Stages of the SharePoint Swing

1) Original Farm on Windows Server 2008 R2 (above)

2) SharePoint Swing Farm on Server 2008 R2 and 2012 (above)

3) SharePoint Farm now running on 2012 (above)

It was decided to use the SharePoint Swing method.  The premise if fairly simple.  New windows 2012 R2 servers are created and SharePoint/Project Server is installed and configure.  The swing operation basically was the following

• Install two Windows Server 2012 R2 servers and install SharePoint 2013 on each node
• Join the new SharePoint servers to the SharePoint 2013 Farm. One as front-end tier and the other as app tier
• Using Central Admin add services to the new app and front-end SharePoint Servers
• Verify servers are working properly
• Shutdown old SharePoint front-end and app server. The SharePoint farm should continue to work without the redundant server.
• Optional after it is proven that the SharePoint has swung to the new SharePoint servers, the old servers can be remove and decommissioned.

Github provides PowerShell scripts to create a test environment in Azure using an IaaS architect.  https://github.com/MyProjectExpert/ProjectServer-Tools/tree/master/SharePoint2013Swing