Altus Projects
Overview
Altus provides an intuitive method for users to track key data for their projects.
This information is grouped into a number of tabs to make it easier for users to access and update information.
Views
Below is an example of the All Active Portfolios view. This is the default view in Altus and has a hard filter to only show Active items:
- Existing columns can be added to the view by clicking on Edit Columns.
- View filters can be changed using Edit Filters.
OOTB Views
Altus comes with the following views for Projects:
| View | Columns | Filters |
|---|---|---|
| All Active Projects | Name; Project Type; Project Manager; Sponsor; Department; Start Date; Finish Date; Baseline Finish; Finish Variance (Days); % Complete; Program; Portfolio | Status Reason = Active |
| All Active Projects - Baselined | Name; Project Type; Baselined; Baseline Created Date; Baseline Created By; Start Date; Finish Date; Baseline Finish; Finish Variance (Days); Effort (Total); Effort Variance (Hours); Baseline Effort (Hours); Program; Portfolio | Status Reason = Active |
| All Agile Projects | Name; Project Type; Project Manager; % Complete; Sponsor; Department; Finish Date | Project Type = Agile Project |
| All Cancelled Projects | Name; Project Type; Project Manager; Sponsor; Department; Start Date; Finish Date; % Complete; Program; Portfolio | Status Reason = Cancelled |
| All Completed Projects | Name; Project Type; Project Manager; Sponsor; Department; Start Date; Finish Date; % Complete; Program; Portfolio | Status Reason = Completed |
| All Major Projects | Name; Project Type; Project Manager; % Complete; Sponsor; Department; Finish Date | Project Type = Major Project |
| All Minor Projects | Name; Project Type; Project Manager; % Complete; Sponsor; Department; Finish Date | Project Type = Minor Project |
| All On Hold Projects | Name; Project Type; Project Manager; Sponsor; Department; Start Date; Finish Date; % Complete; Program; Portfolio | Status Reason = On Hold |
| All Operations Projects | Name; Project Type; Project Manager; % Complete; Sponsor; Department; Finish Date | Project Type = Operations |
| All Projects | Name; Project Type; Project Manager; Sponsor; Department; Start Date; Finish Date; Baselined; % Complete; Status Reason; Program; Portfolio | None |
| My Active Projects | Name; Project Type; Project Manager; Sponsor; Department; Start Date; Finish Date; % Complete; Status Reason; Program; Portfolio | Status Reason = Active AND Project Manager = Current User OR Sponsor = Current User |
Baselines in Views
The task baselines that are set in a project are surfaced in the following project views:
- All Active Projects
- All Active Projects - Baselined
This provides users with visibility of this across multiple projects.
Tabs
There are four tabs that contain this information:
- Information: Contains summary level details, view of project tasks, financials, and documents.
- Tracking: Contains all of the registers such as risks, issues, etc. to capture list-based information.
- Resources: Contains the Resource Plan and Override Sell rates features.
- Strategy: Provides the project manager with the ability to track Benefits and Strategic Goals.
Each Project record has the following tabs/features available to them:
- Details
- Key Dates
- Tasks
- Financials
- Documents
- Deliverables
- Status Updates
- Status Reports
- Issues
- Risks
- Decisions
- Changes
- Lessons
- Resource Plan
- Override Sell Rates
- Benefits
- Goals
Information
Contains summary level details, view of project tasks, financials, and documents.
Details
The details tab contains information of the project such as description, location, department etc. It also contains a view of the latest status update that has been submitted plus a summary of the project schedule.
Key Dates
Allows the project manager to track key dates for the selected project.
See Key Dates for further information.
Tasks
This tab provides the project manager with visibility of their associated project schedule or task tracking board (see External Execution Tools for further information on the available external execution tools supported by Altus).
The tasks tab provides a Gantt chart view for the Native Altus Scheduler, Project Online, Project Professional, and Planner Premium schedules.
Further information on the tasks feature can be accessed here: Tasks
Financials
Allows the project manager to track financials for the selected project.
See Financials for further information.
Documents
Allows the project manager to track documents for the selected project.
See Documents for further information.
Tracking
Contains all of the registers such as risks, issues, etc. to capture list-based information.
Deliverables
Deliverables can be tracked on projects.
Further information can be found in the Deliverables page.
Status Updates
Status Updates can be tracked on projects.
Further information can be found in the Status Updates page.
Status Report
Status Reports can be run on projects.
Further information can be found in the Status Reports page.
Issues
Issues can be tracked on projects.
Further information can be found in the Issues page.
Risks
Risks can be tracked on projects.
Further information can be found in the Risks page.
Decisions
Decisions can be tracked on projects.
Further information can be found in the Decisions page.
Changes
Change Requests can be tracked on projects.
Further information can be found in the Change Requests page.
Lessons
Lessons can be tracked on projects.
Further information can be found in the Lessons Leaned page.
Resources
Contains the Resource Plan and Override Sell rates features.
Resource Plan
Resource Plans can be tracked on projects.
Further information on this feature can be accessed in the Resource Plan page.
Override Sell Rates
Sell rates can be overridden on projects.
Further information can be found in the Bookable Resources page.
Strategy
Provides the project manager with the ability to track Benefits and Strategic Goals
Benefits
Benefits can be tracked on projects.
Further information can be found in the Benefits page.
Goals
Strategic Goals can be linked to projects via this tab:
Further information can be found in the Strategic Goals page.
Business Process Flows
Business Process Flows - Overview
Are used to enforce a controlled progression through a project lifecycle via configured stages.
The key components within a business process flow are:
- 1. Stages: Are the controlled parts of a lifecycle. They visually highlight which part of the lifecycle a project is currently in.
- 2. Steps: The steps are checklist items that are required in order to progress to the next stage in the BPF.
- 3. Advance: This control enables the user to progress to the next stage, assuming that all mandatory steps have been addressed.
Project BPFs
There are four project types that come out of the box with Altus. Out of the four project types, three of them have associated BPFs. The graphic below shows which stages are used by which project type:
Major Project
The Major Project BPF contains the following steps per stage:
| Stage | Step | Required? | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Planning | Scope and Schedule | Yes | Have the scope and schedule for the project been defined? |
| Planning | Target Finish Date | Yes | Has a target finish date for the project been specified? |
| Execution | Issues Resolved | Yes | Have all of the identified issues been resolved (Closed)? |
| Execution | Risks Closed | No | Have all of the identified risks been closed? |
| Execution | Project Work | No | Has all project work been completed? |
| Closing | Lessons Learned | Yes | Have relevant lessons learned been identified and logged against the project? |
Minor Project
Stages and Steps are the same as the Major Project.
Agile Project
The Agile Project BPF contains the following steps per stage:
| Stage | Step | Required? | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Execution | Risks Closed | No | Have all of the identified risks been closed? |
| Execution | Project Work | No | Has all project work been completed? |
| Closing | Lessons Learned | Yes | Have relevant lessons learned been identified and logged against the project? |
Business Process Flow logs
Altus tracks the progress of the business project flows on the Project Table, specifically the Major and Minor Enterprise Project Types. Additionally if you require this functionality to be present for other business process flows this can be configured for those too. Important: If you are using custom security roles and no OOTB Altus security roles, you will need to add the new audit entity to your security roles to enable proper processing. This entity is called Business Process Flow Log.
Columns
The following columns exists in Altus.
Columns prefixed with sensei_ are those that form part of the Altus solution.
The remaining are default dataverse fields created automatically.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Display Name | Sensei Project |
| Name | sensei_project |
| Primary Column | Name |
| Description |
| Display Name | Name | Data type | Field Length | Customizable | Required | Searchable |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (Deprecated) Stage Id | stageid |
uniqueidentifier | False | False | False | |
| (Deprecated) Traversed Path | traversedpath |
Single line of text | 1250 | False | False | False |
| Actual Cost Locked | sensei_actualcostlocked |
Yes/No | True | False | False | |
| Approval from Baseline Schedule Review | sensei_baselineschedulereview_approved_yn |
Yes/No | True | False | False | |
| Approval from Departmental Review | sensei_departmentalreview_approved_yn |
Yes/No | True | False | False | |
| Approval from Project Closure Review | sensei_projectclosurereview_approved_yn |
Yes/No | True | False | False | |
| Approval from Steering Committee Review | sensei_steeringcommitteereview_approved_yn |
Yes/No | True | False | False | |
| Baseline Schedule Review | sensei_baselineschedulereview |
Lookup | True | False | False | |
| Budget Locked | sensei_budgetlocked |
Yes/No | True | False | False | |
| Cost Type | sensei_costtype |
picklist | True | False | False | |
| Created By | CreatedBy |
Lookup | True | False | False | |
| Created By (Delegate) | CreatedOnBehalfBy |
Lookup | True | False | False | |
| Created On | CreatedOn |
Date and Time | Date and Time | True | False | False |
| Currency | TransactionCurrencyId |
Lookup | True | False | False | |
| Department | sensei_department |
picklist | True | False | False | |
| Departmental Review | sensei_departmentalreview |
Lookup | True | False | False | |
| Description | sensei_description |
Multiple lines of text | 2000 | True | False | False |
| Duration Completed (Days) | sensei_projectdurationcompleted |
Decimal | True | False | False | |
| Duration Weekdays (Days) | sensei_projectdurationweekdays |
Whole number | True | False | False | |
| Effort (Total) | sensei_efforttotal |
Decimal | True | False | False | |
| Effort Completed | sensei_effortcompleted |
Decimal | True | False | False | |
| Effort Remaining | sensei_effortremaining |
Decimal | True | False | False | |
| Exchange Rate | ExchangeRate |
Decimal | True | False | False | |
| Expected Benefits | sensei_expectedbenefits |
Multiple lines of text | 4096 | True | False | False |
| External Project ID | sensei_externalprojectid |
Single line of text | 100 | True | False | False |
| Financial Benefits | sensei_financialbenefits |
Currency | True | False | False | |
| Financial Benefits (Base) | sensei_financialbenefits_Base |
Currency | True | False | False | |
| Finish Date | sensei_projectfinish |
Date and Time | Date Only | True | False | False |
| Forecast Cost Locked | sensei_forecastcostlocked |
Yes/No | True | False | False | |
| Import Sequence Number | ImportSequenceNumber |
Whole number | True | False | False | |
| Investment Category | sensei_investmentcategory |
picklist | True | False | False | |
| Last Modified from Refresh | sensei_lastmodifiedfromrefresh |
Date and Time | Date and Time | True | False | True |
| Last Sync Date | sensei_lastsyncdate |
Date and Time | Date and Time | True | False | False |
| Location | sensei_location |
Single line of text | 100 | True | False | False |
| Modified By | ModifiedBy |
Lookup | True | False | False | |
| Modified By (Delegate) | ModifiedOnBehalfBy |
Lookup | True | False | False | |
| Modified On | ModifiedOn |
Date and Time | Date and Time | True | False | False |
| Name (Primary name column) | sensei_name |
Single line of text | 255 | True | True | True |
| Organisational Change Impact | sensei_organisationalchangeimpact |
picklist | True | False | False | |
| Owner | OwnerId |
Owner | True | False | False | |
| Owning Business Unit | OwningBusinessUnit |
Lookup | True | False | False | |
| Owning Team | OwningTeam |
Lookup | True | False | False | |
| Owning User | OwningUser |
Lookup | True | False | False | |
| Percent Complete | sensei_percentcomplete |
Whole number | True | False | True | |
| Portfolio | sensei_portfolio |
Lookup | True | False | False | |
| Problem Statement | sensei_problemstatement |
Multiple lines of text | 4096 | True | False | False |
| Process Id | processid |
uniqueidentifier | False | False | False | |
| Program | sensei_program |
Lookup | True | False | False | |
| Project Closure Review | sensei_projectclosurereview |
Lookup | True | False | False | |
| Project Type | sensei_projecttype |
Lookup | True | False | False | |
| Proposed Costs | sensei_proposedcosts |
Currency | True | False | False | |
| Proposed Costs (Base) | sensei_proposedcosts_Base |
Currency | True | False | False | |
| Record Created On | OverriddenCreatedOn |
Date and Time | Date Only | True | False | False |
| Return on Investment | sensei_returnoninvestment |
Decimal | True | False | False | |
| Sensei Project | sensei_projectId |
Primary Key | True | False | False | |
| Sponsor | sensei_sponsor |
Lookup | True | False | False | |
| Start Date | sensei_projectstart |
Date and Time | Date Only | True | False | False |
| Status | statecode |
Choice | True | False | False | |
| Status Reason | statuscode |
Choice | True | False | False | |
| Steering Committee Review | sensei_steeringcommitteereview |
Lookup | True | False | False | |
| Teams Channel Id | sensei_channelid |
Single line of text | 100 | True | False | False |
| Time Zone Rule Version Number | TimeZoneRuleVersionNumber |
Whole number | -1 to 2147483647 | True | False | False |
| UTC Conversion Time Zone Code | UTCConversionTimeZoneCode |
Whole number | -1 to 2147483647 | True | False | False |
Project Cost Type (sensei_projectcosttype)
| Value | Label | Description |
|---|---|---|
955000000 |
CAPEX | |
955000001 |
OPEX |
Project Departments (sensei_projectdepartments)
| Value | Label | Description |
|---|---|---|
955000000 |
Finance | |
955000001 |
HR | |
955000002 |
Marketing | |
955000003 |
IT | |
955000004 |
Operations | |
955000005 |
Sales | |
955000006 |
Corporate |
Project Investment Category (sensei_projectinvestmentcategory)
| Value | Label | Description |
|---|---|---|
955000000 |
Run | |
955000001 |
Grow | |
955000002 |
Transform |
Organisational Change Impact (sensei_organisationalchangeimpact)
| Value | Label | Description |
|---|---|---|
955000000 |
No Organisational Impact | |
955000001 |
Low Organisational Impact | |
955000002 |
Moderate Organisational Impact | |
955000003 |
Strong Organisational Impact | |
955000004 |
Extreme Organisational Impact |
Operational Priority (sensei_operationalpriority)
| Value | Label | Description |
|---|---|---|
955000000 |
Urgent | |
955000001 |
Critical | |
955000002 |
High | |
955000003 |
Routine | |
955000004 |
Optional |
Operations Type (sensei_operationstype)
| Value | Label | Description |
|---|---|---|
955000000 |
Lifecycle | |
955000001 |
Regulatory/Compliance | |
955000002 |
Nice to have |
Project Types
The information that projects need to provide is determined by project type. This enables organisations to specific what fields, registers, and other information each project type is required to capture.
Detailed information on project types can be accessed here.