Project Telemetry
Project Telemetry is a process that uses XML technology to combine written and statistical project information into a compact, machine-readable report that we call a "project abstract." These abstracts are sent by email to an active observatory database that  maintains project, program and organization level status and resource commitment  to support the management community.


The Project Observatory System


What kind of Project Planning is required?

Project Observatory does not require your project leaders to be masters of project management or complex scheduling applications. All it requires is a willingness to provide the basic information used in the project abstract. This is the same level of information that would typically be required in a written report about the project to a program office. If you have a detailed, task level project plan, that's great, but its not required. We have designed this system so that any project leader can prepare a project report in a few minutes without any formal training.


Here are the questions you need to be able to answer.

What is the name of the project? When did it start? When do you expect it to be finished?

What are your milestones (if any) Which are complete?

What problems (we call them issues) do you face?  When do they need to be resolved to prevent the project from being delayed?

What people/teams do you require to accomplish this project?
This last question can be answered in greater or lesser detail depending upon the stage of the work and the inherent uncertainty of the task.

The Project Abstract

 The Project Abstract is the message format used to communicate project information. It has been designed to capture the information that management needs to know about each project rather than every possible detail. A Project Abstract comprises the following categories of information.

 Identification.
This provides information about the name of the project, its manager, and the type of project.
Status.
This section contains a written summary of the project situation.
Milestones.
This section contains a complete list of project milestones and dates. A selected subset of these milestones is provided for presentation in the observatory report.
Statistics.
A collection of numerical measures such as project finish date, actual cost, etc. are maintained.
Issues.
This section lists problems associated with the project and due dates for resolution.
Commitments.
This is a table of resource demands over time for each individual or team required by the project.


How are Project Abstracts prepared?

 1) For Project Gateway owners, an automatic agent scans the Project Gateway Repository and creates an abstract for each project. This is done once a week (or more often if desired.) The process requires no additional effort on the part of the project leader beyond that involved in using Project Gateway as a management tool. Another agent is provided to transmit information about upcoming projects from your Request Center databases.Project Gateway Link

2) For Microsoft Project users, a macro, called "Observatory Reporter for Microsoft Project" that we provide will generate a project abstract at the push of a toolbar button. The schedule and resource data will be extracted from the project plan. The issues and status report will be gathered from a dialog box created by the macro. You can choose the level of resources to be sent. Microsoft Project Link

3) For other project leaders, we have a simple form, called the project report form, that can be used to report on a project. This form is provided in a simple Notes application called "Observatory Reporter."Observatory Reporter

4) The project abstract format is openly defined and based on the XML standard. As a result, you may create connective applications that link your existing project information systems to the observatory using standard programming tools such as Visual Basic or Java.