PPM Express is thrilled to announce our latest updates for April!
Our team has worked tirelessly to equip our platform with the necessary features and functionality to simplify your project management tasks and help you accomplish your objectives.
We have two exciting updates for PPM Express this month:
- We’re introducing a Tasks hierarchy feature to improve task structuring and boost team productivity.
- We’ve enhanced the permission model for the Business Challenges and Ideas module, giving you more control over who can access your sensitive information.
We’ll provide detailed information about each update and guide you on how to maximize the potential of our platform.
Let’s have a closer look!
Table of contents
We are introducing a Tasks hierarchy feature in PPM Express
Changes to the PPM Express Tasks and the tasks hierarchy will be released in several phases.
The first phase will include the sub-tasks functionality and the manual roll-up (by clicking the Calculate Progress button) of the specific summary task fields (see the list of the fields below).
New options will be added to the task menu:
- “Add subtasks” adds a subtask below the chosen task, hierarchy tree will be expanded automatically upon adding a new subtask.
- “Outdent” moves tasks a level up in the hierarchy level.
- “Indent” moves tasks a level down in the hierarchy level.
- “Insert task above” adds tasks above a chosen task. The task will be added to the same hierarchy level as the selected one.
- “Calculate progress” performs the recalculation process and roll-up data to the selected task (option is available only for summary tasks). “Calculate Progress” becomes enabled if one or several summary tasks are selected.
If the parent task is moved to another group, all related child subtasks will be moved too. When users select to delete a task that has subtasks, these subtasks will also be deleted together with the task.
A roll-up calculation of the summary task fields will be implemented for the following existing fields:
- Effort
- Completed Work
- Remaining Work
- Original Estimate
- Story Points
For the fields below, data will also be recalculated for the summary task (not as a roll-up, but based on the sub-task field values):
- Start Date – the earliest start of the sub-task is taken into account.
- Due Date – the latest finish of the sub-task is taken into account.
- Duration – the number of working dates for the sub-tasks is taken into account.
- Progress, % – calculated by a formula ((Completed Work/Effort)*100%).
In the first phase, the roll-up calculation will be performed on demand, after the user will explicitly select a summary task(s) and click the “Calculate Progress” button.
This functionality will have the following limitations:
- 10 hierarchy levels will be supported.
- Drag&Drop functionality will be available only for collapsed hierarchy tree.
- Tasks hierarchy will not be supported in .csv file and API.
- If the hierarchy tree is collapsed, the child tasks are not exported to .csv file (only tasks that are selected and visible on UI will be exported to .csv).
- If a predecessor is defined for a summary task, and this predecessor will not allow to set the summary task’s Start or Due Date as the earliest/latest Start/Due Date of non-summary tasks, then the summary task’s Start/Due Date should remain as defined by predecessor even when “Calculate Summary Task” is clicked.
In the next phases, in addition to the on-demand roll-up, we will be introducing auto-calculation and rollup for progress-related fields, i.e. horizontal & vertical auto-calculation for tasks, summary tasks, and subtasks (for PPM Express schedule).
We have improved the permission model for the Business Challenges and Ideas module
Before: Users with ‘Manage Challenges and Ideas’ permissions could create challenges, activate or reject the ideas within these challenges, and delete ideas and challenges.
All users who have these permissions could review and edit all challenges and ideas on the Business Challenges page, even the ones where they are not managers.
The Business Challenges and Ideas module was available for viewing for all users and team members within the PPM Express tenant.
The permission model did not allow for access at the Business Challenge level, which could limit organizations from having department or team-specific challenges. We understand the need for a more granular permission model and have taken steps to address this issue.
Now: With the redesigned permission approach, similar to that used for projects, programs, portfolios, and roadmaps, the Business Challenges and Ideas module is now more flexible. Users can now limit access to all or specific business challenges. This will allow employees of a particular department or project to access only relevant challenges and ideas.
The new permission model offers the following options for Users:
- Create Business Challenges.
- Edit all or select challenges.
- Collaborate on all or selected challenges (read-only access to challenges with the ability to view ideas in this challenge, vote for ideas of other users, and submit their own idea).
Team Members can now collaborate on all or selected challenges with the ability to view ideas in this challenge, vote for ideas of other users, and submit their own idea.
Please note: The current permissions of both users and team members will be preserved and mapped to the new permission model.
You can then choose to grant more granular permission to challenges and ideas.
Essential improvements and fixes that make all the difference
We are constantly working to improve the PPM Express platform for our users.
In addition to the major updates we’ve announced, we’ve also implemented several small but significant improvements and fixes that will enhance your project management experience.
These enhancements range from workflow streamlining to data security and accuracy.
We want to keep you up-to-date with the latest developments in PPM Express, so we’ll highlight the most important changes we’ve made this month.
Key improvements you don’t want to miss
Discover the latest enhancements we’ve made to PPM Express that can help streamline your workflow and enhance your productivity:
- We have improved the design of the tooltip hints.
Crucial fixes you need to know about
We’ve made some crucial fixes to PPM Express recently that ensure the security, accuracy, and reliability of your data:
- We fixed the issue where a child iteration from Azure DevOps connection was not displaying correctly in the Schedule section.
- We fixed the issue where resetting a label on a roadmap item was impossible.
- We fixed the issue where the Reports table was empty for newly created tenants.
If you would like to receive an email notification with an extended features overview a few days before the upcoming release, please fill in the PPM Express Release Notification Form.
We hope you’re as excited about these updates to PPM Express as we are!
We’re committed to continually improving our platform and providing the features and functionality you need to manage your projects and portfolios efficiently and effectively.
Whether you’re looking to streamline your workflows, gain better insights into your progress, or simply stay organized, PPM Express has you covered. And with our trial, it’s easier than ever to try out our platform for yourself and see how it can benefit your team.