(openPR) - MilestoneLink Transparently Connects Milestones Across Projects in Microsoft Project Server

Munich, Germany. 1 September 2006 - The Project Group GmbH (TPG), a Microsoft Premier Project and Gold Certified Partner, has expanded its range of add-in products for Microsoft Project with the launch of MilestoneLink. The new product enhances the links between projects, enabling transparent, cross-project interconnections between milestones and tasks. If a schedule changes in a project, the tasks in the dependent project will not be delayed immediately, as is standard in Microsoft Project, but only when the delay has been accepted by the person responsible for the project. Additional information is communicated to ensure greater transparency, especially in large project portfolios that include several interdependencies. MilestoneLink is available now from TPG.

In project portfolios, there are often dependencies between the individual projects. For example, a task in one project might need to be completed before a task in the second project can be started. Although Microsoft Office Project can depict this type of connection, if a linked task changes in the first project the change would be difficult to trace in the second project. The whole of the second project would be delayed without any indication as to which task was causing the problem.

“MilestoneLink is a slimmed-down version of our process-based product TeamLink”, said Johann Strasser, development director and managing partner at TPG. “The focus of MilestoneLink is on sharing time-related information between projects. The Logical Links included in this product enable the project manager to decide himself whether or not he wants to accept in his own project an external delay in another project. That saves a huge amount of time, especially in extensive portfolios with multiple links, because each project manager is informed about the exact cause of an external delay without having to spend time searching for it. Also, nobody else has any insight into his planning, which is unlike the way links are usually handled in Microsoft Project. These were the reasons why we developed MilestoneLink and why we believe it will be a great success.”

The graphic gives a schematic view of the interaction between the sender’s and recipient’s schedules using MilestoneLink.

The Advantages of MilestoneLink at a Glance:
- Transparency of changes in linked projects with Logical Links
- No read/write permissions and no visibility into external projects necessary
- Send and receive between master/line plan and line/line plan, configurable
- Simultaneously send information to several recipient plans
- Increased performance because only the sender schedule needs to be opened
- Clearly laid out and easy to use

A presentation showing how MilestoneLink works is available for download at www.theprojectgroup.com/E/milestonelink

For further information please visit www.theprojectgroup.com/index_e.html
Press contact: Mr. Achim Schmidt-Sibeth
Email: AchimS@theprojectgroup.de
Phone: +49 (89) 61 55 93 51
Fax: +49 (89) 61 55 93 40

About The Project Group
The Project Group GmbH (TPG) based in Munich, Germany, is a team of internationally-recognized experts in IT solutions for enterprise-wide project management. TPG develops Microsoft Project add-ins and offers implementation services for Microsoft Enterprise Project Management (EPM) solutions to large and mid-sized enterprises. TPG places particular emphasis on the integration of EPM in the financial controlling area as well as on IT support for Project Management Offices (PMO). TPG’s range of services is complemented by seminars for Microsoft Project users and developers.

The Project Group is a leading Microsoft Premier Project Partner in the German-speaking countries. The company’s management team, composed of internationally-acknowledged specialists in EPM, collectively has over 60 man-years experience with Microsoft Project since Version 1 Beta appeared in 1989. The Project Group is a member of the Partner Advisory Council, an international advisory committee for the Microsoft Project development team, which counts only twenty members worldwide.

The Project Group’s customer base includes global enterprises like Agere, Agip, ATLAS, Audi, Bentley, Bosch, British Aerospace, Cognis Specialist Chemicals, DaimlerChrysler, Israel Aircraft Industries, Irish Rail, Keiper-Recaro, MAN B&W, Microsoft, Miele, Roche, SAP, Schukra, Siemens, Swisscom, and Texas Instruments.

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IMPORTANT NOTE TO EDITORS:
The Project Group Informationstechnologie GmbH is a German-based company and is not related to the similarly-named The Project Group based in Houston, Texas.