SharePoint 2007 with Project Services Integration

Have you done the basic configuration for Project Server? Do you have a Project Web Access (PWA) site set up and working?

Why do you want to associate these SharePoint sites with Project Server? Project Server supports the creation of Project Workspace SharePoint sites, but they must be based on a particular template to integrate with Project Server. That template includes some predefined lists that Project Server can connect to and also report on.

What are your goals for this installation? The answer to this will dictate the answer to your last question.

Implementing Project Server is not necessarily a straight forward task. The server should be configured according to what features you want to use and how it should fit into your project management practices.


James Fraser

I realize that they are two different producsts but since it is a service, as is Excel Services which does integrate in with a SharePoint site (I think...),  I had thought that once I installed Project (and I do have PWA now), it would become an additional feature/service for the SharePoint sites that I have built.

Regarding the details of its intended usage,  I will reach out to the user community for more clarity here and get back to on that.

Ahh, I understand where you are coming from: the comparison to Excel Services explains a lot, but I'm afraid Project Server doesn't integrate in the same way as Excel Services. They are very different products, with very different histories. Project Server adds additional features to Project Professional, the client application and doesn't aim to replace the client app in any way. (Project Server has been around since before SharePoint; by my count, 2007 was the fourth major release.)

Maybe that is why the Project Server product is not called Project Services, but is actually called Microsoft Office Project Server. Project Server 2007 runs on a SharePoint server, but most of its functionality is available through the client application (MS Office Project Professional 2007) or the PWA website.

But Project Server does add some web-parts to the SharePoint server, so you can add views of projects or tasks to other SharePoint sites. This could be vaguely Excel Services-like, but won't have the same editing features available.


James Fraser

Ok.  So, then the install of Project Server adds some web parts which I can then add to sites as makes sense for a given site?  Are there any documents which delve into these web parts and examples/tutorials on configuring them?

I should have said mentioned this above: the web parts draw data from Project Server, so you will still need to configure and keep data in Project Server. Project Server does _not_ store it's core data in the SharePoint content databases. It is a separate application that uses SharePoint to provide its web user framework.

The ProjServ webparts are generally considered a minor part of Project Server: I don't know of any document that goes through them, but it looks like some of the Project Server books may include something:
http://books.google.com/books?id=vxNo4JVVrFAC&pg=RA1-PA577&lpg=RA1-PA577&dq=using+project+server+web+part+project+center&source=bl&ots=O4HIPSiWSD&sig=sitGrO2YQ3b7KgzqsC8v5lPA2bk&hl=en&ei=NjL2SrPbGcuZ8Ab-9b3zCQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CBcQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=using%20project%20server%20web%20part%20project%20center&f=false

Here's a page illustrating how to use one of them:
http://blogs.msdn.com/project/archive/2008/02/25/project-server-2007-my-schedule-view.aspx

I'm sorry if I'm rehashing this too much, but I want to be very clear: Project Server won't give you much value or functionality as plug-ins to SharePoint sites. The functionality is provided by 1) the PWA site (ActiveX controls, Office Web Components, and all) 2) the connectivity from Project Professional to Project Server and 3) SharePoint sites made from the Project Server "Project Workspace" template.


James Fraser

Which all goes back to my original comment.  Our team tried the Project Server integration and were completely unhappy with it.  Performance was brutal even though we have a x64 seven server farm with LOTS of RAM.

I completely agree with James Fraser's last comment.  Cheers