Introducing the Project Accelerator

[Microsoft Project Team]

For a lot of people, a project is more than a set of tasks with the team members assigned to work on them. You may need to track issues or risks or a process to decide which projects even get funded. This all can be done by extending Project for the web through Power Apps. To make it easier for you to get started, we are providing the Project Accelerator, which builds out these kinds of scenarios for you.

The Project Accelerator enables several scenarios in Project:

 

Proposals

No one has enough time or resources to pursue every great idea. Through project requests, you can gather a set of information to help you decide which requests get funded and turned into projects. Take this to the next level by integrating your process with Power Automate.

 

Programs

As you run more projects, it is ideal to be able to organize them into programs so you can easily step back and see the bigger picture.

 

Risks

With any project, there are risks that need to be tracked so you can prepare in advance to either avoid or deal with them.

Issues

Anyone in project management knows that issues come up as a project progresses – maybe the weather isn’t favorable or maybe something disrupts the supply chain. Whatever it is, you want to track the issue, know who is driving the mitigation, and clearly see the next steps.

Changes

As projects progress, there are going to be changes such as scope, design, or maybe an outcome of an issue mitigation. Tracking that change is key so everyone can look back and understand the history of the project.

 

Status

As your project progresses, you want to routinely update stakeholders on how the project is tracking on key health indicators and even create status reports around what has been accomplished and what’s up next.

With the accelerator, everything is customizable. See a field that isn’t relevant to you? Remove it! Want a different set of choices for fields like Strategic Alignment? Great! Change them! Most changes don’t even involve writing code. Just go into the Power App, update the tables, update the forms, and voila! your changes are live.

As this is built on Power Apps, you also can easily add charts to better visualize your data directly in the Power App. The accelerator provides a set, but again, you can easily customize these to meet your needs.

To deploy the Accelerator in your environment, get started in GitHub. In that site, you’ll find information about how to deploy it, a Power BI template that you can use alongside it, as well as details about licenses that you’ll need to run it.

[TonyStark]

Am I right that it is not enough with Project for the web P1/P3/P5 & Office 365 E1/E3/E5 for the above item ☝🏻

[JennyHarrison1974]

Where can you download this tool?

[TonyStark]

@JennyHarrison1974At the bottom of the post - https://github.com/OfficeDev/Project-Accelerator

[LatoyaA]

Is it possible to get have tutorials on how to build the individual components that make up the Accelerator? When trying to deploy this solution we're repeatedly getting this error "There are missing dependencies. Install the following solutions before installing this one: "msdyn_ProjectServiceCore (1.0.0.87)"." and the 'fix' that was posted does not work for me or any of my IT team. 

[AndrewNorris]

I'm getting the same issue as @LatoyaA but I can see msdyn_ProjectServiceCore (1.0.0.87) is already installed.

[anitobaker]

Hi! I've also been encountering the missing dependency msdyn_ProjectServiceCore (1.0.0.87) error despite having the Project solution installed (and reinstalled) in my default environment (no issues when trying the Project Accelerator on newly created production environments). I have also tried "Apply Solution Upgrade" to the ProjectServiceCore solution but i get the message "msdyn_ProjectServiceCore solution doesn’t have an upgrade that is ready to be applied". Thought of sharing my current experience --

The error message we are getting from the PowerApps Import a Solution interface is quite vague. It just says -- "There are missing dependencies. Install the following solutions before installing this one: "msdyn_ProjectServiceCore (1.0.0.87)"" There is an option to download details (log.txt file) which should be helpful but to be honest the raw formatting makes it quite difficult to digest. I suggest you try the PowerApps Solution Import classic experience --

Access your environment URL --> Advanced Settings --> Settings --> Solutions --> <Import Project Accelerator>

Here is the error from my side:

It says that I am missing the "msdyn_team_msdyn_project_projectteamid" EntityRelationship. When I checked with my other non-default environments, this EntityRelationship was pointing to a "Project Team" lookup field (managed) in the Project entity. This was also missing in my default environment. I could not create the "Project Team" as it is a "managed" field. 

Sorry for the long comment! Please let me know if i should put this somewhere else. Hope it can help others somehow. I'm still troubleshooting and I hope could also get suggestions on what else I can do. Thank you!

[AndrewNorris]

Is this the same product as the Wicresoft one here: PPM Accelerator for Microsoft Project & Power Apps?

[Lindsay Addie]

I tried this solution out and like numerous others found it has bugs and serious issues. Go to the issues page on the Github site listed above for numerous problem.

Microsoft needs to add an update to this page advising there are issues using this solution.

The basis ideas/goals of the solution are fine but the implementation is far from good enough for a production environment as it is impossible to get it to work at all. 

[Emily_WiT]

We are experiencing the same issue. At this point I see 0% success rate with this proposed feature. Microsoft, please update us when progress had been made on these numerous errors.

Thank you!

[Alexander Lahuerta]

Hi everyone, 

Also, there is a known issue where the Accelerator cannot be deployed to some Default environments in customer's tenants. We're working on an updated Accelerator that can be downloaded and installed. I'll let everyone know here when it is available for download from the GitHub site.

[Alexander Lahuerta]

@TonyStark , we've been working on addressing the need to have a separate Power Automate license. We'll be announcing something very soon.

[Alexander Lahuerta]

Thank you all for your patience. We've been working on a fix for issues related to importing the solution. Try this latest build and let me know if you're still having issues.

@Emily_WiT @anitobaker @LatoyaA 

[AndrewNorris]

@Alexander Lahuerta 

I've tried importing v1.7.0.3 and it failed.

After I select the zip file to be imported I get this message:

"One or more components in the solution already exist in your system as unmanaged components. Importing this solution will convert the components into managed components for this solution. Warning: Any customizations that your organization has made to these components will be lost. After the import operation is complete, managed solutions from other solution publishers will be unable to update these components."

I then proceed with the import, that fails with this message:

"Solution "Project for the web Accelerator" failed to import: Error while importing Calculated fields name proj_prioritizationscore"

[Alexander Lahuerta]

Thanks for giving it a try, @AndrewNorris!

It sounds like you have another solution or customizations in that environment that can be conflicting with it. If that solution and those components aren't critical for your scenarios, can you try removing them and then installing this version of the Accelerator? 

[AndrewNorris]

@Alexander Lahuerta , I wish I knew what they are. To my knowledge we haven't installed anything else. There are no Apps beyond Project, Resource Scheduling and Solution Health Hub.

That said, I can see these custom tables but I have no idea where they came from, that'll be my next challenge to find out.

[Alexander Lahuerta]

Thanks for the update, @AndrewNorris. It looks like you may have installed a different solution that brought those tables in. That solution may also have added columns to the tables in the Project solution. You'll need to remove any extra customizations that have been made on the tables in the Project solution before you can deploy the Accelerator. 

[waltercastillocastillo]

Hi @Alexander Lahuerta,

I'm trying to customize this solution to add more features, but it's blocked...

How can I enable to do customizations?

Thanks

WCC

[MattB365]

@TonyStark Project for the web now includes Power Automate capabilities: Licensing updates to Project Plan 1 - Microsoft Tech Community

[Alexander Lahuerta]

@waltercastillocastillo , there are a couple ways you can make additional customizations.

1. Create a new solution layer and bring components into it that you want to customize. Export and reimport it as a managed solution, to reduce the likelihood of issues down the road.

1. Make the Accelerator an unmanaged solution. You can unzip it, and edit the "solution.xml", look for the <managed> property, and change it from 1 to 0. Then zip the file up again.

[WindWarrior]

@Alexander Lahuerta

Hi Alex or anyone else able to answer,

Can you clarify the differences (if any) between Project Accelerator and Project Power App please? Both seem to be the same end system though there are a few differences in the access route.

Also, do you have any quick guides available or in development for the customisation of the accelerator please? It's obviously a great starting point for a comprehensive system but it would be very handy to have a guide for a few simple customisations examples please. These seem to be hard to come by in searches for model-driven apps tutorials.

Thanks

[Alexander Lahuerta]

Hi @WindWarrior ,

Solutions are ways to distribute standalone applications, or to distribute customizations of existing applications that are in an environment. The Accelerator is a managed solution that customizes the Project Power App that is already installed in an environment.

If you're looking to build your own applications or customizations, take a look at powerapps.com for documentation.

As a way to quickly get started, you can convert the Accelerator into an unmanaged solution that you can customize .Unzip the Accelerator file, open the customizations.xml file, change the <managed>1</managed> property from 1 to 0, save the file, and then zip the folder up again. After you do this, you can import the Accelerator into an environment and edit the customizations. Be sure to export it as a managed solution when you're done before using it in any production environments.

[AndrewNorris]

@WindWarrior I believe you can make certain, minor changes without having to go down the unmanaged/managed route.

For example: amending or adding to the choices for 'Project Type'.

[Alexander Lahuerta]

That's true, @AndrewNorris . But, any customizations made in the "Active" solution layer have a higher likelihood of running into issues. This is due to the way the platform merges changes.   It is good practice to deploy customizations to production environments via managed solutions. It reduces the likelihood of issues down the road, as we release updated versions of the core Project package. 

[AndrewNorris]

Thanks @Alexander Lahuerta , I'm just getting to grips with this. I have the docs open and am experimenting with Solutions in a test environment.

[AndrewNorris]

Hi @Alexander Lahuerta, can I suggest incorporating this Resource Allocation report into a future update for the Accelerator PowerBI template?

Monitor Resource Allocation with Project Power BI Template - Microsoft Tech Community

[3rdRock]

I'm trying to install the accelerator on our clean default environment (no prior solutions / customizations), and everything is up-to-date. We are getting the following error when we are attempting to install:

There are missing dependencies. Install the following solutions before installing this one: "MicrosoftDynamicsScheduling (4.0.0.40)", "msdyn_ProjectServiceCore (1.0.0.87)", "msdynce_Scheduling (9.0.0.0)", "msdyn_ProjectServiceCore_Patch (1.0.7.94)".

Any help to move forward will be greatly appreciated. We have been excited to showcase this functionality to clients for "out of the box reporting" on their MS Projects, but it's beginning to feel like a non sequitur. 

[Alexander Lahuerta]

@3rdRock , is Project installed in that environment? In the Default environment, you'll need to have visited Project.Microsoft.com (with a Project license) at least once to deploy Project.

[3rdRock]

Hello @Alexander Lahuerta. Thanks for your reply. Yes, that's correct. We have Project Plan 3 on that environment, and have visited the Project Home. 

[3rdRock]

Hello @Alexander Lahuerta. Thanks again for your assistance. I was able to resolve, and very encouraged at the features of the PPM Accelerator. Since I was in a fresh environment without having started a new P4W project yet, that was the cause of the issue. It is resolved now. 

[Alexander Lahuerta]

Glad to hear you were able to get things working, @3rdRock .

[3rdRock1]

Hello. Does anyone know if it's possible to publish the PPM Accelerator reports to a premium node, in order that anyone in my organization can view the reports in the Accelerator (even if they don't have a Power BI license)?

[ingrid596]

Hej, I really like the possibility of adding risks to the Project Accelerator and I'm working on that now.

I have however encountered an issue.

It seems like I can not have a risk in one project with the same name as a risk in another project, but then when I try to "add existing risk" in a project I can't because it then says "This record cannot be added because it already has a parent record."

Can anyone explain the functionality of the risks then, when it comes to naming and using generic risks?

[FraserDorey]

Hello @Alexander Lahuerta,

As mentioned by @ingrid596 above, is there any way to either add a risk to multiple projects, or to create multiple risks with the same name? 

[simonschork]

Hi, do like the solution very much. We want to do a few adjustments to components (Changing choices, ...) nothing to big. I went into the customizations.xml and changed <mangaged> to 0. When I try to import the solution again I get the error 8004023B with the exception "Site Map import: FAILURE: unmanaged solution expects full siteMapXml" did anyone ran into the same issue and solved it, or do you guys have any idea, would be super thanksful!

[JessFlannery]

PPM Files

I looks like it's not possible to import Project ppm files into a project in project accelerator if it is not installed on the default environment. When accessing Project for the Web (P4W) from the browser in the default environment, you can view a list of projects in the default environment (Source = "Project") and in the Project Accelerator (Source = "Project(OtherEnvironmentName)"). 

When in P4W you can create a new blank project and select "Import from Project desktop". This doesn't seem to be available within the Project Accelerator app. Is this something that was missed? 

[Andrew Norris]

@JessFlannery , I don't know if they've plans to do this for non-Default environments via the GUI but you can import them using PowerShell. That's how I did mine.

Import Project Desktop files to Project for the web API - Microsoft Tech Community

[mmyaseen]

Risk and Issues show only Name and Owner. How to enable other attributes for these objects? Am I missing something while importing the zip? Does it require any special permission?

[ndrogo-]

@Alexander Lahuerta  What is the best way to add choices to the drop downs in the Accelerator?   Is there any documentation on the accelerator  

[ndrogo-]

@Andrew Norris I’m having issues or don’t know how to add to the choices without making it unmanaged solution can you suggest how to do this?

[DorcasNkunadrdlrgov]

Hi , i want to create a how to user guide within Project Accelerator but i'm not sure how to go about doing so. Can someone please assist me 

 

[Robert Woods]

@Alexander Lahuerta Previously, you mentioned  "You'll need to remove any extra customizations that have been made on the tables in the Project solution before you can deploy the Accelerator. "

I am in this situation after having worked with the wicresoft version of this app. we have completely uninstalled that solution, but I can see that the column throwing the error, proj_projprioritizationscore is still in my default project solution. Since this is a managed solution, and we cannot edit it, how do I get that column removed from my project table?

[ajm1966]

@Robert Woods  @Alexander Lahuerta I am having the same issue as I had previously installed the Wicresoft version. I am trying to remove it but would be very interested if you manage to solve the problem!

[ajm1966]

@Robert Woods  @Alexander Lahuerta I actually worked out how to do it.

That field has the following dependencies:

Once you remove them the Solution will import successfully.

[Robert Woods]

@ajm1966 correct, that is how we got it to install too. Now were trying to figure out the best way to build a custom app to overlay on the solution for editing. The documentation in the github article is lacking. It just says make a new solution cuz you cant customize this one. Like people are expected to know how to just make a new custom solution and ensure that the proper attributes are there.

[CB_OSG]

Duplicate Fields???

@Robert Woods and I have been working through some additional issues after installing Accelerator for Project for the Web.  It feels like every time we fix one issue we find another one.  We had the Wicresoft solution and eventually removed it so we could install Accelerator.  We had some issues with getting Accelerator installed, as Robert Woods mentions above, but now it is installed.  However, we've noticed duplicate fields through the Power Apps interface of Accelerator.  We've been able to clean up some that were clearly duplicate fields.  But there are a couple (Business Case and possibly Financials) that have the same field name but are not actually duplicates so now we aren't sure which fields are the correct ones.  

At some point it might be good to know if we can completely remove Accelerator and get Project for the Web back to a stable state but for now we are working with a Dynamics Support rep to see if we can get our environment back to a working order.  

[Robert Woods]

@Alexander Lahuerta You seem to be the product manager for this, any suggestions for @CB_OSG 's issues detailed above? Unfortunately the Dynamics Reps were working with aren't comfortable moving forward due to the direct affects this might have on the Microsoft Project solution. 

[juanTSB]

Hi there, when I add a team member to the project the user does not get any permissions on the schedule to make edits, or on the project entities.  The team member is assigned to the "Project Team Member" power app security role through an Azure Office AD group .  Is there a different security role that needs to be assigned to give write privileges, or was there an update that modified the security. I've also tried an Office AD group with no success.  This was working 4 months ago but has stopped.  

[ryanmorrissey]

@juanTSB We've got the exact same issue here in our environment. Did you discover a solution?

I installed the Accelerator a few weeks ago. But have noticed the same issue with our Project Managers that have been given access to the same membership group to Project. But they can only see their own projects and nothing that has been logged into the Project Requests queue.

The only way that i've found I can get anyone else to see everything that in there is by adding them to the System Administrator role for Power Platform. Obviously this is not something i want to rollout to everyone.

If anyone can recommend the appropriate role to Add a Project Manager too to see and edit all records in the Accelerator that would be appreciated.

[Ximo]

What are the required settings in Power Platform to have Portfolio Viewers (read access to all Projects) and Portfolio Managers (write access to all Projects)?

[RyanKindig]

Has anyone figured out a way to customize the default list of tasks?  Currently, the default is to have a completely empty task list.  I'm trying to figure out a way to pre-populate a set of task for all new projects so that every project is using a standard set of project management tasks.

Ideally, I'd like a drop-down box with a list of task templates on the 'General' tab where the Project Manager can select from a few different default sets of task lists.