May 25, 2016

Q:Set Duration Units
Can I define project duration in minutes and how to do it?

A: Yes, you can set duration units from minutes to months. To set your duration to units:
1. Go to Project Options and click the Duration tab.
2. From the Duration is entered in: drop down list, select the unit. In this case it would be Minutes.
Please note that if your duration units are defined in Microsoft Project and you import schedule from Microsoft Project to RiskyProject, duration units will be imported as well. Also in RiskyProject Enterprise duration units can be different for different projects.

FOr more information please visit: http://www.intaver.com/IntaverFrm/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1260

May 25, 2016

Q: Does the number of iterations matter depending upon the size of the project.
Should number of Monte Carlo iterations defined in project settings be correlated with the number of tasks in the project schedule?

A: No, there is no correlation between the number of iterations and activities. The number of iterations is more dependent upon things such as risk probabilities and complexity of the precedent network.

For example if I have a black swan risk (low probability, high impact), I want to ensure that it is accounted for in the simulation. So if it has a 1% chance of occurring, that means it will only occur 1 in 100 iterations; therefore, I will set my number of iterations higher (e.g. 2000) to ensure it occurs enough times that I get a clear understanding of the consequences of that risk occurring.

The other case could be in schedules with many risks, lots of parallel activities, and perhaps branching (conditional or probabilistic). In these cases, there can be multiple critical paths developing depending on which risks occur, which branches are taken, etc. In these cases, I would again set a higher number of iterations to ensure that every possible outcome is accounted for.

However, in most cases enabling the convergence monitoring will be sufficient and you won’t see any significant changes to your results by running additional iterations. I would recommend that you experiment a bit with these settings to see how they impact your results and you’re your decisions based on that. Convergence monitoring is set in the Calculations options.

For more information please visit: http://www.intaver.com/IntaverFrm/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1259

Maximum Project Duration

May 25, 2016

Q: Maximum Project Duration
What it is maximum project duration and how it is used?

A: Maximum project duration is set in the Project Settings dialog box. The maximum duration can be set using days, months, or years. This setting creates a project deadline that is used during Monte Carlo simulations to measure the project success rate of meeting this deadline. Success rates can be viewed on the Success Rate view in the Analysis tab. The Project Deadline is shown as a vertical red line on the Gantt chart.

For more information please visit: http://www.intaver.com/IntaverFrm/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1258

Two new RiskyProject software resellers in Brazil

May 20, 2016

Two new RiskyProject software resellers in Brazil

Two software resellers from Brazil OSB Software and MCB Solution have became Intaver Institute's partners. They added Intaver's RiskyProject project risk management and risk analysis software suite including RiskyProject Enterprise, RiskyProject Professional and RiskyProject Lite to their product line. For more information about our resellers please visit ourreseller page.

http://www.intaver.com/index-news.html

Concurrent users

May 18, 2016

Q: Concurrent users
Does RiskyProject enterprise support concurrent users?

A: This has a yes and no answer. First, we do get asked this about RiskyProject Professional and Lite and the in these cases the answer is a definite no. The licensing on the desktop solutions requires every computer that the software is installed on requires a license key.

For RiskyProject Enterprise the answer is a bit more nuanced. Technically, the licensing system supports concurrent licensing. However, we recommend named users for a couple of reasons:

1. For concurrent users these is data integrity issue in cases where users forget to log off
2. Cost – Licensing cost of concurrent users is substantially higher than named users.

For more information please visit: http://www.intaver.com/IntaverFrm/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1255

Maximum number of risks in RiskyProject Enterprise?

May 18, 2016

Q: Maximum number of risks in RiskyProject Enterprise?
What is the maximum number of risks?

A: Theoretically there is no maximum number of risks. However, the question is what value is being produced by having hundreds of risks listed in your risk register. The reason why we list them is so that they can be managed, and it is if not impossible, extremely difficult to manage hundreds of risks. With the example below, with much less than a hundred risks, already the Risk Matrix starts to become crowded and difficult to assess.

If it is the case that you do have hundreds of risks that have to be managed, it may be indicating that the project needs to be broken down into smaller more manageable subprojects. In this case, risks which only impact specific deliverables can be managed at the appropriate level: whereas, risks that can impact the entire program can be managed at a higher level. The is the underlying methodology behind RiskyProject Enterprise.


For more information please visit: http://www.intaver.com/IntaverFrm/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1254

Sorting risk register

May 18, 2016

Q: Sorting risk register
How can I sort risk register based on risk category?

A: RiskyProject’s risk register provides many options to sort a risk register based on any property including risk categories. When you sort by categories, the risk register becomes a hierarchy in which the risk probabilities, impacts, and score are sorted by category and then score for each category. To sort based on risk categories, you need to use the Hierarchy based on drop down list located at the top of the risk register.
1. From the drop-down list, choose Categories.
2. The risk register is now sorted by category.


For more information please visit: http://www.intaver.com/IntaverFrm/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1253

Intaver Institute and Stottler Henke Associates Developed Integrated Project Scheduling and Risk Management Solution

May 16, 2016

Intaver Institute and Stottler Henke Associates Developed Integrated Project Scheduling and Risk Management Solution

Intaver Institute Inc. and Stottler Henke Associates, Inc today announced that they have developed integration between Stottler Henke’s advanced intelligent scheduling and critical chain software Aurora and Intaver’s risk analysis and management software RiskyProject.

The Aurora-RiskyProject solution allows users to integrate their critical chain schedule analysis with project risk analysis and management. This will help industries solve their complex scheduling and risk management challenges. Many industries such as aerospace, defence, and pharmaceuticals have faced with extremely complex projects that require an advanced scheduling and risk analysis and management capabilities. This solution will allow the users to integrate the results of their risk analysis directly into Aurora’s scheduling engine, as well as perform risk analysis based on schedules created in Aurora.

For more information please read our press release.

http://www.intaver.com/downloads/IntaverPressReleaseMay16-2016.pdf

Settings defaults for risk properties

May 10, 2016

Q: Settings defaults for risk properties
Can I define default risk properties on my computer? I would like to use the same set of risk properties for all projects.

A: If you use RiskyProject Professional risk properties are save on your computer in the system registry and can be used for all new projects. If you use RiskyProject Enterprise, you project properties are saved in the database.

When you go to the risk properties dialog (Risk -> Risk Properties) you will not find a button to save risk properties as default. It is because when you update risk properties they are saved in the database automatically each time when you update them.

For more information please visit: http://www.intaver.com/IntaverFrm/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1252

Simulation results for work

May 10, 2016

Q: Simulation results for work
How can I see statistical distribution for work; how it is calculated?

A: The simulation results for work are available for both a project, activities, and resource/activity. Work is the actual amount of hours or days of work (or time on task) required to finish the project, not including non-working time. Because many resources can be work on a single activity and project. The calculated work can often far exceed the calendar hours in which the project or task is performed. For example if you have 4 resources working 100% of the time on a 8 hr project. The project duration is 8hrs, but work would be 32 hrs.

To view the work results for a project:
1. Run a simulation.
2. Click the Analysis > Project Summary view on the ribbon.
3. In the Project Summary, click the Statistical Data for Work button.

For more information please visit: http://www.intaver.com/IntaverFrm/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1251

Enable probabilistic risk outcomes

May 10, 2016

Q: Enable probabilistic risk outcomes
How do I enable probabilistic outcomes; it is not there by default

A: Just to remind you the risk outcome for fixed and relative duration and cost increase as well as for few other risks outcomes can be defined by statistical distribution.

By default the probabilistic outcomes are not enabled when you install the software. You can enable statistical distributions in the Project Options > Risk > Enable statistical distribution for risk outcomes as shown in the screen shot below. In addition, it includes the context help that is available for this option. You can also click F1 to open the online context sensitive Help for this dialog.

For more information please visit: http://www.intaver.com/IntaverFrm/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1250

Viewing results of simulations as percentiles on Gantt chart

May 4, 2016

Q: Viewing results of simulations as percentiles on Gantt chart
The Result Gantt seems to show two bars for each activity: original schedule and the Mean results. As well the distribution is shown for start and finish times for low and high. Is there anyway that we can just show the Blue bar as specific percentage?

A: By default, the Result Gant shows the deterministic schedule as a white bar and the Results as a blue bar. The results (blue) bar by default shows the mean value (Start or Finish Time). However, if you right-click on the Gantt Chart, you can switch the results bar to either Low or High results. In the example below, we have selected the High results and which are show as a darker blue by default.
The Low and High results are percentiles or certainty levels and are defined in the Project Options > Calculation dialog box. In the example below, if you choose Show High Results, the Result Gantt will use P70 for the blue bar.

For more information please visit:  http://www.intaver.com/IntaverFrm/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1247

Viewing results of analysis in MS Project

May 4, 2016

Q: Viewing results of analysis in MS Project
Can I launch MS Project directly from RiskyProject Enterprise to see results of calculation in MS Project.

A: Yes. You can launch Microsoft Project from RiskyProject Professional and RiskyProject enterprise. You can see original project schedule and results of analysis. On a background RiskyProject will save original or risk adjusted project schedule to the temporary XML file, then it will launch Microsoft Project and pass temporary file path as a parameter.

To can launch Microsoft Project from RiskyProject :
1. Run a simulation, go to File > Launch > Microsoft Project.
2. The Export Schedule dialog box opens.
3. Choose one of the provided options and click OK.

This will launch Microsoft Project, you will be given the option to open it as a new file or update an existing one.

For more information please visit: http://www.intaver.com/IntaverFrm/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1249

Exporting a risk adjusted schedule

May 4, 2016

Q: Exporting a risk adjusted schedule
How can I export results of the simulation using a specific percentiles to MS Project

A: You can export risk adjusted project schedule (results on Monte Carlo simulations in RiskyProject) to Microsoft Project XML file, which you can open in Microsoft Project and other software. To export a risk adjusted schedule using a specific percentile:
1. Run a simulation on your project.
2. From the File menu, choose Export > XML
3. You will be prompted to save the xml file to a local directory.
4. Click Save. The Export Schedule dialog box opens.
5. Choose one of the options or enter is a custom percentile and Click OK.


For more information please visit: http://www.intaver.com/IntaverFrm/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1248

New Intaver Institute's consulting partner

May 4, 2016

New Intaver Institute's consulting partner

Nicki Kons of Atrisks has become new Intaver Institute's consulting partner. Atrisks offers risk and EVM consultancy services, which incorporate quantitative and qualitative techniques. Nicki Kons is the author of PVaR™: Project Value at Risk. Nicki is an Industrial Engineer, with an MBA and an MA. Nicki is PMI-PMP (Project Management Professional), PMI-RMP (Risk Management Professional) and GARP-ERP (Energy Risk Professional) certified. She is a multi-disciplinarian expert who incorporates engineering, IT, business & finance and political science concepts into a strong coherent message of risk management excellence. Nicki believes the only way to keep on top of risks is by pushing our own limits of risk understanding, time and time again. Atrisks provides advanced risk identification and EVM services to the following sectors: High-Tec, defense, utility, IT, medical device and banking sectors.

http://www.atrisks.com/

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