Using Microsoft Project to Manage Accolade Projects Overview

Note:  Accolade's integration with Microsoft Project is an optional Accolade component that you may not have access to. To implement this solution, contact Sopheon Customer Support.

If your company uses Accolade's integration with Microsoft Project, the process model for a project can include an Microsoft Project plan as a deliverable for the project that is based on the stages, gates, deliverables, and activities within the model. The project plan can include additional tasks that may not be part of the completion of a deliverable or activity and not reflected in the process model, but that are important to track for a stage or project's completion. The integration allows document owners to integrate task information between Microsoft Project and Accolade, enabling owners to manage some aspects of the project using Microsoft Project rather than making changes in Accolade.

To use the integrated features with Microsoft Project within an Accolade project, the process model must contain an Microsoft Project plan as a template.

Note:  The information in this section of the online Help provides instructions about working with an Microsoft Project plan template within an Accolade project and for reviewing your projects in a timeline using a Gantt view. For additional information about these features, see the online Help available from the Accolade menu within Microsoft Project.

Managing Conflicting Project Rights When Using Microsoft Project

Accolade's integration with Microsoft Project provides the exchange of data between a project plan, including changes to team members on the project and team member assignments to documents. Therefore, some rights that a Project Manager typically holds are shared with the plan owner. Specifically, in projects that use this integration, the plan owner can add Team Members to the project and assign them as the owners of deliverables, activities, and tasks created in Microsoft Project using the project plan.

If the plan is owned and managed by someone other than the Project Manager, the plan owner and the Project Manager could make conflicting changes to the project. To avoid this risk, assign the Project Manager as the owner of the Microsoft Project plan.

See the following to get started: