What's New in Accolade 17.0 Release
The following sections describe new functionality and areas that have changed in Accolade in the 17.0 release.
Enhancing Resource Planning
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New Resource Pool Availability Chart – Accolade 17.0 introduces a new chart, on the Resource Pools Details page, that displays the remaining capacity of a pool’s resources. This chart acts as a quick summation of the Resource Capacity page for each user, and assists Resource Planners in identifying which resources are available for additional work, resource availability for new projects, or potential bottlenecks.
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New Project Resource Planning Tab – Accolade 17.0 features a new Resource Planning tab. This tab has an updated user interface and experience, and lives in tandem with the current Resource Planning tab. If the existing Resource Planning tab is turned on for the model, the new tab will also be turned on upgrade to 17.0. The new tab has the functionality of the old tab, including the ability to request resources, apply multipliers and demand curves. If the existing Resources tab is not currently turned on, users with appropriate access can now turn on the new Resource Planning tab.
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Addition of Requested Demands – Accolade 17.0 now allows Project Managers to create Requested Demands, generic or named, on the Plan Projects page and the new Resource Planning tab. Previously, only Resource Planners could assign resources to a project on these pages. Requested Demands enable better planning, as Project Managers and Resource Planners have better visibility over both requested and assigned resources. This assists Resource Planners in identifying resource availability over an extended period of time, and helps identify potential roadblocks down the line. As projects are approved, or closer to starting, Resource Planners can use the new Replace Resource functionality to then assign the appropriate resource. As resources are assigned, the Resource Planner has full visibility of the capacity of each resource. Additionally, the Resource Capacity page and the My Future Work page display Requested Demands, though this value isn’t calculated against a resource’s capacity.
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Updates to Multiplier and Demand Curves – With Accolade 17.0 , users can now utilize the Multiplier on Resources to adjust Demands, from the Plan Projects page and the new Resource Planning tab. The Multiplier adjusts the Demand by the rate set, from the effective date set. Accolade 17.0 also allows users to choose a Demand Curve with an effective date for a Demand, from the Plan Projects page and the new Resource Planning tab.
Updating the Portfolio Planner
In addition to enhancing the overall user interface, the Portfolio Planner has been updated in Accolade 17.0 to enhance user experience and overall functionality. Updates include:
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Metric Selection and Display – The Target, Constraint, and Filter Metrics have been updated for better user interaction. These metrics can now be expanded and collapsed. They also feature new icons and include a donut display. Users can toggle to include specific metrics. Pagination has also been added.
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Gantt View Enhancements – Accolade 17.0 introduces a Gantt view for projects in the Portfolio Planner. To facilitate easier project scheduling, users can edit start and end dates directly in the Portfolio Planner timeline view. The new click-and-drag feature also enables quick updates to project dates.
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Project Demand and Pool Capacity Scenario Data – When planning using the Gantt chart, users can view demand and pool capacity scenario data to ensure appropriate staffing. Months are now color-coded based on waterline capacity usage.
With these updates, Accolade 17.0 helps to streamline portfolio planning and management.
Updating the My Profile Pages
In this release, the My Profile pages have been reorganized for more clarity and better user experience, with a new user interface.
Previously, the My Profile page had four tabs, namely Details, Email Notifications, HTML Report Notifications, and Extended Fields. Accolade 17.0 has split the Details tab into two with User Settings and Links. The User Settings tab now dynamically saves changes; however, changes must still be applied on the User Links tab before exiting. The Email Notifications and HTML Report Notification tabs have no changes, besides an updated user interface. The new Security and Permissions tab consists of details from the old Extended Fields tab, and any read-only data from the old Details tab, i.e. Roles, Functions, Access Groups.
The Show Confirmation Messages setting has been removed from the My Profile pages, and the User Administration pages. The confirmation messages now display automatically.
Updating the Recent Items Menu
In Accolade 17.0, the Recent Items Menu has been updated to enhance functionality and user experience. Updates include:
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Global Links – The Recent Items Menu now includes Global Links for quick access to recently visited pages.
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Favorites for Projects – Users can now favorite projects directly from the Recent Items Menu, in addition to the All My Work page. Icons next to projects indicate their favorite status.
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Follow-up Flag for Deliverables and Activities – A new flag icon has been added for deliverables and activities to visually indicate items that need attention.
These updates ensure that the most urgent or important projects, deliverables, and activities are always prioritized at the top of the Recent Items Menu.
Redesigning Quick Search
The Quick Search feature has been updated to be more dynamic and user friendly. Users can now search for either projects or documents. In the expanded view, Quick Search results display document or class icons, document or project names, project IDs, doc stages, doc gates, or categories, uploaded by information, and the associated project managers.
As with the Recent Items Menu, Quick Search users can favorite projects by clicking the favorite icon. Likewise, users can add a follow-up flag to deliverables or activities from the Quick Search.
Users can sort projects and documents directly from the Quick Search. Projects can be sorted by project name or by project ID. Documents can be sorted by document name or by last date modified.
Additionally, the search functionality in the Add New Project dialog has been updated to the new Quick Search user interface and experience.
Adding Hierarchy Breadcrumb Icons
To help distinguish between projects with the same name in different business units and access groups, Accolade 17.0 introduces a new option to the hierarchy menu. Users can now enable the display of class icons on projects with the hierarchy breadcrumb enabled. This setting, which is off by default, can be turned on using the Hierarchy menu in a project and will be remembered in User Settings.
Adding the Comparison Pod to Share with Stakeholders
Accolade allows Project Mangers to share project information with outside stakeholders by providing a read-only shareable page. This feature has been extended in 17.0 to now allow Comparison Pods to be added to this page shared with outside stakeholders.
Enhancing the General User Interface
In this release of Accolade, we have made major improvements to the user interface to provide a more polished and consistent experience. These enhancements are now standard for all Accolade 17.0 users. Here are the updates:
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The Accolade user interface is updated to what was formerly known as the Preview Area; this user interface is now the standard view.
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Accolade 17.0 features a sleek new spinner animation when processing tasks.
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Confirmation messages now appear on the upper right of the screen and display for a shorter amount of time to improve workflow.
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Exit warning messages have a consistent look with other messages across Accolade.
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Accolade 17.0 introduces 115 new icons to Layouts, and to Models at the Stage level.
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The Add New Project dialog is now updated to match the look and feel of the rest of the user interface.
These updates are designed to enhance the overall user experience in Accolade 17.0.
Receiving APO Server Access
In the 17.0 release, IT Administrators are now required to provide the software License Key for team members to access the APO server.
Phasing Out Deprecated Features
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The Line Chart by Columns feature in Charts and Reports is deprecated with the release of Accolade 17.0. Users are encouraged to utilize Line Chart Trends as an alternative option.
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As the user interface previously known as “Preview Area” is now the standard Accolade user interface, the toggle between the old “Classic” view and the new view, along with the “Classic” Accolade navigation itself, is deprecated.