APM 1.8 Release Notes

Summary

New Features

Role-Based Task Assignment

This feature simplifies assigning workflow tasks to users for project managers by allowing Templates to assign Tasks by role. These can be further adjusted in Project Setup for a new (Draft state) Project created from that Template. The system automatically assigns appropriate team members to those tasks (applying those users that have been added to the project Team according to their Roles).

If more than one user is defined for a Role, other users with the Task's assigned Role can (Start) work on the task (i.e. claim it ). The Task is thereby assigned to that user, but need not remain only with them. Specifically, this assigned can re-assign or transfer the task to one of the other users with that role, or one of those other same-role users can “claim” the Task and assign themself - this provides flexibility for situations when an assigned user is unable to continue working on a Task assigned to them. Managers with Setup access can always override Task assignments via Project Setup.

Program Managers no longer must try to get task level updates from each team member as Actify APM now automatically tracks task completion based on the work performed on the task’s outputs. Users can apply their own progress updates to improve status accuracy and keep the team aligned.

Automatic Task Progress

The system now automatically calculates a Task Completion % based on activity performed on the Task, such as satisfying Outputs. Task Owners can (optionally) override the system-calculated value to provide a more accurate value.

The degree of completion is determined for each of the Task's Outputs and the aggregated to an overall score for the Task.

Azure AD and Single Sign-On

For Customers using Microsoft Azure Active Directory (Azure AD), Admins can provision user accounts in APM from Azure AD and enable Single Sign-on (SSO) for those users. Once enabled, any Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) regime setup in Azure AD will also apply to APM users.

Important: Contact Actify to enable the Azure AD Configuration feature and coordinate transition to this operating mode.

Once Actify has enabled this,

• First, The Azure AD administrator sets up the Azure AD connection for the Actify system using their Microsoft account.

• After that, (user) Admins can then:

  • Admins can create (new) user accounts in APM by selecting appropriate users or groups of users from the Azure Active Directory. These accounts can then be authenticated at sign-on with Azure AD, using applicable MFA rules. User access is then governed by Azure AD and will therefore cease if their Azure AD account is no longer valid.

  • To facilitate transition, existing (local) user accounts defined in APM with matching entries can be synchronized with Azure AD so that their identity, password and access is thereafter governed by Azure AD.

Improvements

Enhanced Scheduling and Improved Project Setup

When preparing the schedule for a new (Draft) project, managers can use the Timing view in Project Setup to create a different candidate schedule and compare it to the current schedule, providing an easy and effective way to explore and evaluate the best schedule for the project before making it Active.

Using the Schedule/Reschedule button, PMs can schedule the project Forwards from a Start Date, or Backwards from a preferred End or Completion Date, and review the proposed (candidate) timeline in a before/after dual view and either Save it to the database or cancel and explore other options, . Individual tasks can be re-scheduled to adjust the plan.

In addition, project-wide delays or expedite offsets can be applied (using the Delay/Expedite button in the Timing view) to finalize the plan, for example to add a 2-week delay from a date mid-way in the schedule to allow, say for a planned plant closure, or to try and bring in a key milestone earlier in time. (Delay/Expedites can also be applied on an Active project).

Consolidated Messaging

Project initiation notifications have been consolidated into one email to each user assigned to that project and/or its tasks, which is sent when the project status is changed from Draft to Active.  

This consolidated notice provides the project specifics and a summary of all the tasks that user has been assigned to, along with their target start and finish dates.

Role-Sensitive Timing Chart

The Timing view is now role-sensitive and will highlight only those tasks associated with the selected Assignee, with the remaining tasks less prominently displayed to provide context, to provide a “My Tasks” view.

The Timing chart has also been added to Project Set Up so that program managers now have an immediate visual view of the project schedule when modifying the project workflow.

Disabled User Indication

The Dashboards and Task views now clearly indicate If or when a User on the Project Team has been disabled.

Note that Users can be disabled directly by an Admin or via Azure AD (if configured for synchronization with Azure AD).

Fixes

Key Fixes in this release are below. A detailed list is available on request.

Known Issues 

Key Known Issues with this release are below. A detailed list is available on request.

Note: A screen refresh or repeating the action after a refresh is often a successful workaround for apparent issues.