Frequently Asked Questions

What is p2msp?

p2msp is an add-in companion toolkit to Microsoft Project, which introduces new forms and functionality enabling key Prince2 techniques to be performed directly within MS Project. The specific Prince2 areas supported are;

• Product based planning
• Project Risk Management
• Change Control (Project Issue Management)

Why does p2msp only currently support those three specific components of Prince2?

For three main reasons;

• these areas add up to a huge share of the Project Management effort throughout a Project
• these aspects form a logically linked 'whole', because in combination they cover the majority of the tasks to be found in any project plan
• experience shows that these areas present the most difficulty in applying Prince2, and can be made significantly easier with p2msp

Why is p2msp an add-in, rather than a standalone product?

We wanted to give you a fully integrated top-down environment, where every task on a project plan is derived from its higher origin, and remains dynamically linked to its origin (such as a task related to a product description, or a risk form).

We also wanted you to have an end-to-end process toolkit, meaning (for planning) from initially defining the topmost product on a PBS through to finally balancing resources on the task-level plan, or (in risks) from initial risk identification through to closure after analysis, prioritisation, and planning and executing successful mitigation actions.

We recognised that the last thing anyone needs is yet another task scheduling & resource balancing package, hence we made p2msp an integrated add-in to the world leader in that field, Microsoft Project.

Then why not make p2msp a standalone product, with import & export to Microsoft Project (and other packages)?

This is a commonly used approach in other planning tools, however it has one fundamental flaw - you can normally only use just it once on a project.

To explain further, this method works fine at the start of a project - you can use a tool to help build your plan, then export from it into your favourite scheduling package. But what happens if you need to make changes further along the road, when you have updated your plan in your favourite package to record progress, and adjusted the tasks, timescales and resources?

• You can't export a new plan, you need the updated data in the one you already have
• You can't retrofit the tool from your current plan, because it doesn't have that capability or the necessary data.

It's a Catch-22 situation, and your only options from there on are to manually maintain both the plan and the tool independently, or more likely to abandon the tool to history...

So how does p2msp's integrated approach differ?

Firstly a couple of fundamental points about p2msp;

• p2msp runs 'inside' Microsoft Project. The new forms and functionality are accessed via a new toolbar directly within MS Project
• p2msp doesn't have its own database, it works in real-time directly on MS Project data. For example, as you create and amend your Product Breakdown Structure using p2msp's graphical PBS screen, behind the scenes p2msp is automatically creating and amending tasks in your MS-Project plan that represent your PBS

Now THAT is seamless integration!

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