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PPM Insights: FIRST LOOK, New CA PPM 15.1 Functionality Improves User Adoption and Builds Business Value (part 1)

By Anon Anon posted Aug 26, 2016 04:08 PM

  

CA World 2016 is quickly approaching, and I’m very excited that this blog and I are part of the excitement. A hot topic this year is sure to be the next generation of CA PPM, version 15.1.

 

As a CA Services PPM Architect, I get to work with PPM practitioners at many organizations in many industries that span the gamut of PPM size and level of process and system maturity. This happens to be my passion, and I truly enjoy building and sharing my acumen. In this blog, I will discuss my experiences using the latest release of CA PPM, and if you’ve followed my previous posts, you know that I often focus on the tool’s usability aspects. I will do the same here. As to set expectation, I will discuss features that I believe will be interesting to this audience, so this is not a technical post. 

 

The first section is simple Timesheet Entry and Approval:

 

 

When timesheet users log in, their interface looks like the screen above. It includes several enhancements, including the ability to one-click “Create Timesheet,” toggle with arrows to previous and future weeks, and replicate posted timesheets in the new/current one. Updating, adding notes and submitting time are also improved:

 

 

Users populate tasks, ideas, incidents and other work just as they have in previous versions, but the user interface (UI) is more intuitive, as displayed above. As with previous versions, adjusting a submitted or posted timesheet is as simple as navigating back from the current location:

 

 

If the timesheet user also manages projects or has the ability to act within other system functions, he/she may simply go to “Home,” “Projects” or “Classic PPM”, shown below. Please note that my next blog will discuss the updated Project Management function, another enhanced feature:

 

 

Resource Managers who approve time will experience streamlined views:

 

 

In theses views, the user can select “Review & Approve” and see his/her team in a layout similar to a Scrum board, where the Resource Manager can see top-down timesheet status for the team and take action:

 

 

 

With the new UI, users have access to valuable visuals that allow them to give quick responses.

Usability is imperative to user adoption, which in turn drives an organization’s desired outcomes. As PPM system and process practitioners, we can greatly improve a solution’s value by helping people use the tool. I hope the information I provide here, and in my next blog about PPM’s Project Management function, helps you do just that.

 

For readers interested in more detail, CA World is the perfect time and place to see presentations and demos. If you haven’t registered yet, you can do so here. I also recommend this General Availability communication, and encourage you to participate in the best-in-class CA Communities site, where you have access to communications, events and support. In addition, you can reach out to CA for individualized business outcomes references and analysis. Feel free to post in the comments section of this blog or contact me directly via email and Twitter @PPMWarrior.

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