Oracle Primavera Cloud Training

Thursday, April 6th, 2023

Thursday, April 20th, 2023

Wednesday, May 3rd, 2023

Course Syllabus

Course Syllabus Breakdown

Interface and Navigation

This lesson helps to shorten the learning curve of using Oracle Primavera Cloud. The class explains where to find all of the functions needed to begin the program. On the “Get Started” page, we explore the objects that can be used in the program. Students learn how to access any created objects such as Projects, Programs, Workspaces, and Portfolios. On the “Help” page, we look at ways to receive help for specific pages in the program. In the “User Menu,” we cover how to adjust user preferences such as time and date displays. We also cover how to download additional versions of the program like Primavera Professional and the Progressor Mobile app. Finally, we focus on the interface and navigation within different object types, such as projects and workspaces. Here, students will learn to navigate different object types and get familiar with the interface.

Creating Workspaces

In this lesson we cover how to create and adjust workspaces — the hierarchical structure of your organization’s business, objects, and processes. Workspaces is the enterprise structure that can be used to host and separate specific projects and project information- such as resources, codes, and calendars. We also cover how to create an overall workspace hierarchy. A workspace hierarchy should always be set up at the beginning of an Oracle Primavera Cloud configuration. This hierarchy will represent the different structural needs of your organization.

Creating Calendars 

This lesson focuses on creating workspace and project level calendars from the Summary & Settings app. Calendars can be created to show work and non-work days. They can also differentiate hours completed during projects, resources, or activities. You can create an unlimited number of calendars to accommodate different work patterns. In the lesson, we focus on creating a unique workspace calendar. We cover adding and using holiday lists, adjusting standard work hours, and setting exception dates. Once we have created the calendars, we cover how to share them. Students will learn how to choose whether the calendar is automatically or manually shared across the project’s workspace.

Creating Codes

Codes are attributes that can be used to categorize data objects based on their shared characteristics. Codes allow you to group, filter, and report vast amounts of information from different areas of your organization. In this lesson, we focus on creating codes at the workspace level using the Summary & Settings app. Unlimited activity codes can be created for a variety of different items such as projects, activities, resources, and roles. We will go over how to create activity codes and how to add code values for your workspace. These workspace-level activity codes will then be available for use in any project within the workspace.

Creating a Project

This lesson focuses on creating a project that will be used for the rest of the course. A project is a cohesive plan that is made to create a service, product or result- such as building a structure or performing project development. In this lesson we cover how to use the “Add Project” page. On this page you will learn how to add project details, assign user and group access, and add any companies responsible for work within the project. After you create your project, we will dive into project navigation. We will go over how to navigate the different apps that can be used for project management. Most importantly, we will cover the options available within the “Activities page.” Here, we can learn to track project activities, dates, costs and other details in your project.

Using Views 

Views allow you to adjust how data is displayed in Oracle Primavera Cloud. On the activities page, Views can be used to adjust the columns that display in the table, the bars available in the Gantt chart, and the tabs that display in the Activity Details section. There are many types of Views that can be used to quickly switch between interface configurations for different types of work. In this lesson, we focus on how to create new Views. We can do this by both adjusting the screen manually, and using the “Manage Views” screen. We also will cover how to adjust the columns, saved filters, grouping, sorting, and Gannt chart bar settings. All of these tools will help you create a new, unique view that can be saved to the User, Project, or Workspace. After you have created Views, we will look at how to use them to switch between different interface views that we will use later in the course.

Work Breakdown Structure

This lesson focuses on how to create the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) for your project. The Work Breakdown Structure is a hierarchical arrangement of work activities that divide the project into different phases. After you have created a WBS, it can be displayed on the activities table. This makes it much easier to add activities to your project. In the lesson, we go into the different steps of creating a hierarchical work breakdown structure on the WBS page. Here, you will learn how to add layers and adjust their positioning. The lesson will also cover how to adjust the view to group activities by WBS layer. This makes it easier to understand the schedule as activities are added.

Adding Activities

This lesson focuses on how to add activities to the project. The lesson covers the four main ways to add activities to the activities table. Students will learn how to adjust the activity information using the table cells and details section. We also cover the five different activity types within the program. For each type, students get to see real-world examples to help show when each type should be utilized. Once added, students will learn how to add activity data such as durations and calendars. This will help to show how these added details interact with one another and affect the overall project schedule.

Logic & Relationships

In this lesson, we focus on tying together each activity using relationships and logic. Students will have already learned how to add activity details to the schedule. This lesson will help them specify the order and sequence that their added activities should be performed. The logic portion of the lesson covers assigning activities with successor and predecessor activities and adjusting relationship types and lag values. After learning how to assign logic to the activities, the lesson covers scheduling the project using the Schedule tool. Using the Schedule tool will allow the program to run a forward and backward pass through the project schedule. The tool uses the Critical Path method of scheduling, which gives each activity a start and finish date based on the duration and relationship of the activity.

CPM, Constraints, & Lag

This lesson shows students how the Critical Path Method of Scheduling works to assign activity dates, calculate total float, and determine the project’s critical path. In the lesson, we look at examples of the Early Date, Late Date, and Total Float calculations. These calculations will help students understand how Oracle Primavera Cloud schedules a project. In the section, we will also cover constraints. Constraints require the activity to meet certain prerequisites in order to start or finish. The use of these constraints will affect the total float of the project. We also cover the effect of negative float on the project schedule and how to mitigate it. Lastly, we cover lag values and how to apply them to activities. Students will see examples of both positive and negative lag and how it can affect the rest of the schedule.

Schedule Errors 

In this lesson, students will learn how to deal with inevitable user errors, such as loops in logic and missed activities. Students will learn how to use the schedule log to view schedule information like activities without predecessor/successor relationships and activities past the data date. This lesson will also cover the Schedule Health Score. The Schedule Health Score evaluates the quality of your project’s schedule against set analysis metrics. Using the Schedule Health score as a guide, we will cover how to identify problems within the schedule and methods to fix them. By the end of this lesson, students will be able to ensure that the schedule is healthy, with no major errors that will impact the project’s completion.

Creating Resources & Roles

At this point, the schedule has met all requirements for the initial Baseline. In this lesson, students will focus on cost and resource loading the schedule to track project costs. Using the Resources app, students learn to create both project and workspace level resources. In this section, we cover the differences between the three resource types. Students will also learn how to associate details like availability and rates in the resource details section. The lesson covers how to create roles, which are personnel job titles or skills needed to execute the project. Once the roles are created, the lesson will go over how to associate specific resources with certain roles. This allows students to first role-load their schedule and later replace them with specific resources.

Assigning Resources & Roles

After we have created a pool of resources and roles, we can begin assigning them to activities to create a cost loaded schedule. This lesson starts by showing students how to create a resource loading view. A resource loading view allows you to view cost and unit information as resources are assigned. Next, we cover how to assign resources to activities in several different ways. This includes through the Resource Assignments tab of the details section or by using the activity’s context gear. Lastly, the lesson will go over how to assign roles to activities and how to staff those roles with resources later. This allows you to account for cost and units for the role, before a resource is chosen for the position.

Unit & Cost Analysis

Now that students have created a resource loaded schedule, they can analyze that cost and unit data to ensure that the project’s cost is within the required budget. This lesson focuses on how to view unit and cost information from the Project Usage screen, the Assignment List page, and the Analysis page. The Project Usage screen can be placed over the details section to display resource/ role usage over time. This can be viewed through spreadsheets and histograms. On the Assignment List page, we are able to view resource assignments, dates and durations, and rolled up units and costs. All can be analyzed along a timescale. Lastly, the analysis page can be used to monitor time-phased unit allocations of resources and roles. This can help to get rid of over allocation and under allocation of resources over time.

Creating Baselines

In this lesson, we cover how to create a baseline to record the project’s current information. A “baseline” is a copy of a project’s schedule data at the time the copy is made. Since this copy is a fixed representation of the project plan, it can be used as a benchmark to measure performance as the project progresses. The lesson focuses on the Manage Baselines window. The Manage Baselines window allows you to create an unlimited number of baselines and adjust their details. We also cover the four different types of baselines and their uses. This will help you determine which baselines to use in different scenarios and their uses within project management. After baselines have been created, we cover how to open and view them on the activity table. This can be done any time using the “Open Menu.”

Creating Scenarios

Along with baselines, Oracle Primavera Cloud allows you to create Scenarios. Scenarios are a copy of the Project Schedule that can be created to act as a “what-if” version. Using scenarios, you can create and manage multiple planning situations, requirements, response plans and delays. This will not affect the current schedule. This lesson focuses on how to create scenarios using the Actions menu. The scenarios you create can show how delays can affect the overall duration of the project. Just like with baselines, the lesson will show you how to use the Open menu to open scenarios on the Activities screen. It will also show you how to make necessary changes. Lastly, this lesson will cover how to use the Set As Current Schedule tool. The Set as Current Schedule tool allows you to replace the current schedule with any scenario or baseline that you have created.  

Status Updates

Now that the initial baseline schedule has been finalized, the project can begin. Once the project begins, so do status updates. In this lesson, we focus on teaching students how to perform status updates on the project schedule. They will also learn how to maintain a record of their updates. The lesson will begin by showing students how to create a view to be used specifically for status updates. We will look at the benefits of using the Progress Spotlight tool to highlight the update period on the Gantt Chart. Next, the lesson will show how to use both the Status tab and the activity table cells to adjust each activity’s progress and remaining work. The lesson will finish with learning how to go over the data date. The data date is the as-of date for the project schedule. After learning how to status the project, students can schedule it and adjust the data date. This allows them to view the progress of activities through the Gantt Chart bars.

Schedule Comparison

This lesson focuses on how to use the Schedule Comparison page. The Schedule Comparison page allows you to compare baselines, scenarios and specific points in the history of a project. Here, you can track the creation, deletion, and modification of activities. You can also track the activity values and settings between versions. In the lesson, students are shown how to compare the current project schedule with the original baseline version. This can show the differences between the planned dates and durations of activities with the actual dates and durations. In this lesson students will get to see all the methods available to compare project data across multiple versions. This includes the activity table, the Gantt Chart, the details section and the Schedule Variance analysis page.

Importing & Exporting

With our project completed, this lesson focuses on how to import projects into and export projects out of Oracle Primavera Cloud. In the lesson, we will first look at importing project data from P6 XML files into OPC using the Projects page. Next, we will look at how to export OPC projects to XML files. These files can then be imported into Primavera P6. This allows both programs to work with the same projects as needed. Lastly, students will learn how to download CSV spreadsheet templates. This will allow them to add project data to an Excel spreadsheet rather than directly to the program. Once imported back, the data added to the spreadsheet will adjust within the OPC project.

Print Settings

This lesson focuses on how to print project schedules from the activities page and adjust the Print Preview settings. In the Print Preview, you can adjust options for the document to be printed. You can adjust paper size, scaling, and timescale. You can also look at the header and footer settings where Gantt Chart legends, company logos and variable text fields can be added to the printed schedule.

Reports

Reports are user-defined, lean, non-graphical displays of project data. This lesson focuses on using the report Editor to create new reports that can be run on any open project. Here students will learn how to use both the Canvas View and the List View to add columns, set subjects, and create filters for the report. In the lesson, we will use the Critical Activities View as an example. With it, we will practice creating a report that displays only critical activities. After we have created this report, we will cover how to run reports- both from the Reports List and the Activities page.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a virtual training course?
A virtual training course is training that is conducted over a Zoom conference call. Users are able to watch and listen to the instructor as they work through the program. After each lesson is an activity, in which the attendees can get hands-on practice within the program. Students can communicate with the instructor throughout the training via their microphone, sharing their screen, or using Zoom’s chat function.

How long is the training course?
This is a 1 day course, with a duration of 8 hours at the most. Some courses may run shorter, depending on attendee’s needs.

What time is the training course?
Our open enrollment courses are scheduled from 8am – 4pm, PST. Private courses can be tailored to times that work for both the trainer and the attendees.

Are there any breaks throughout the training?
Yes, standard courses have several breaks scheduled throughout: a fifteen minute break in the morning, an hour-long lunch break at noon, and a fifteen minute break in the afternoon. Additional breaks can be added to the course as needed.

Do I need to have an Oracle Primavera Cloud license to attend the training?
No, we have 4 OPC licenses that will give you access to the program via our database. However, if you do have your own license or need training for more than 4 users, you can attend the training within your own environment.

Do I need a webcam or a microphone?
No. For this course, we keep webcams off. Microphones are recommended but not required – if you do not have a microphone, you can still communicate with the instructor using the chat function in Zoom.

Can I share my screen with my instructor?
Absolutely! We often utilize screen sharing to assist with walkthroughs and perform any troubleshooting.

Can I ask the instructor questions during the training?
Absolutely! This is an interactive, hands-on course, and students are encouraged to ask as many questions as needed throughout the course.

Will I receive any additional resources after the course is finished?
Yes, the instructor provides attendees with links to a variety of tools that can be used to review the information covered in the course. Additionally, the instructor will be available to answer any follow-up questions via email as needed.

Does the course include a certificate?
Yes. Attendees will receive a certificate upon completion of training.

Can I book a private course for my organization? Or a private, 1-on-1 course?
Yes, please feel free to contact us here to discuss.