Properly defining the Resource Breakdown Structure (RBS) is critical to the success of a Microsoft Office Project Server 2003 deployment. RBS codes affect the way that an organization manages security, access to project views, resource assignments, and reports. It is important to define your RBS early in the planning phase of your Project Server 2003 deployment.

Resource Breakdown Structure

Enterprise Resource Outline Codes are used to enforce standardization across all projects, tasks, and resources within an organization. You can define up to 30 custom Enterprise Resource Outline Codes in Project Server 2003. Because these Enterprise Resource Outline Codes are hierarchical, they help to facilitate detailed reporting and modeling of common organizational structures.

RBS is a predefined Enterprise Resource Outline Code in the Enterprise Global Template and is used in the same way that other Enterprise Outline Codes are used. You can use RBS to define the reporting relationships among users and resources in your organization. Project Server 2003 uses the relationships that are defined in RBS to simplify the management of access for users and groups. This is an integral component of resource management and application security.

You can use RBS to define five security rules when you are creating security categories in Project Web Access. RBS is also used in the following features: Resource Substitution Wizard, Portfolio Modeler, Portfolio Analyzer, Build Team from Enterprise in Microsoft Office Project Professional 2003 and Build Team in Microsoft Office Project Web Access 2003), and two default security categories, My Direct Reports and My Resources. If you plan to use these features and you plan to use the Enterprise Resource Pool, then you should consider using RBS.

 Note   For more information about Enterprise Outline Codes, see Working with Enterprise Outline Codes in the Microsoft Office Project Server 2003 Application Configuration Guide.

RBS and Resource Management

RBS affects the operation of enterprise project management in Project Server 2003 in two primary ways:

• By defining the rules for viewing and accessing projects and resources based on security rules in Project Server 2003.
• By defining resources and thus enabling you to use resource management tools such as the Resource Substitution Wizard, Portfolio Modeler, Portfolio Analyzer, Build Team from Enterprise (in Project Professional) and Build Team (in Project Web Access) to identify available resources for projects.

RBS affects resource management features in Project Server 2003 by doing the following:

• Limiting the number of resources that are available in the Resource Substitution Wizard.
• Limiting the number of resources that are available when you are using Portfolio Modeler.
• Enabling Portfolio Analyzer to use RBS as a way to filter resources.
• Defining relationships for security categories.

RBS and the Resource Substitution Wizard

The Resource Substitution Wizard enables you to optimize your projects by recommending the best available resources for tasks based on their skills, current workload, and availability. The Resource Substitution Wizard can make skills-based resource recommendations by analyzing resources across your organization or just within a department (as defined by RBS).

RBS enables the Resource Substitution Wizard to adjust the list of resources that are available for substitution. In the second step of the Resource Substitution Wizard, you are asked to identify the resources that are to be candidates for staffing projects. You can use resources in the projects that you are currently working on, specific resources, or resources from a specific section of the RBS.

When you are using the Resource Substitution Wizard, an appropriately defined RBS enables you to select only resources within a particular department or geographic location when you assign resources to tasks.

The Choose Resources page in the Resource Substitution Wizard.

RBS and Portfolio Modeler

You can use the modeling capabilities of the Portfolio Modeler feature to analyze projects in order to do the following:

• Determine whether resources are being over- or under-utilized.
• Determine whether it is possible to staff a new project.
• View the effects of strategic reprioritization.

When you are creating the model, you can use the resources that are currently listed in the projects that you are modeling, include a specified list of resources, or use the resources from a subset of the RBS. You can define the RBS that is included in the model either when you are building or manipulating the model.

Specifying resources by using RBS in Portfolio Modeler.

The Portfolio Modeler Property Toolbox.

RBS and Build Team

The Build Team tool is the best method for building a team when you are using Project Professional or Project Web Access. Build Team enables the selection of resources based on skills, availability, and other criteria, including RBS. Build Team enables a project manager or resource manager to filter resources based on RBS or to view resources grouped by RBS. RBS can also decrease the effort involved in finding appropriate resources in a large organization, especially when used in conjunction with skills and other resource information.

 Note   All Enterprise Resource Outline Codes can provide functionality similar to RBS when used in Build Team or Build Team from Enterprise.

The Build Team from Enterprise dialog box in Project Professional.

Build Team in Project Web Access is a tool that enables resource managers to use Project Web Access to add resources to a project. Any resource manager who is assigned the Assign Resource to Project Team permission in Project Server 2003 can build a team and can filter resources based on RBS. Build Team, when used with RBS, can simplify the effort required when adding resources to projects.

Build Team page in Project Web Access.

RBS and Portfolio Analyzer

You can use Portfolio Analyzer to analyze project and resource performance within a project or across multiple projects. Portfolio Analyzer uses Microsoft SQL Server 2000 online analytical processing (OLAP) services. Enterprise Outline Codes are transformed into dimensions in Portfolio Analyzer. Depending on the type of code, each Enterprise Outline Code helps you to analyze assignment, project, or resource data. RBS functions in the same way when you are using Portfolio Analyzer; resource and assignment RBS appear as members of the Field List. Any Enterprise Resource Outline Code can be used to provide functionality similar to RBS when used in Portfolio Analyzer.

 Note   Portfolio Analyzer does not support task analysis by default. For more information about how to customize Portfolio Analyzer to support working with task data, see the chapter Extending OLAP Cube Services in the Microsoft Office Project Server 2003 Software Development Kit (SDK) on MSDN.

Working with Portfolio Analyzer.