Microsoft Project 2013 - Training and Licensing Explained - Sujata Computers Pvt Ltd

Hi!

A lot has happened in last one week for Sujata - We started our operations in Singapore which is our second overseas operations after Dubai. Secondly, we have been appointed as a distributor by Tally for Maharashtra State. And lastly, we organized two wonderful events for our customers in Pune and in Kolhapur fully sponsored by Fortinet, thanks to Fortinet team for that. 

Today is a pleasant day here in Pune and as I write, India has managed to bat against South Africa as per the plan to put up a decent score in the Cricket WC 2015. That makes my day better. Question comes to my mind if BCCI uses Microsoft Project to manage Indian Cricket Team's plan for the match, This blog is about Microsoft Project licensing and the training that you can opt for. Training will be done by Sujata's team if you are not buying Software Assurance services along with the licenses. 

Sujata Computers Pvt Ltd is a 14 years old Microsoft Gold Partner and a Microsoft Cloud Accelarator Partner headquartered in Pune, India.

What are the editions and version available in Microsoft Project?

Currently, Microsoft offer Project 2013 as a subscription license that is cloud and as a perpetual license.

If you are buying Microsoft Project for less than five users, I recommend you to buy retail pack license as it will be cheaper as compared to Volume License. 

Microsoft offers three different editions under on-premise perpetual licenses for Project Portfolio Management (PPM) and everyday work, enabling you to effectively execute and achieve strategic priorities. 

Perpetual licenses editions are  - 

1. Project Professional - This license type is recommended to a 'Project Manager'. Someone who wants to allocate resources to the project, prioritize work, define timeline etc. 
2. Project Standard - This license type is recommended to a 'Team Member' or someone who's managing project as an 'individual' and there is no team. Someone who is working on a project and updating the status of the tasks that have been assigned to him/her. Someone who manages only tasks and not a team or not a whole project. 
3. Project Server-CALs - Like any other Microsoft server product licensing, Project server is recommended to be bought along with the CALs (Client Access License) equal to either number of users or device accessing the Project Server. 


Important Note - Pre-requsite for Microsoft Project Server license deployment is - 1) Microsoft SharePoint Enteprise Server-CALs licenses 2) Microsoft SQL Server-CALs licenses. Without these two licenses, Microsoft Project Server licensing does not get complete.  

This license type is recommended in a scenario where there are multiple projects need to be collaborated with each other and there is information being shared between different projects. 
So in this case apart from pre-requisite licenses, client would need to buy 1 Project Server license for 1 server deployment each, 1 CAL for either device or user each, 1 Project Professional license for each of the project manager, 1 Project Standard license for each of the team member. Note - Project Professional license do come in bundle offering with CAL license so client does not need to buy CAL separately for Professional license assuming you are buying under Microsoft Volume Licensing. 

Cloud editions of Microsoft Project 2013 are - 

1. Project Online - Usage wise this one is very much equivalent to Project Server on-premise but it is hosted out of Microsoft Cloud/Data-center so one does not have to deploy or manage. One also does not need to procure pre-requisite licenses which can save lot of cost to the client. All this means is that client does not have access to the hardware of Project and hence the direct access to the database. This is recommended to the client who does not mind having data stored at Microsoft's data center and does not want to invest into Project Server licensing but wants to use functionality of it. Also, does not mind logging into browser to use Project. I have elaborated technical difference between Project Server and Project Online later in this blog. 
2. Project Pro for Office 365 - Client can add Project Professional license to Office 365. Functionality remains same as Project Pro on-premise as mentioned above. It is meant for 'Project Manager'. It has to be used through a web-browser.
3. Project Online with Project Pro for Office 365 - As the name itself suggests, this one is a license that gives you functionality of both Project Online and Professional. This is recommended for a 'Project Manager' using Project under Project Online subscription. That means organization has subscribed for Project Online and the user is a manager who will be creating and managing the project in it so he also needs Project Professional functionality.

Whether to buy Cloud/subscription license or on-premise/perpetual license - 

Cloud is recommended for customers who are looking for - 

1. yearly or monthly payment options
2. always wants to use latest version released by Microsoft

Perpetual licenses are recommended to the customers who want to do one-time investment and do not necessarily want to use the latest version of Project always. They can still opt for Software Assurance (SA) if they want to take the version upgrade at a later point of time after the purchase of the licenses.

Project Online vs. Project On-Premises. Which should I choose?

If you are looking for an environment where you do not have to worry about technical maintenance then consider a Project Online environment.

If you are looking for an environment where you can have SQL query access to the databases and where you have full control over the content then consider an On-Premises Solution.

The chart below shows some additional differentiators between Project 2013 On–Line and Project 2013 On – Premises environments.

Key differentiators between Project Server 2013 On Line and Project Server 2013 On Premises

 

Differentiator	On Line	On Premises
Administrative backup and restore for Projects (used to restore a slightly older version of a project without pulling a tape and impacting an entire organization)		x
Archival Environments to retain data		x
Multi-Dimensional Olap Cubes		x
Direct access to SQL Server Databases and OLAP Databases		x
Direct SQL Query Access to Project Server and SharePoint Databases		x
Team Foundation Server Connectivity (including 2012) (Note: The version of Project used must have the Team Foundation Server extensions installed. These extensions are not present, out of the box, in the online version.)		x
Standard Windows Installation (MSI)		x
Event Handlers can use both full trust event handlers and remote event receivers		x
Full access to PSI and CSOM		x
Access to ULS Logs By default ULS Logs are located at  C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\15\LOGS directory		x
As a result of full access to the databases, PSI and CSOM there is more flexibility for Business Intelligence, Dashboards, and Reports		x
Recycling Bin for documents, projects, and sites        Note: –Caution should be exercised when emptying the recycle bin. Once a project or a site is deleted from the recycle bin. It is deleted (gone) and cannot be recovered.	x	x
Project Web Applications (Add applications to PWA)	x	x
SharePoint Permission Mode or ProjectServer Permission Mode	x	x
Monitoring Enhancements	x	x
SharePoint Designer for workflows	x	x
No database administration	x
Security handled by Microsoft	x
Latest and greatest service packs and cumulative updates	x
Click-to-run installation	x
No direct access to SQL Server and OLAP Databases (Reporting is done via OData)	x
Access using CSOM (Note: PSI interfaces do not support O- Authentication)	x
Event Handlers require remote event receivers	x
Extensibility is accomplished via the use of the SharePoint Extensibility Model – (as a result there is no full-trust code)	x

Download Training Options Available with Us - 

https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=C9095231E7A1B4D4!132&authkey=!AH_PF8iapIOZhhs&ithint=folder%2cpdf


More Resources :

1) Project Licensing Microsoft Home Page - https://products.office.com/en-us/project/microsoft-project-licensing
2) Project Top Features - https://products.office.com/en-us/Project/project-top-features
3) Videos and demos of Microsoft Project 2013 - https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff628958.aspx
4) Feature and Function comparison between Project Online and Project Server - https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn268595.aspx



Hope this has given you a decent idea about Microsoft Project licensing and how to choose the correct edition for yourself. Still, if you have any doubt, please feel free to call me or write to me. I will be happy to provide you free guidance - 

Paresh Lodha
+91-7276000222
Paresh.Lodha@sujataindia.com

Introduction To Office365 - Administration Center - Sujata Computers Pvt Ltd

Hi!

We, Sujata Computers Pvt Ltd are one of the leading Microsoft Gold Certified and Cloud Accelerator Partner. We are also one of the few Cloud Deployment Partner of Microsoft in India.

We believe in guiding our clients use Office365 effectively so that the productivity of users increases.
Today, we will walk you through Administration center of Office365 (the way it looks as on 13 Nov 2014). Hope it will help you in understanding the value Office365 can deliver to your organization.
Contact us - +91-7276000222 | paresh.lodha@sujataindia.com if you have queries and I would be happy to assist you without any cost.

Introduction

·         Office 365 - Admin Center

·         Dashboard

·         Domain Setup

·         Users and Groups

·         Service Settings

·         Service Health

·         Reports

·         Support

Office 365 - Admin Center

Microsoft Office 365 is a cloud-based service for businesses of varied sizes that helps them create SharePoint sites to share documents and other data, Exchange mails, Lync unified communication, etc. Instead of installing and deploying SharePoint Server 2013, Exchange Server 2013 and Lync 2013 on premises, organizations can sign to SharePoint Online to provide employees with collaboration and information management capabilities that work with familiar Office applications.

To administer, manage and monitor Office 365 with SharePoint Server 2013, Exchange Server 2013 and Lync 2013 for an organization, we need a one stop location administrator. Microsoft has provided us Admin Center for Office 365, where administrator can control SharePoint Server 2013, Exchange Server 2013, Lync 2013 and other relevant products of Office 365.

The Admin Center is the central location for all the corresponding components of Office 365, SharePoint, Lync and Exchange, etc. The Global administrator users of the Microsoft Online Services Portal will have permissions to manage service licenses, users and groups, domains, and subscribed services.

 

 

The Admin Center page provides links for managing licenses and general system configuration. You can check on planned maintenance, enter a service request, and verify billing information. The first user created when the account was set up is configured as a Global administrator role. This gives them the ability to set up and manage additional user accounts as well as general account configuration. In the later part of the article, we will see how to create and add new roles and users.

Dashboard

The Global administrator users will be having the dashboard view of Microsoft Office 365 environment. The following screen capture will show the dashboard view and some of the key areas have been highlighted.

Let’s see what the key areas highlighted in are with numbers in the screen capture.

1.       Navigation links to all key areas to manage and administer Office 365 environment.

2.       Service Overview will show service health, inactive email users and service requests.

3.       Based on the Service Overview option user can have the corresponding information.

4.       Shortcut URL to administrators for managing Office 365 environment.

5.       Admin link to specific service SharePoint, Exchange and Lync, etc.

Domain Setup

Office 365 also provides an Enterprise solution that is prepared towards larger and more grown organizations. This kind of organization will likely already have an on-premise solution and want to move to a cloud-based solution. Here in this section, we will setup the Office 365 for our organization.

Here, we will see how to connect to existing domain and active directory details will be synced and reused with Office 365. Here, the administrator will have two options to setup the domain and build the platform in the Office 365 cloud for the organization. The following are the two options for the domain setup.

·         Basic

·         Custom

In the following screen capture, you will visualize how the setup page will be for administrators.

Basic: The basic setup option is mainly focused on for the organizations who wanted to create new users and mailboxes in the cloud, and can import the emails to cloud and make it up to run with minimal effort.

Custom: The custom setup option is for migrating on-premises messaging systems. Basically for large or complex IT environments to Synchronize directories, Deploy Active Directory Federation Services, single sign-on, set up hybrid messaging with Exchange Server, Support shared address book and messaging coexistence with an on-premises email system.

Here in this demonstration, we all see how to setup using the basic option. Now click on the basic setup button as referred in the following screen capture image to proceed further.

Now you will be navigated to the next page with list of all the configuration activity listed out with navigation hyperlinked. The following is the screen capture for your reference.

·         Add a domain.

·         Add users, assign licenses, and create mailboxes.

·         Help your users get set up.

·         Configure your domain for email delivery.

·         Import user data (Optional).

·         Lync Online and your SharePoint team site are ready to use.

Adding a domain is the first step. Only domain names that you own can be added to the domain list. If you don't own a domain name, you can purchase one from a domain registrar, and then return to add it to Office 365. Here in this demonstration, we’re adding a domain name called ‘agcindia’ to the domain list.

Once after adding the domain name, the next step will be the domain verification page. One should be the owner of the domain, which is about to be added in the Office 365.

Next is the verification process, to begin the verification process, we should add a specific record to the DNS records at your domain registrar. We then look for the record to verify ownership. Each DNS provider supports different features, so we provide two ways that you can verify ownership: by creating a TXT record or an MX record.

Once after all the verification process is completed, the user will be navigated to the domain list page. Where you can manage multiple domains; edit, troubleshoot, and DNS settings, etc.

Users and Groups

Users and groups help the global administrator to manage users profiles, security groups, bulk import users, etc. Let’s start exploring options available in the users and group section.

Here in the above users and group section, you can see the users listed under the active users section. First let’s see how to add single user using add option '+' highlighted in the above screen capture.

Fill in the mandatory details as listed in the above screen capture, the additional details are optional to fill in to create user.

For the same user, we can provide the administrator role based on our need. Just select the Yes option under the Assign Role and greyed ‘Select a Role’ drop down list will show you a list of different administrator roles available.

Next step will be assigning the license for the user under the Office 365; we can assign users to specific set of the products under the Office 365 environment. Here in the following screen capture, you can see for my account; I no longer have any more licenses to assign for the specific user. In this case, the user will be created in the Office 365 cloud with no products to access in the Microsoft Office 365.

Now let’s see how the groups are created and managed in the Office 365. To create new security group, use the add option highlighted in the below screen capture. 

Fill in the display name for the user group and description is the optional column for your user group. Now click save to proceed to the next step of creating security group.

Now the following screen will show the list of users under the available users. Select the users that you need to add to the security group and click Add.

Service Settings

Service Settings is the area in which the administrator will be able to find the key administrator activity link and information. For the Exchange Server online, administrator can see the links referencing, policies to protect email from spam and malware, and help keep your data confidential, mail flow and auditing.

Creating site collection link, Lync-to-phone, dial-in conference, password expiry policies and other user software links to download and install in the user computer.

Service Setting contains the four main sections.

·         Mail

·         Sites

·         Voice Conferencing

·         User Software

·         Passwords

Mail – In this option, all the configuration falls under the Exchange on Office 365. We will study in detail about the same in the next article, and will explain this option under the Exchange admin center.

Sites – In this option, the administrator will be able set up the Site Collection to share and publish information online.

Voice & Conferencing – In this option, all the configuration falls under the Lync on Office 365. We will study in detail about the same in the next article, and will explain this option under the Lync admin center.

User Software – Here you can find a list of software for download and installed directly to your laptop or personal computers. You can see Office 2013, SharePoint Designer 2013 and Lync 2013. Office 2013 will help you to create, edit office related files like Document, PowerPoint, Excel, etc. SharePoint Designer 2013 helps to customize SharePoint sites. Lync 2013 is a tool for instant message, voice and data communication.

Passwords – Here, the administrator can manage the password expiration policy for the users under your Office 365.

Service Health

Service health will provide the complete dashboard view for all the services running under your Office 365. The view will contain the status for today with past six day’s status history.

Reports

In the reports section, the administrator will be able to view the site usage, site usage, activity log and filter summary of the mails, sites and other related contents. On the Reports page, the Overview tab has a list of reports you can view. Click other tabs to see reports for relevant categories.

To view reports about how your organization is using the Office 365 services, go to the Office 365 admin center, and click Reports in the left pane. You can use information from these reports to identify issues, filter data, and download data into Excel.

The reports overview page contains related reports for the following four main categories:

·         Mail

·         Protection

·         Rules

·         DLP (Data Loss Prevention)

Let’s explore each one of the categories with all reports offered to administrators.

Mail: The mail section covers three reports for the administrator Mailbox login activity, New and deleted mailboxes and New and deleted groups.

Mailbox login activity: The number of active and inactive mailboxes over time.

New and deleted mailboxes: The number of mailboxes deleted, created, and archived by day, week, month, and year.

New and deleted groups: The number of groups that were created and deleted by day, week, month, and year.

Protection: Shows inbound, outbound, malware detection mail traffic, based on how the mail is filtered, such as spam, virus, and transport rules. The following are list reports offered under the protection category filtered inbound mail, filtered outbound mail, inbound spam filtered, inbound malware detection summary, outbound, malware detection summary, top malware and outbound suspicious filtering summary

Rules

When you click a report name, you will see a report graph. You can:

Filter the data: To see only the data you are interested in, use the drop-down filters above the graph, or the time-span indicators below the graph.

See related information: For some reports, there will be additional information in a table below the graph. In addition, related reports are linked to from the thumbnail-sized pictures to the right of the main graph.

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