{"id":13980,"date":"2020-06-10T09:52:57","date_gmt":"2020-06-10T16:52:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/projexia.ca\/?p=2166"},"modified":"2020-06-10T09:52:57","modified_gmt":"2020-06-10T16:52:57","slug":"multi-project-resource-scheduler-creating-an-add-on-to-facilitate-project-management","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/projexia.ca\/multi-project-resource-scheduler-creating-an-add-on-to-facilitate-project-management\/","title":{"rendered":"Multi Project Resource Scheduler: creating an add-on to facilitate project management"},"content":{"rendered":"

Earlier this month, Projexia launched MPRS \u2013 Multi Project Resource Scheduler<\/a>, an add-on to SAP Business ByDesign that boosts its Project Management capabilities.
\nOur Innovation Team, here at Projexia, has been working relentlessly to come up with a solution tailored to the needs of project-based companies. The hard work earned us SAP\u2019s Top Innovation Partner Award!<\/p>\n

So, what does the add-on exactly do, and what\u2019s the story behind it? We interviewed Patrick Levesque, Director of Innovation, Cloud Solutions at Projexia, to find out.<\/p>\n

Q: How did you come up with the idea for creating MPRS?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A: The idea came from various conversations with our clients and particularly those with advanced project management needs. Most of the time, they were searching for a new ERP system and were evaluating SAP Business ByDesign because of its good fit with project-based companies. However, we realised that ByDesign had a solid foundation for project management but was lacking advanced functionalities in terms of resource management.
\nAs an example, one of our customers wanted to be able to plan its resources daily and have visibility on who is available when. They needed a planning board for their resources.<\/p>\n

We decided to move on with SAP Business ByDesign and started working on an add-on that would offer the functionalities that the market needed. The MPRS project was born.<\/p>\n

Q: Was it something tailored for one client at the time, or did you take a multi-client approach?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A: Right from the start, we developed MPRS with a multi-client approach, knowing that it would help all project-based companies who are using SAP Business ByDesign.
\nWe based our work on the industry\u2019s best practices and on ByDesign, which is also multi-client and multi-tenant.
\nWe brainstormed a lot with our client XYZ Technologies<\/a>, who helped us with the whole project and saw the added value they could get from the application.<\/p>\n

Q: What were the first development steps?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A: At first, we had to think of a tool to develop MPRS in.
\nWe compared what was available on the market and we decided to use SAP Cloud Platform.<\/p>\n

We designed MPRS\u2019s minimum value: \u201cWhat minimum value should the application have to answer our client\u2019s need as well as SAP Business ByDesign users\u2019 needs?\u201d.<\/p>\n

We had a lot of brainstorming sessions on functional design, everybody had great ideas and it took us a while to sort out what should and shouldn\u2019t be included in MPRS.
\nWe all knew that the main focus was resource management, but we had to define just how far we wanted to go with it.<\/p>\n

Q: How did you build your team, and who\u2019s behind MPRS?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A: When we started working on MPRS, we only had two resources working on it: a manager and a solution architect, who built a proof of concept.
\nSAP was very enthusiastic about the whole project, and we decided to create a bigger team, fully dedicated to MPRS :<\/p>\n