Partner & Sponsor News September 2012

Dear Members,

Here is an update from us with some current and, we hope, pertinent news from the good people who support us all and help us fund the cost of the PP servers and its 24/7 service agreements; our Sponsors. 

Regards... Planning Planet Team        Visited us recently?

Trade Partners...

Need to market to our business sector?

If you have a product or service which would benefit from global exposure on Planning Planet then why not contact us at the ppadmin@planningplanet.com

Contact a 51,000+ strong community!

Project Risk Analysis doesn’t have to be complicated…

Learn More >>

Request a Free Trial >>

Accurate project scheduling and realistic cost forecasting can be the difference between being a project hero and being responsible for project failure. Acumen Risk™ helps you effectively account for and proactively reduce risk exposure resulting in an accurate forecast you can rely on.

With Acumen Risk you can: -

• Risk-load and analyze your entire Primavera or Microsoft Project schedule easily and in seconds;
• Identify the uncertainty, logic and risk event contribution to high risk activities; and
• Evaluate multiple scenarios such as mitigated vs. non-mitigated, option A vs. option B, or even which network path carries the most risk driving out the completion date (e.g. facilities vs. pipeline).

Acumen Risk offers the most powerful analytics available, consistently accurate results combined with meaningful reporting you can actually use. It is the answer to eliminating the statistical and logical headaches of a traditional risk analysis software.

See Acumen Risk™ Live...

Acumen founder, CEO and inventor of Acumen Risk™, Dr. Dan Patterson, will provide an in-depth look at the tool during a webinar presentation.

Simplifying Risk Analysis with Acumen Risk™

Thursday, October 11, 2012 10:00 AM (CDT) – 11:00 AM (CDT)

Sign up to Attend >>

Guild Sponsors

We are approaching our final few Guild sponsor opportunities. The founding 20 companies will always benefit from their association with the Guild as without them, life would be extremely difficult!

As the weeks and months pass 'FOUNDER GPC SPONSOR' will be worth more and more...

Contact: ppadmin@planningplanet.com for a place in history AND competitive advantage through recognising and rewarding excellence.

As the organisation is growing and its internal processes, products and procedures are growing we find ourselves more and more overloaded, so if you wish to volunteer some time, passion and skills, please to get in touch with us.

Planning Planet is pleased to announce once more its’ participation and support of Project Challenge 2012.  

Planning Planet and The Guild of Project Controls will be based on stand 12 at the event.  We would like our traditional area to become a Project Controls zone and ask you for your support to this superb free event. www.projchallenge.com

Delivered by leading trainers, coaches and professional development specialists the new zone will deliver even more value for attendees.  It will focus on the various opportunities and training initiatives available to professionals to enable them to advance their careers. Open zones within the exhibition hall now include:

• Case Studies & Expertise Zone
• Masterclass Zone
• Solutions & Software Zone
• Learning and Professional Development Zone

You can download a printable PDF seminars guide here and attendees will have the opportunity to meet leading exhibitors and get right up to date with the latest tools, solutions and services.

If you have not already done so, we recommend you Register Online Today.

Opportunities in UK, Singapore and Australia.  Gleeds is a global consultancy specialising in the Construction and Property industries.

We are always looking to appoint Forensic Planning Experts to be based in London or Bristol in the UK, Singapore and Australia

The work involves both retrospective and prospective planning:

Retrospective Delivery of ‘Planning & Programming’ expert witness services involving forensic analysis. Persons appointed will be a specialist in planning and programming and familiar with Primavera P6, PowerProject and Microsoft Project with sound knowledge of delay analysis methodologies such as Window Analyses, Collapsed As-built etc.

Prospective Delivery of ‘Project Control’ services involving the development of baseline programmes, monitoring and updating progress, progress reporting, earned value analysis, risk analysis etc.

Project sectors include commercial, industrial, petrochemical, retail and leisure - to name but a few.

Read more... or to discuss any opportunities call Jackie Lister on +44 (0)1159 778000, or jackie.lister@gleeds.co.uk

The Synchro University Software Programme Doubles in Size

Synchro proudly announces that The Synchro University Software Programme has doubled in size over the last year, attaining its Phase 2 Participation Goal of 100 Universities. Formally launched in August 2011, 100 schools across 20 countries are current participants, including schools in the USA, UK, Ireland, Netherlands, Denmark, Indonesia, Russia, South Korea, Estonia, Thailand, United Arab Emirates  Canada, Greece, Puerto Rico, Israel,  Italy, Brazil, Slovakia, Australia, and now Jordan, courtesy of the program’s newest participant, Jordan University of Science and Technology.

“We at JUST value the cooperation with Synchro. We are excited that our students will start this semester with training and utilization of the 4D technology that Synchro is bringing to the space of project management studies. We look for a long lasting relationship with Synchro as this relationship will provide the opportunity for our students to be more competitive in the construction market, both in Jordan and Regionally”  Said Dr. Mousa Abu Orabi, Dean of Engineering and Technology at Jordan University of Science and Technology.

The Synchro University Software Program Grants Synchro Professional at no cost to the university or the student in support of a Construction Management and / or related course of study.  Software use ranges from individual Masters and PhD level research to student competitions to complete integration into a planning and scheduling course.  The participating schools have been provided, on an individualistic basis, anywhere from 5 to 150 licenses, including technical support as required to set up the software and access to Synchro’s complete library of training material.

“The Synchro University Software Program is a Win – Win for all parties involved” said Eric Olsen, VP Partner Support & University Programme Director.  “direct grant, cutting edge software for the University, product exposure to Synchro Professional for the student, and a ready source of skilled graduates for industry.  I look forward to our next 100 Universities”

For Additional Information contact Tom Dengenis, Synchro LTD, www.synchroltd.com

AMEC is one of the world’s leading engineering, project management and consultancy companies Our shares are traded on the London Stock Exchange, where the company is included in the FTSE 100 index and listed in the Oil Equipment and Services sector (LSE:AMEC).

Our goal is to deliver profitable, safe and sustainable projects and services for our customers in the oil and gas, minerals and metals, clean energy, environment and infrastructure markets, including sectors that play a vital role in the global and national economies and in people’s everyday lives. We design, deliver and maintain strategic assets for our customers, offering services which extend from environmental and front end engineering design before the start of a project to decommissioning at the end of an asset’s life.

Our customers, in both the private and public sector, are among the world’s biggest and best in their fields - BP, Shell, EDF, National Grid and U.S. Navy to name just a few. We are truly international, with major operations centres based in the UK and Americas and offices and projects in around 40 countries worldwide. We work in diverse and often challenging environments, from sub-zero temperatures in the north of Canada to the sweltering heat of the Persian Gulf.

We employ over 29,000 people – ranging from scientists and environmental consultants to engineers and project managers, dedicated professionals who take pride in their work. The AMEC Academy helps us to attract, develop and retain the best talent.

We are proud of our core values: delivering excellence to our customers by: believing in people, never compromising on safety and acting with integrity.  Visit us Online.

Hear how Primavera was used to plan the London Underground station capacity programme for the Olympics with Miles Ashley. And how it was used in other areas of Olympic logistics, contributing to the success of the games. Also get an update straight from Oracle OpenWorld from Yasser Mahmud, Oracle.

These sessions are included alongside many more in the agenda for this year's UK Oracle User Group Annual Primavera Conference 2012 - Special OpenWorld Update Event.

Join us and your fellow Primavera users on the 11th October in Central London. 

• View Pricing & Agenda & Register Here

The cost to attend also includes a year's membership of the UKOUG Primavera Community.

If you would like any more details please get in touch or go to the conference web pages.

Warm regards, Anna Crellin Primavera Project Manager UK Oracle User Group, 591-593 Kingston Road, Wimbledon, London, SW20 8SA Tel: +44 (0)20 8545 9687

Safran Software Solutions, Dovre Group Plc

Safran Solftware portfolio includes Safran Project, Safran Planner and Safran Web Access.

For information email juha.pennanen@safran.no

Safran Software Solutions AS, a Norwegian subsidiary of Dovre Group Plc. part of Dovre Group’s Software division, has signed a three year agreement, with an extension option for further two years, with Statoil for the maintenance and development of Statoil’s portfolio of Safran project planning and control software. Statoil’s software portfolio includes Safran Project, Safran Planner and Safran Web Access. These products are used in a broad range of project planning, follow-up and control applications, including Statoil’s overall activity planning for all installations on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, the planning of drilling activities, as well as studies and early phase planning for new field development projects.

“We are very pleased by the confidence that our largest client has in us (delighted for such a great show of confidence from our largest client). Our cooperation with Statoil has grown steadily year by year since our first project management/planning software implementation almost 15 years ago”, says Inge Nilsen, Operations Director at Safran.

“Close Cooperation with Statoil and other key players in the Norwegian oil and gas industry has been highly beneficial for Safran”, says Juha Pennanen, head of Dovre Group’s Software division. “Safran is in a powerful improvement cycle generated by active interaction with our clients. We are known for listening to our clients and for the ability to convert our clients’ improvement requests into product enhancements. This in turn strengthens our position in the market.”

For further information, please contact: Dovre Group Plc Juha Pennanen, Head of Software Tel. +358 (0)20 436 2000 or email juha.pennanen@safran.no

Full Monte Risk Analysis for Microsoft® Project

Barbecana’s Full Monte is a new schedule risk analysis software that integrates seamlessly with Microsoft Project 2007 and 2010. Full Monte utilizes the Monte Carlo simulation method, and is affordable, fast, and easy-to-use. With Full Monte, you’ll be able to better understand the risks involved in your projects and to minimize those risks as much as possible.

Barbecana’s new risk analysis software includes the following features: Read more...

Please take a look at Barbecana's Profile and join our Barbecana group; we are proud to promote them.

NEW RELEASE...

Sciforma 5.0 is a full-featured and an exceptionally easy to use enterprise Project and Portfolio Management software. Sciforma 5.0 is available in SaaS, hosted or on-premises.

• Project Portfolio Management - manage a portfolio of projects and have to choose the "right" projects to launch, according to your company strategy, risks, costs and constraints?
• Project and Resource Planning - deadlines to meet with milestones and budgets? Have to accurately commit to delivering your projects as well as managing a team and optimising workload?
• Time tracking - consolidate actuals for team members and control to timescales and project costs?

Thanks to a set of new, top class functions, this new version Sciforma 5.0 (formerly called PSNext) strengthens its simplicity, flexibility and accessibility.

See the latest version of Sciforma 5.0 in action thanks to a webinar of 60 minutes!

• Friday 12 October 2012 at 9:30 AM
• Thursday 25 October 2012 at 9:30 AM
• Duration : 1 hour
• Free registration On our website

Please take a look at Sciforma's profile and join our Sciforma group; we are proud to promote them.

Still reading?  good, good  :-)

Asta Powerproject at Project Challenge

If you are going to Project Challenge at Olympia come and see us there located at Stand 28. 

Free Asta Powerproject seminars in the USA

Our new USA distribution partner, Catalyst, are running a series of free seminars in several cities during October. To check dates in a city near you and secure a place see Catalyst USA Asta Seminars

Asta Powerproject webinar 9^th October

Sign-up for our FREE webinar to get an expert overview of how Asta Powerproject provides features and functionality that many users prefer to those of other project management software currently available.

The webinar will run for an hour on Tuesday October 9th between 11.00 a.m. and 12.00 p.m. (midday) GMT +1 and includes a question and answer session Webinar Registration

Visit Asta Construction to see why thousands of construction professionals throughout the world choose Asta Powerproject. 

See short demos of some of the key functionality available and read customer case studies...

Are you on our Asta User-Map? 

Get yourself on our map joining the group

Engineering Document Management and Control applications is McLaren’s sole specialty. With over a decade of industry experience we aim to build industry best practice into all our products while allowing the ability to configure to meet those customer and industry specific requirements. 

User adoption is key to the success of any system. To ensure minimum training and rapid user acceptance our applications are integrated with many of the familiar applications suitable for a variety of roles including project planners, document controllers, engineers, project managers.

Automatic generation of audit trails plus reporting and dashboards help keep a tight control of the progress of any project and / or its deliverable management processes.  Read more...

Pipeline Industry: Linear planning and TILOS is best practice

TILOS synchronizes all resources to work in one direction: To success!

Traditional scheduling software for the construction industry is dominated by: Primavera, Microsoft Project, Power Project and others. All of these solutions provide opportunities to develop a series of activities that are logically connected in a sequence from project start to finish. While these tools are very powerful, they are better designed for the construction of buildings and other facilities (power generating stations, refineries, etc.) and are not adequate for the constructability issues and demands of building linear project such as a pipeline, rail system or roadway. A linear project is defined as a series of crews moving in sequence along a ROW (right-of-way) during construction.

Read more how TILOS copes with the special demands for pipeline industry and how you can benefit from a clear and easy to read schedule in the field.  Read more...

SpiderProject

The SpiderProject Team keeps developing new and unique functionality in SpiderProject software...

• Projects that belong to the Project Portfolio remember portfolio restrictions...
• Users can create first, second, third and other level schedules aggregating project data from the detailed project schedules...
• Or more information look at www.spiderproject.com and do it frequently

Spider Project software is updated weekly. Spider Project is most powerful project, program and portfolio management software widely used in Russia and Eastern Europe.  Read more...   [ Company Profile ]

UK Recruitment Watch...

Welcome to the September edition of the planning recruitment watch, brought to you by Project Resource Ltd. We bring you the latest trends in planning recruitment across the UK, helping you plot your next career move.

August was a slow month for Planning and Project Controls recruitment across much of the country, with many people taking annual leave to enjoy the Olympics or to be with their families during the school holidays.

Demand in the Midlands and Anglia however remained particularly strong, bucking the trend across the rest of the country largely due to a dramatic rise in requirement for intermediate planners with utilities experience. We are also experiencing high volumes of calls for planners with security clearance to work on a variety of defense projects on both a permanent and contract basis.

As you may have read in the news over the past month the National Infrastructure Plan is receiving considerable attention from the government and looks to be in an excellent position to be driven forward over the coming months. It is therefore no surprise that intermediate and senior planners with infrastructure project experience of all kinds, though particularly highways, rail and heavy civils, are in high demand on both a permanent and contract basis.

In the Thames Valley and the South West of England demand continues for planners and project controllers of all levels with power generation and utilities backgrounds. In addition, we are seeing a rise in the number of opportunities for those with experience working on large scale renewable energy schemes such as off-shore wind farms.

Recruitment in the North of England and Scotland, whilst not as high as it was in July, is still strong. In the North West we are principally recruiting contract planners with Nuclear experience whist in the North East the focus has shifted to oil & gas. It is also worth mentioning that there has been a noticeable increase in demand for risk planners in recent weeks thus we would be extremely keen to speak to any risk planners looking for a new position.

If you are a planning or project controls professional and are considering your next career move, please visit our website today, we may have the perfect role for your experience and requirements. We also offer a referral scheme that rewards you for your recommendations, click here for details.

Got down this far!?  We do hope that along the way you found some added-value? 

Thank you...