Welcome to StratEx’s documentation¶
StratEx is a web application enabling Managers to control the delivery using customer’ processes enforced by conventions shared amongst the team members.
StratEx brings focused collaboration between business, consultancy and software development teams.
A bit of history¶
In 2006, a large Project for the European Commission starts. It implies about 30 Member States willing to exchange sensitive data to protect the citizens, find stolen items like cars, trucks or boats…
The project involves many consulting companies in order to collect the business and technical requirements, develop the applications and setup the infrastructure as well as ensure a smooth quality assurance.
For that reason, e-DTM is born (former name of StratEx).
Our team of 25 consultants had to process more than 9000 deliverables over 7 years; meaning keep track of the delivery, quality check and storage of all those deliverables including reports, white papers, business & technical analysis, acceptance & activity reports as well as the meeting minutes. We included the management of risks, contracts, payments, missions etc.
All those activities couldn’t have been managed using neither spread sheets nor MS Access database. We decided to develop from scratch an application. We integrated the best practices from PRINCE2 & PMBOK and created templates of documents that could be reused during the lifetime of the Project.
End of 2010, one member of the team left the company he was working for in order to create a Spin-off of the StratEx and called it StratEx for Strategy Execution to make it available to a bigger audience.
In 2013, we moved the software on the Cloud in order to reach a bigger audience.
The application has been used by an agency from the European Commission, several Spin-offs from the “Université Libre de Bruxelles” and we are talking with banks.
Guided tour¶
This guided tour walks you through the steps necessary to setup a Project until its acceptance.
Note
The “Take tour” is a rather Spartan but a careful read will prove that the minimalist documentation is sufficient for most users.
Tip
Buttons “Next” and “Previous” are available at the end of each page to facilitate your journey through the documentation
The main documentation for the site is organized into a couple sections:
In a nutshell¶
StratEx in a nutshell¶
StratEx which stands for Strategy Execution, is a web application enabling Managers to control the Project delivery using customer’ processes enforced by conventions shared amongst the team members.
StratEx addressing at least the following needs:
- Contract management:
- How to prove that a payment claim is legitimate?
- Do we own acceptance and activity reports to support the claims of our subcontractors?
- Document management:
- Do the PMOs know the status of the deliverables?
- Where do his/her colleagues or subcontractors have stored them?
- Project management:
- Is your team aware of all the deadlines?
- Do your team follow the internal/customer’ methods & standards?
Customer Problem¶
In 2006, a huge Project for the European Commission starts. It implies 30 Countries willing to exchange sensitive data to protect the citizens; 10 consulting firms have to deliver: business & technical requirements, the software, the support, the quality assurance.
Our job: ensure a smooth quality assurance but none solutions did fit our needs: assure the quality of 9.000 deliverables over 7 years.
We decided to develop our solution: StratEx
Products & Services¶
- StratEx is proposed as a Public Cloud, Private Cloud or an On Premise Web application.
- StratEx is a perfect fit with its co-opetitors Microsoft Project, CA Clarity, Oracle Primavera EPPM and Microsoft SharePoint.
- StratEx integrate seamlessly with Document management systems like MS SharePoint, EMC Documentum, HP Autonomy
- Our users can store their data on our servers or keep their files on Microsoft One Drive, DropBox, Google Drive their NAS
Public SaaS, Private SaaS and On-Premise application¶
Due to the aspect of our SaaS solution, customers can be located anywhere in the world.
We are focusing primarily on European based self-employed up to large firms whatever their size. That’s a B2B business even if Citizens may use StratEx.
We target (A) Firms requesting grants and subsidies, (B) Firms who need to control their deliveries for legal, contractual reasons and (C) Firms delegating their PM.
Business model¶
- Public Cloud solution (also named SaaS) is based on subscription from 20 to 40 EUR per month per user
- Private Cloud solution is based on setup cost + subscription from 20 to 40 EUR per month per user
- On Premise solution is priced based on licensing fees, consulting services and three-year maintenance contracts
Competitive advantage of StratEx¶
- Focus on the contract
- Propose Naming conventions to ensure a smooth Document management
- Propose Directory structures which don’t imply huge, costly customisation to the customer
- Propose 100+ Document templates usable as such in any kind Projects
- Provide real time Programme and Project management
- Generate reports, biggest burden of a Project manager, to her team and management board
Data model¶
Here under the hierarchical view of the StratEx data model, it describes the links between the artefacts that are produced during a Project like Work streams, Work packages, Activities, Missions etc.
The team¶
Abdelkrim Boujraf (Sales & Marketing at ALT F1), Rudolf de Schipper (Senior Project Manager at Unisys), Sven Vandormael (Project Manager at Unisys)
StratEx General concepts¶
The purpose of StratEx is to allow entering/maintaining data according to a specific structure to organise information, which is then easy to track back, to monitor, and to extract in view of providing a complete reporting to our clients.
Top menu¶
When you open the StratEx Home page you will notice two areas: the central screen with your planned duties and over - on top of the screen - a main menu, which provides access to any function available in StratEx. The main menu is divided in many items (Project, Contract, etc.); each item provides functions to enter/review information on a specific part of the Project structure.
Note
The first menu named “StratEx” is the name of your Project; Bear in mind that your screen may display another name
- “StratEx” menu
- The first menu item is your personal dashboard displaying your tasks like deliverables, meetings and missions
- Project menu
- The user creates a work breakdown structure for each quote or service/task order; the Project tab makes it possible to split a contract into Work streams and Work packages
- Contract menu
- Follow your contracts from a new service request to a framework contract management via proposal management, quotes, task or service order monitoring. Under this tab you may also manage “Request for action”, whereas risks and issues may also be recorded.
- Reporting menu
- Generate a selection of reports, queries, and other pre-formatted reports to be sent to a Microsoft Word document with a specific template
- Master data menu
- Manager the Master data containing StratEx’ administrative data; people access rights, stakeholders, database calendar (for Non-working days) and jobs
- Help menu
- Describe in detail fields defining the artefacts like a proposal and a request for offer
Tip
The search functionality is valid for any of the screens in StratEx.
Transversal functionalities¶
Transversal functionalities apply the same logic in any Business Object (Mission, Event, Risk, Activity, Issue, Action)
Searching and Filtering¶
The logical structure behind each menu item is similar; from each item you may: get a global view on a topic with searching and filtering possibilities on all items listed on this particular tab.
Extracting data¶
After filtering data you may convert them easily into a spread sheet file (XLS), a Word document or a PDF.
Document Management Storage¶
In most screens in StratEx, you may upload a document attached to an entry (a deliverable, an offer, a contract…) so that whenever you are searching for information, the actual document/contract etc. is at your disposal just by clicking on the hyperlink. StratEx may be used as structured document management storage as well.
Edit or delete records¶
From any item menu, you may edit an existing document, create a new entry or delete an existing record.
Delivery management¶
“Home” your personal to-do-list¶
When you select the StratEx home page you will see, a central screen with “your” personal planned tasks; which might be: deliverables to produce, meetings to attend (called “events”) or missions, business trips you might need to organise – basically, the StratEx home page is your personal dashboard on a specific Project; your to-do-list.
StratEx promotes efficiency as well as teamwork. Indeed in order to keep things in proper order, to compile reliable information it must be processed at the source. Each operator enters and reviews his/her own activities in the database.
Project management Office or PMO and consultants all work with and around StratEx. Once a consultant gets his/her access rights set up, he/she may access the tool directly via an Internet or Intranet hyperlink.
Important
At any time StratEx provides an accurate picture of all activities on the Project.
As much as the personal dashboard might be useful, it is however still necessary to be able to get a global view on the Project and to seek information from a broader source. For delivery management this may be done through the View > Activity or View > Event or View > Mission screens.
Activity – Deliverables Management¶
When you select the “Activity” tab, a list is populated with all the activities recorded on your Project.
When you select the “details” option, a new screen shows up where you can edit your item. If you prefer to create a complete new item from scratch you should select the command “create new” from the main “Activity” window.
Naming conventions¶
Activities to produce are entered in the StratEx following a so-called “naming convention” which makes it easy to identify each action performed under a specific contract or service.
It is true for Activities but also for Events, for any item recorded in StratEx which is related to a contract. Thanks to this particular and unique ID, it is possible to clearly identify any task performed on the Project.
This is the basic principal under all the reporting done by StratEx. It will also provide guidance to each consultant on the way to name their deliverables/documents and will harmonize communication basis for all the consultants working on a same Project.
Each document or file thanks to this unique ID will be suitable for tracking. StratEx supports and provides the requested identifiers.
Note
Example of naming convention: PROJ-C-SC01-REP-001-1.00_Report_April_2014.doc
| Code | Meaning |
|---|---|
| PROJ | Project Framework contract |
| C | Common (the middle letter allows sub-grouping within a framework contract) |
| SC01 | Specific Contract 01 |
| REP | Document type (here a Report) |
| 001 | Sequence (first report of a series) |
| 1.00 | Version |
Note
Activities and events screens are built up on a very similar structure; however an event may be relevant to several attendees working on various service orders. Activities may only be related to one service order. This is the main difference between the two and the reason why it was decided to use a more generic naming convention used for events.
Important
In order to keep track and a close crosschecking between delivery and contract, a deliverable may be marked as “contractual” when it is linked to a payment. This way a Project manager will know when he has met his contractual obligations.
Tip
Here is a proposal for naming conventions for your Projects
Note
StratEx has been build to facilitate its usage by any team member, we hope that the tool is intuitive and self-explanatory; Please do share your thought with us at any time.
Compatible with Office applications¶
StratEx is compatible with modern technology, mobile solutions and connects easily with Microsoft and Google office apps. From StratEx it is quite easily to forward information to your calendar, tasks or emails, once you synchronise your pc or laptop with your mobile phone, your outlook agenda is up-to-date with StratEx.
Usually a team member will enter a new meeting, an activity or a new mission in StratEx. As this information might be relevant to multiple participants, he/she will send this information to him/herself or to colleagues to update his/her Outlook calendar via a meeting request, a task or email carrying information extracted from StratEx.
Meeting request made with the Calendar of Microsoft Outlook¶
Meeting request made with Mail client of Microsoft Outlook¶
Contractual management¶
Contract management or contract administration is the management of contracts made with customers, vendors, partners, or employees. The personnel involved in Contract Administration required to negotiate, support and manage effective contracts are expensive to train and retain.
Contract management includes negotiating the terms and conditions in contracts and ensuring compliance with the terms and conditions, as well as documenting and agreeing on any changes or amendments that may arise during its implementation or execution. It can be summarized as the process of systematically and efficiently managing contract creation, execution, and analysis for the purpose of maximizing financial and operational performance and minimizing risk. [ContractManagementWikipedia]
Contractual/Budget follow-up¶
StratEx makes it possible to monitor all the contractual and financial aspects of a Project. In the contract section you may find a menu to enter “new request for service” followed by the creation of a proposal.
Staff (person-days consumption) or payment/instalment information are part of the contract entry for a better follow-up of our obligation towards our clients
Once the client has accepted the proposal, a new service order is sent to the Project manager. The data related to this new service will be entered in StratEx as shown below; actually most of the information is already in the system as the new service has been already described in the proposal. This information is copied to the next level of the process into a new contract or service order.
Project Break down Structure¶
In the “Project” tab, the StratEx manager may build up a break down structure to split a service/task order or a Quote in first: Work streams (WS) then into Work packages (WP). Each Work stream may have several Work packages. This break down structure is very useful to organise and plan work, to insert time limits for each Work package for example. Also this organised work down structure is very helpful to sort information in view of a complete reporting.
SLA Monitoring¶
Information related to SLA monitoring may be stored in StratEx. It is often part of the contract information. For example the staff or the consumption of budget on a Project is added in a sub-part of the contract section. This section will be updated overtime to reflect the team working on a specific service as well as the “persons-days” sold and consumed by each resource. This information will flow on request into the SLA monitoring.
SLA can take various forms, however as a default value StratEx can already provide a range of SLA measurements; Request for actions, Risks or Issues… This topic will be further explained in the reporting section.
Reporting and monitoring solution¶
StratEx has great functionalities for filtering and reporting information. This functionality is available for any screen as shown in the introduction but also you may set up queries in order to customise specific reports cross matching information available from the StratEx database.
Reports are easy to extract thanks to the filtering functionalities as well as the export feature into XLS, PDF or Word.
We recommend that you take a look at the Monthly Progress Report in PDF, to view how StratEx may display information into a formal report; this document will include the SLA reporting as well.
For closer monitoring purposes on the Project, StratEx is able to generate reports automatically on a daily/weekly/monthly schedule. Each assignee will receive a reminder for a greater respect of deadlines.
Main advantages of StratEx¶
Better global Overview on the Project: The StratEx provides a comprehensive and global picture of the Project from the deliverables as well as the financial/contractual point of view.
Efficiency to maintain the central repository: One single place to store information Increased information reliability: In addition, the automatically generated Monthly Progress Report or Activity Report is quick and efficient. Thanks to StratEx our reports are less error-prone and therefore this ensures quality as well as efficiency in the process of report drafting and delivery.
User friendliness and accessibility over the Internet, anywhere, anytime: As the StratEx is easily accessible over the Internet, any authorised team member or business partner can connect to this tool to enter or review information on the deliverable(s) under his/her responsibility. This provides cohesion and consistency. Even consultants working remotely can access and use the tool to enter information, follow their planning and update their tasks based on the work performed.
Secure and Protected Access: Only authorised Unisys members or business partners are granted access to this tool, which is hosted in Unisys protected servers’ environment.
Reinforced responsibility at deliverable owner level: With StratEx being accessible from the Intranet, team members are responsible for their own part of the work and they know best what they are handling themselves. This means that there is a better coverage of persons’ activities on the Project and this also ensures that information stored in the database is complete and up-to-date.
Naming Convention reinforced by the use of the StratEx: The StratEx has also reinforced our Deliverable Classification/Organization, and Naming Convention. How? Each time a document is delivered or attached to an email, an entry is made in the StratEx, which automatically provides a unique identifier to name our documents. This also means that every performed deliverables has a unique tracking number.
A better-organised Project, through better structured repositories: Now that it is easier to record data in the StratEx, the team is no longer burdened by administrative processes and editing deliverables according to the naming convention. This is a guarantee for a more reliable and consistent information in our activities reports but also in our repositories when looking for information. As documents are correctly named, they are easier to trace, which leads to a better organised Project.
Extracting information is easy with StratEx: The tool is extremely user friendly when it comes to filtering information. Out of the database, you may select information as shown in the search on all Specific Contracts from the start of the Framework Contract and export them into various formats (XLS, PDF and Word). Having already used the StratEx during the course of other major Projects, our team is already familiar using the tool that supports and facilitates our reporting activities for our services.
Document Management Storage: With StratEx your document may be stored as a hyperlink together with a recorded entry. A very convenient and efficient way to find your documents back.
User Documentation¶
Setup a new account¶
To profit from StratEx you need to setup a personal account.
- Open the StratEx web application
- Click on Sign up to setup a new account:
- open the Sign up page https://www.stratexapp.com/Account/CreateNewAccount
- fill the form
- click on Create account
- An email is sent to the address you have mentioned earlier
- Click on the link inside the email to activate your account
- Set your password to access StratEx in the future
- That’s it you can now login into StratEx and setup your Project
Project menu¶
The Project menu allows you to setup several high-level artefacts of your Project, Work stream, Work package, Risk, Issue and Action
Manage a Project, Work stream, Work package, Risk, Issue and Action
Project > Projects¶
Display the Projects you are allowed to work on. https://www.stratexapp.com/Project
Project details¶
Access the detailed information about your Project such as the name, the non-working days, the email addresses to use to interact with the stakeholders.
Create a new Project¶
Hint
The data model of a Project is described here https://www.stratexapp.com/help/Project.htm
Non-working days¶
Set the Non-working days and holidays for a Project. Those days will not be taken into account when displaying the planning.
Hint
The data model of a Non-working day is described here https://www.stratexapp.com/help/Project.htm
Activity type¶
They are several types of activities that we can produce during a Project. The activities types’ list will be used when the manager will set the type of artefacts to be produced during the Project. Those artefacts will be identified by their abbreviation in their file names. e.g. H2020-WP00-RPT-001 (see Naming conventions)
Hint
The data model of an Activity type is described here https://www.stratexapp.com/help/Project.htm
| Abbreviation | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ACT | Progress report |
| MTG | Meeting minutes |
| RPT | Report |
| ACC | Acceptance report |
| EVT | Event, Meeting, Kick-off |
Job scheduler¶
Reports can be automatically sent by email to a specified audience at their best convenience. The manager can generate a report including any data stored in the StratEx database such as Project, Work package, Work stream, risk, action, contract, request for offer, proposal …
Hint
The data model of a Job scheduler is described here https://www.stratexapp.com/help/Project.htm
Risk / Issue Type¶
They are several types of Risks or Issues that a manager and her team should take into account during a Project. Those risks should be identified ex-ante and trigger several questions; the nature of those risks may need a different kind of mitigation plan in order to
The manager and her team should ask those questions to themselves when they plan to set the risk types:
- What could potentially go wrong?
- What could the team do (or plan to do) that would reduce the effects of these threats on the Project?
- What potential opportunities could occur?
- What could the team do to enhance the effects of these opportunities on the Project?
Hint
The data model of a Risk type is described here https://www.stratexapp.com/help/Project.htm
Project > Work streams¶
Each contract is made of 1 to several Work streams (WS); a Work stream defines high-level Project steps (e.g. Answering to the call for tender, Participate to the H2020 Project, Provide long term support after the participation to H2020 Project)
Hint
The data model of a Work stream is described here https://www.stratexapp.com/help/Workstream.htm
Project > Work packages¶
A Work stream is made 1 to several Work packages (WP), a building block of the work breakdown structure that allows the Project manager to define the steps necessary for completion of the work. (e.g. Program management, Production Control Software, Testing, Deployment, Dissemination).
Note
Risks can be associated to the Work packages.
Hint
The data model of a Work package is described here https://www.stratexapp.com/help/Workpackage.htm
Project > Project risks¶
A Project is subject to constant change in its business and wider environment. The risk environment (Project risk) is constantly changing too. The Project’s priorities and relative importance of risks will shift and change. Assumptions about risk have to be regularly revisited and reconsidered, for example at each end stage assessment. [PRINCE2Revealed]
Project risk probability is the evaluated likelihood of a particular outcome actually happening (including a consideration of the frequency with which the outcome may arise).
The risk impact is the evaluated effect or result of a particular outcome actually happening.
Hint
PRINCE2 recognizes 3 types of issues: request for change, off-specification, and a problem/concern. The Project manager is free to setup other types of issues depending on its business.
Hint
If one risk is “realized”, it becomes an issue. (See Project > Project Issues)
Hint
The data model of a risk is described here https://www.stratexapp.com/help/Risk.htm
Assign an Action to a Risk¶
Actions may be setup for each Risk in order to mitigate the risk as much as possible. For example, one can setup regular reviews of an activity to ensure that this activity is duly taken care of and that the customer won’t find obvious mistakes during the User Acceptance Test.
Hint
The data model of a Project is described here https://www.stratexapp.com/help/Action.htm
Project > Project Issues¶
An Issue is created when a Risk is realized; an Issue is a term used to cover any problem/concern, query, Request for Change, suggestion or Off-Specification raised during the Project. They can be about anything to do with the Project.
Hint
The data model of an Issue is described here https://www.stratexapp.com/help/Issue.htm
Assign an Action to an Issue¶
Actions may be setup for each Issue to ensure that the Issue is closed in a timely manner.
Hint
The data model of an Action is described here https://www.stratexapp.com/help/Action.htm
Project > Project Actions¶
Actions may be linked to one Work package. Those actions are not term:deliverables and are not meant to produce value for your Project (such as activities). They represent acts that people or stakeholders need to perform to make the Project reach its objectives.
Such actions may be a corrective action, a follow-on action recommendations, a procedure …
Hint
The data model of an action is described here https://www.stratexapp.com/help/Action.htm
Contract menu¶
The Contract menu allows you to setup the contract from the Proposal to the effective agreement of your contract:
Manage a Request for offer, a Proposal, a Contract and a Request for Action
Contract > Request for Offer¶
The Request for Offer starts the Proposal cycle. It represents that request you have received from your client to prepare a proposal.
Hint
The data model of a Request for Offer is described here https://www.stratexapp.com/help/Request_For_Offer.htm
Contract > Proposal¶
A Proposal is the first step before a Contract. It represents the description of the services you will offer under a contract. See https://www.stratexapp.com/Proposal
Hint
The data model of a Proposal is described here https://www.stratexapp.com/help/Proposal.htm
Contract > Contract¶
A Contract represents an agreement between entities. In the case of Framework contract, it can include child contracts (Specific Contracts belonging to a Framework Contract).
A Contract can be a Framework Contract (e.g. a H2020 contract), a Call for Tender or a Regional request for subsidies …
Hint
The data model of a Contract is described here https://www.stratexapp.com/help/Contract.htm
Contract > Request for action¶
A Request For Action creates a request for something to stakeholder.
Hint
The data model of a Request for Action is described here https://www.stratexapp.com/help/Request_For_Action.htm
View menu¶
The View menu allows you to manage the lowest level of information you may manage in a project.
- An Activity is a process, function or task that occurs over time, has recognizable results and is managed. It is usually defined as part of a process or plan.. See View > Activity
- An Event represents the meetings, workshops or any other happenings you should attend or organize in the scope of the Work package. See View > Event
- A Mission is a detailed Work assignment which necessitates a travel. The mission information includes the destination, the other check-in and checkout. Missions are entered in a similar way as for activities. See View > Mission
View > Activity¶
An Activity is a process, function or task that occurs over time, has recognizable results and is managed. It is usually defined as part of a process or plan.
The activities are linked to a Work package they should result in specific outputs, which are the products, services or attributes resulting from those activities and linked to the objectives. e.g. Project management plan, state of the art study, test cases and dissemination artefacts
Hint
The data model of an Activity is described here https://www.stratexapp.com/help/Activity.htm
View > Event¶
An event represents the meetings, workshops or any other happenings you should attend or organize in the scope of the Work package
Note
you can assign participants to those events, invite them by email and send them an iCalendar or “iCal” invitation they could insert into their favourite calendar system
Hint
The data model of an Event is described here https://www.stratexapp.com/help/Event.htm
List the Events¶
Edit an event¶
View > Mission¶
A Mission is a detailed Work assignment which necessitates a travel. The mission information includes the destination, the other check-in and checkout. Missions are entered in a similar way as for activities.
Note
The missions linked to the Project are disclosed to the teams. Those data might be used for budget planning and help you monitor the Calendar
Hint
The data model of a Mission is described here https://www.stratexapp.com/help/Mission.htm
List of Missions¶
Edit a Mission¶
Reporting menu¶
The Reporting menu allows you to manage and generate predefined reports that fit the team and the management needs.
- Reporting > Reporting menu generates reports to manage the day-to-day activities
- Reporting > Word reports menu generates Word and PDF reports ready to be shared with a predefined audience such as the executives, the team, the partners, the suppliers or the customers
- Reporting > Queries menu gives you the opportunity to define the reports
- Reporting > Word report templates menu gives you the opportunity to define the Word reports
Note
All reports may display information available inside the database such as Contract, Work stream, Action, etc.
Reporting > Reporting menu¶
The user generates reports to manage the day-to-day activities. The generated reports are predefined and can be defined using the Create a query. The queries can use any information available inside the database such as Contract, Work stream, Action, etc.
Those reports are visible online, can be exported in PDF or Excel formats.
Result of the reporting - online view¶
Export of the report in Excel¶
Download the report in a Excel format 
: Deliverables in slippage (weekly_view) - Excel
Export of the report in PDF¶
Download the report in a PDF format 
: Deliverables in slippage (weekly_view) - PDF
Reporting > Word reports menu¶
During a project you need to produce reports using different formats depending on your needs: Activity report or Monthly Progress Report, Acceptance Report or even a part of a Business plan. Those reports should fit the requirements of predefined audience such as the project’ executives, your team, your partners, your suppliers or your customers.
The reports are exported in PDF or Word formats.
Note
You can customise the templates which are the basis of the current reports by using the Reporting > Word report templates menu
Export of the report in Word¶
Download a sample report in a Word format 
: Activity report - Word
Export of the report in PDF¶
Download a sample report in a Word format : Activity report - PDF
Reporting > Queries menu¶
The reports you can generate to manage the day-to-day activities (see Reporting > Reporting menu). The reports are based on queries that can use any information available inside the database such as Contract, Work stream, Action, etc.
List of queries generating reports¶
Create a query¶
Description of the fields defining a report:
- Short Name: Descriptive name of the query i.e. “Outstanding activities (weekly view)”
- Query Definition: SQL statement for the query
- Target Page: The page that will pop up if a line in the query result is selected. i.e. Activity
Reporting > Word report templates menu¶
The word reports you can generate and share with your project’ executives, teams, partners, customers or suppliers (see Reporting > Word reports menu) are customisable. The word reports are based on queries that can use any information available inside the database such as Contract, Work stream, Action, etc.
Word templates list¶
Create a word template¶
Description of the fields defining a Word report:
- Short Name: Descriptive name of the query i.e. “Outstanding activities (weekly view)”
- Query Definition: SQL statement for the query
- Target Page: The page that will pop up if a line in the query result is selected. i.e. Activity
Upload a new template¶
Set the cover page of the report¶
The report is made of one cover page. Set the cover page you would like to be present at the beginning of the report.
Set the sub reports composing the report¶
The report is made of sub reports. Those sub reports display certain items stored in the project. Those items can be the information related to a Work Stream, a Work package, a Contract etc.
Note
The sub reports can used in many different reports. You may use a report displaying the list of actions in a Meeting minutes or an Activity report
Master data menu¶
The Master data menu allows you to manage the Stakeholders or Persons involved in the projects you are working for; manage your Subscriptions,
- Master data > Stakeholders enables the user to manage the representatives of the organisations involved in the projects
- Master data Persons enables the user to manage the members of a project
- Master data Subscriptions enables the user to upgrade or downgrade the type of Subscription required to manage the size of their project
Master data > Stakeholders¶
List of stakeholders participating to a Project. A Stakeholder represents an organization involved in the Project. It can be your organization, a partner, a supplier or your client.
List of Stakeholders¶
Hint
The data model of a Stakeholder is described here https://www.stratexapp.com/help/Stakeholder.htm
Details of a Stakeholder¶
Master data Persons¶
List of Persons participating to a Project. A Person is an individual working on the Project. It can be a member of your team or a representative from your client.
List of Persons¶
Hint
The data model of a Person is described here https://www.stratexapp.com/help/Person.htm
Details of a Person¶
Assign a project to a person¶
Master data Subscriptions¶
StratEx comes with several business models depending on the customer needs; the user pays periodically (monthly or yearly) the use or access of StratEx.
A free version of StratEx is available on top of the “Standard”, “Professional” or “Enterprise” versions.
Note
The detailed description of the subscriptions is described here https://www.stratexapp.com/index.html#pricing-page
Help menu¶
The help lists all pages for which documentation exists: https://www.stratexapp.com/Help/Topics
En bref¶
StratEx en bref¶
StratEx qui signifie Exécution Stratégie (en français), est une application Web qui permet aux gestionnaires de projets et managers de contrôler la livraison de projets en utilisant les processus mis en place par les clients tout en imposant des conventions partagées par tous les membres de l’équipe.
StratEx adresse, à minima, les besoins suivants:
- Gestion de contrat:
- Comment prouver que la demande de paiement d’un service est légitime?
- Détient-on les rapports d’acceptance et d’activité pour supporter les demandes de nos sous-contractants?
- Gestion documentaire:
- Les PMO connaissent-ils le statut des livrables?
- Où donc les collaborateurs et sous-contractants ont-ils.elles stocké les documents du projet?
- Gestion de projet:
- Est-ce que les équipes sont au courant des dates de livraison?
- Vos collaborateurs.trices respectent-ils.elles les méthodes et standards définis par votre client?
Customer Problem¶
In 2006, a huge Project for the European Commission starts. It implies 30 Countries willing to exchange sensitive data to protect the citizens; 10 consulting firms have to deliver: business & technical requirements, the software, the support, the quality assurance.
Our job: ensure a smooth quality assurance but none solutions did fit our needs: assure the quality of 9.000 deliverables over 7 years.
We decided to develop our solution: StratEx
Products & Services¶
- StratEx is proposed as a Public Cloud, Private Cloud or an On Premise Web application.
- StratEx is a perfect fit with its co-opetitors Microsoft Project, CA Clarity, Oracle Primavera EPPM and Microsoft SharePoint.
- StratEx integrate seamlessly with Document management systems like MS SharePoint, EMC Documentum, HP Autonomy
- Our users can store their data on our servers or keep their files on Microsoft One Drive, DropBox, Google Drive their NAS
Public SaaS, Private SaaS and On-Premise application¶
Due to the aspect of our SaaS solution, customers can be located anywhere in the world.
We are focusing primarily on European based self-employed up to large firms whatever their size. That’s a B2B business even if Citizens may use StratEx.
We target (A) Firms requesting grants and subsidies, (B) Firms who need to control their deliveries for legal, contractual reasons and (C) Firms delegating their PM.
Business model¶
- Public Cloud solution (also named SaaS) is based on subscription from 20 to 40 EUR per month per user
- Private Cloud solution is based on setup cost + subscription from 20 to 40 EUR per month per user
- On Premise solution is priced based on licensing fees, consulting services and three-year maintenance contracts
Avantage compétitif de StratEx¶
- Focalisation sur le contrat
- Propose des conventions de nommage pour assurer une gestion documentaire fluide et cohérente
- Propose une structure de répertoire pour le stockage de fichiers qui n’implique pas de coûts élevés de personnalisation auprès du client
- Propose des centaines de modèles de documents utilisables tels quels lors des projets
- Fournir une gestion de projet et de programme en temps réel
- Génère les rapports, le principal défi d’un gestionnaire de projet, d’un membre d’équipe et du conseil de direction
Modèle de données¶
Voici la vue hiérarchique du modèle de données de StratEx, le modèle décrit les liens entre les ressources produites pendant la vie d’un projet tels que:
- Un Flux de travail ou Work streams
- Lot de travail ou Work packages
- Activités ou Activities
- Équipe ou Team
- Budget
- Convention de nommage ou Naming conventions
- Risques ou Risks
- Problème majeur ou Issues
- Actions
- Missions
- Événements ou Events
L’équipe du projet¶
Abdelkrim Boujraf (Sales & Marketing at ALT F1), Rudolf de Schipper (Delivery Lead Belgium and International Institutions at Unisys), Sven Vandormael (Project Manager at Unisys)
Gestion de la livraison¶
“Home” your personal to-do-list¶
When you select the StratEx home page you will see, a central screen with “your” personal planned tasks; which might be: deliverables to produce, meetings to attend (called “events”) or missions, business trips you might need to organise – basically, the StratEx home page is your personal dashboard on a specific Project; your to-do-list.
StratEx promotes efficiency as well as teamwork. Indeed in order to keep things in proper order, to compile reliable information it must be processed at the source. Each operator enters and reviews his/her own activities in the database.
Project management Office or PMO and consultants all work with and around StratEx. Once a consultant gets his/her access rights set up, he/she may access the tool directly via an Internet or Intranet hyperlink.
Important
At any time StratEx provides an accurate picture of all activities on the Project.
As much as the personal dashboard might be useful, it is however still necessary to be able to get a global view on the Project and to seek information from a broader source. For delivery management this may be done through the View > Activity or View > Event or View > Mission screens.
Activity – Deliverables Management¶
When you select the “Activity” tab, a list is populated with all the activities recorded on your Project.
When you select the “details” option, a new screen shows up where you can edit your item. If you prefer to create a complete new item from scratch you should select the command “create new” from the main “Activity” window.
Convention de nommage¶
Les activités qui sont à délivrer pendant le projet sont introduites dans StratEx en utilisant une convention de nommage. La convention facilite l’identification des actions exécutées pendant un contrat ou un service.
La convention est nécessaire pour les activités mais aussi les événements ou tout autre ressource enregistrée dans StratEx qui est liée au contrat. Grâce à l’utilisation d’un ID unique, il est possible d’identifier clairement toute tâche exécutée lors du projet.
La convention est un principe basic qui concerne tout le système de rapports générés par StratEx.
Cette convention aide les consultants à nommer correctement les livrables et documents et harmonise la communication entre les consultants travaillant sur un même projet.
Chaque document ou fichier est suivi grâce à un ID unique. StratEx supporte et génère les identifiant.
Note
Exemple de convention de nommage: PROJ-C-SC01-REP-001-1.00_Report_April_2014.doc
| Code | Meaning |
|---|---|
| PROJ | Project Framework contract |
| C | Common (the middle letter allows sub-grouping within a framework contract) |
| SC01 | Specific Contract 01 |
| REP | Document type (here a Report) |
| 001 | Sequence (first report of a series) |
| 1.00 | Version |
Note
Les écrans décrivant les activités et les événements sont construits suivant une structure similaire;
- Cependant, un événement peut être relevant pour plusieurs participants travaillant sur plusieurs commandes de services ou service order.
- Les activités ne peuvent être liées qu’à des commandes de services ou service order.
C’est la raison principale de la différence entre les deux et la raison pour laquelle StratEx utilise une convention de nommage pour les événements
Important
Pour assurer un suivi et une vérification croisée entre les livraisons et le contrat, un livrable peut être marqué comme “contractuel” lorsqu’il est lié à un paiement. Le gestionnaire de projet saura s’il.elle a rempli son obligation contractuelle.
Tip
Voici une proposition de convention de nommage sur vos projets
Note
StratEx est construit pour faciliter son usage par les collaborateurs sur le projet, nous espérons que l’outil est intuitif et qu’il se passe d’explications; Veuillez partager vos réactions à tout moment!
Citation and Glossary¶
Citations¶
| [PMBOK2013] | “A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge” by Project Management Institute - 5th Ed. 2013 (589 pages) - ISBN:978-1935589679 |
| [ContractManagementWikipedia] | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contract_management |
| [AcceptanceTestingWikipedia] | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acceptance_testing#User_acceptance_testing |
| [Prince2Glossary2009] | http://www.prince-officialsite.com/nmsruntime/saveasdialog.aspx?lID=1486 |
| [PRINCE2Revealed] | “PRINCE2 Revealed: Including How to use PRINCE2 for Small Projects” by Colin Bentley - Taylor and Francis © 2006 (274 pages) - ISBN:9780750666725 |
| [ProcurementLawyerOrganization] | http://www.procurementlawyers.org/pdf/PLA%20paper%20on%20Frameworks%20PDF%20Mar%2012.pdf |
| [PMOWikipedia] | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_management_office |
| [CCTA1998] | “Successful Project Management with PRINCE 2” by Central Computer & Telecommunications Agency - Stationery Office Books © 1998 (364 pages) - ISBN:978-0113308552 |
| [WorkBreakdownStructureWikipedia] | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Work_breakdown_structure |
Glossary¶
- Acceptance
- The formal act of acknowledging that the Project has met agreed acceptance criteria and thereby met the requirements of its stakeholders. [Prince2Glossary2009]
- Action
Actions are acts that people or stakeholders need to do to make the Project reach its objectives. Actions are not deliverables and are not meant to produce value for your Project (such as activities).
- Action (fr)
Les actions sont des actes que les parties prenantes du projet doivent exécuter pour que le projet atteigne ses objectifs. Les actions ne sont pas des livrables et ne sont pas censées générer de la valeur pour votre projet (telles que des activités).
- Actions
- See action
- Activités
- Un processus, une fonction ou une tâche qui se produit au fil du temps, a des résultats reconnaissables et est géré. Il est généralement défini comme faisant partie d’un processus ou d’un plan. [Prince2Glossary2009] Une activité produit des résultats spécifiques, qui sont: des produits, des services ou attributs résultant des activités et liés aux objectifs. Par exemple: un plan de gestion de projet,une étude de l’état de l’art, des cas de test, des ressources à disséminer. See https://www.stratexapp.com/help/Activity.htm
- Activities
- See Activity
- Activity
A process, function or task that occurs over time, has recognizable results and is managed. It is usually defined as part of a process or plan. [Prince2Glossary2009]
An activity results in specific outputs, which are the products, services or attributes resulting from the activities and linked to the objectives (e.g. Project management plan, state of the art study, test cases, dissemination artefacts).
- Activity report
- Protocols, which are Minutes, describe the activities that have been performed during a specified period.
- Activity type
- Possible type of an activity: Progress report, Meeting minutes, Report, Acceptance report, Event, Meeting, Kick-off
- Appel d’offre
- L’appel d’offre démarre par un cycle de proposition. L’appel représente la requête que vous avez reçue de la part de votre client pour préparer une proposition d’affaires.
- Assurance
All the systematic actions necessary to provide confidence that the target (system, process, organization, programme, Project, outcome, benefit, capability, product output, deliverable) is appropriate. Appropriateness might be defined subjectively or objectively in different circumstances. The implication is that assurance will have a level of independence from that which is being assured.
See also ‘Project Assurance’ and ‘Quality assurance’. [Prince2Glossary2009]
- Commandes de services
- Une Commande de services est signifiée par le CLIENT au CONTRACTANT conformément à la procédure de commande au format convenu, qui comprend le mandat et les conditions particulières de la collaboration.
- Concession
- An off-specification that is accepted by the Project Board without corrective action.
- Contract
A contract represents an agreement between entities. In the case of Framework contract, it can include child contracts (Specific Contracts belonging to a Framework Contract).
- Contracts
- See Contract
- Control
- The managers can control and support the teams whether they are interns, consultants or offshore participants to the Project
- Contrôler
- Le gestionnaire peut contrôler et supporter les équipes qu’elles soient internes, externes, consultants ou basées dans un pays étranger (offshore)
- Convention de nommage
- StratEx propose des conventions de nommage pour faciliter la gestion documentaire pendant la durée du projet
- Corrective action
- A set of actions to resolve a threat to a plan’s tolerances or a defect in a product.
- Deliverables
- Deliverable
- Product, Deliverable or Outcome is used to describe everything that the Project has to create or change, however physical or otherwise these may be. Results of Projects can vary enormously from physical items, such as buildings and machinery, to intangible things like culture change and public perception. [CCTA1998]
- Demande de changement
- C’est un type de risque: La demande de changement est une “requête qu’il faut considéré liée à un changement dans la feuille de route de référence” [PRINCE2Revealed]
- Events
- Event
An Event represents the meetings, workshops or any other happenings you should attend or organize in the scope of the Work package.
- Événements
- Événement
Un événement représente les réunions, les ateliers ou tout autre actualité un participant au projet doit participer ou organiser dans le périmètre d’un you should attend or organize in the scope of the Work package.
- Flux de travail
Un flux de travail ou Work stream définit les étapes d’un projet à un très haut niveau. Un flux de travail fait partie d’un contrat.
- Follow-on action recommendations
- Recommended actions related to unfinished work, on-going issues and risks, and any other activities needed to take a product to the next phase of its life. These are summarized and included in the End Stage Report (for phased handover) and End Project Report. [Prince2Glossary2009]
- Framework contract
- The concept of a framework agreement is that it is, essentially, an arrangement, which establishes the contractual terms which, will apply to subsequent orders made for the goods, services or works covered by the framework over the period of time during which, it is in force. [ProcurementLawyerOrganization]
- Hors norme
- il s’agit d’un type de risque qui est hors norme et indique qu’une information doit être fournie lors du projet mais qui n’est pas disponible à ce jour (ou qui n’est pas prévue dans le futur). Cela peut-être un produit ou service qui ne répond pas ou plus aux spécifications nécessaires à la bonne exécution du projet. [PRINCE2Revealed]
- iCal
- See iCalendar
- iCalendar
iCalendar is a computer file format which allows Internet users to send meeting requests and tasks to other Internet users, via email, or sharing files with an extension of “.ics”.
- Issues
- Issue
A term used to cover any problem/concern, query or Request for Change, a suggestion or Off-Specification raised during the Project. They can refer to anything related to the Project.
- Job scheduler
- Graphical user interface for definition and monitoring of background executions such as the generation of a report
- Livrables
- Livrable
Un livrable est un produit, un document ou tout résultat qui sert à décrire tout ce qu’un projet doit changer ou créer, cela peut être un élément physique.
Les résultats des projets varient énormément, ils peuvent être des objets physiques comme des bâtiments ou des machines, des choses intangibles comme un changement de culture ou la perception du public. [CCTA1998]
- Logging
- Logging menu enables the user to check the technical activities performed by StratEx to support their project i.e. send email, perform a backup
- Lot de travail
Un lot de travail ou Work package est un élément constitutif de la structure de répartition du travail ou Work breakdown structure qui permet au gestionnaire de projet de définir les étapes nécessaires à l’achèvement des travaux.
par exemple: Gestion de programme, Logiciel de contrôle de production, Test, Déploiement, Marketer un projet.
Un lot de travail dépend d’un flux de travail ou term:Work stream.
- Master data
- Master data menu contains StratEx administrative data; people access rights, stakeholders, persons, subscription management, logging and administrative access to the data
- Meetings
- Meeting
- In a meeting, two or more people come together to discuss one or more topics, often in a formal setting.
- Minutes
Protocols, which are minutes or, informally, notes, are the instant written record of a meeting or hearing.
- Missions
- Mission
Details of a Work assignment which necessitates a travel, data include the destination, the other check-in and checkout …
- Mitigate
- See Risk mitigation
- Naming Conventions
- Conventions
- StratEx proposes naming conventions to facilitate the document management during the Projects
- Non-working days
- Days that aren’t taken into account when the planning is build
- Off-specification
- This is a type of risk: Off-specifications are “something that should be provided by the Project, but currently is not provided (or is forecast not to be). This might be a missing product or a product not meeting its specification.” [PRINCE2Revealed]
- On Premise
On-premises software is installed and run on computers on the premises (in the building) of the person or organization using the software, rather than at a remote facility, such as at a server farm or cloud somewhere on the Internet.
- partagées
- Chaque membre de l’équipe est au courant du statut du projet, des dates de livraisons, des risques et des problèmes majeurs
- Persons
- Person
A Person is an individual working on the Project. It can be a member of your team or a representative from your client.
- PMBOK
The PMBOK Guide identifies that subset of the Project management body of knowledge that is generally recognized as a good practice. “Generally recognized” means the knowledge and practices described are applicable to most Projects most of the time and there is a consensus about their value and usefulness. “Good practice” means there is a general agreement that the application of the knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques can enhance the chance of success over many Projects.” [PMBOK2013]
See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Guide_to_the_Project_Management_Body_of_Knowledge
- PRINCE2
PRINCE2 (an acronym for Projects IN Controlled Environments) is a de facto process-based method for effective Project management. Used extensively by the UK Government, PRINCE2 is also widely recognized and used in the private sector, both in the UK and internationally. The PRINCE2 method is in the public domain, and offers non-proprietorial best practice guidance on Project management.
- Private Cloud
Private cloud is cloud infrastructure operated solely for a single organization, whether managed internally or by a third-party, and hosted either internally or externally.
- Problem/concern
- This is a type of risk: A problem/concern is “any other issue / concern / query / suggestion that the Project Manager needs to resolve or escalate.” [PRINCE2Revealed]
- Problème/préoccupation
- C’est un type de risque: Un.e problème/préoccupation est “tout autre :term:`problème majeur` / préoccupation / requête / suggestion que le gestionnaire de projet doit résoudre ou remonter à un niveau supérieur.” [PRINCE2Revealed]
- Problèmes majeurs
- Problème majeur
- Un terme utilisé pour couvrir un problème/préoccupation, une requête telle qu’une Demande de changement, une suggestion ou un hors norme soulevé pendant le projet. les termes peuvent se référer à tout aspect lié au projet.
- Procedure
- A series of actions for a particular aspect of Project management established specifically for the Project – for example, a risk management procedure.
- Processes
- You need to setup processes whether you are building a house, writing an answer to a call for proposal, complying with Food Drugs Association (FDA) regulations. StratEx proposes you to follow best practices set by famous methodologies like Prince2 Further reading [PRINCE2Revealed]
- Processus
- Vous devez configurer vos processus, que vous construisiez une maison, que vous écriviez une réponse à un appel d’offres, que vous respectiez la réglementation sanitaire. StratEx vous propose de suivre les meilleurs pratiques de la célèbre méthodologie PRINCE2. Pour en savoir plus, lisez [PRINCE2Revealed]
- Project
A Project is a global entity containing contracts. It allows you to group the activities you have to perform.
- Project Assurance
- The Project Board’s responsibilities are to assure itself that the Project is being conducted correctly. The Project Board members each have a specific area of focus for Project Assurance, namely business assurance for the Executive, user assurance for the Senior User(s), and supplier assurance for the Senior Supplier(s). [Prince2Glossary2009]
- Project Management Office
- abbreviated to PMO, is a group or department within a business, agency or enterprise that defines and maintains standards for Project management within the organization. [PMOWikipedia]
- Proposal
A proposal is the first step before a contract. It represents the description of the services you will offer under a contract.
- Public Cloud
A cloud is called a “public cloud” when the services are rendered over a network that is open for public use.
- Quality assurance
- An independent check that products will be fit for purpose or meet requirements. [Prince2Glossary2009]
- Query
Queries form the basis of list-based reports that you can use to draw customised reports from StratEx.
- Report
- Management products providing a snapshot of the status of certain aspects of the Project. [Prince2Glossary2009]
- Reporting
- An activity that leads to a time-driven report from the Project Manager to the Project Board or a team
- Reports
- See Report
- Request For Action
If you need to request something to stakeholder, it can be recorded via a Request For Action.
- Request for change
- This is a type of risk: Request for a change is a “request that a change to one of the baselined products should be considered” [PRINCE2Revealed]
- Request For Offer
The Request for Offer starts the Proposal cycle. It represents that request you have received from your client to prepare a proposal.
- Risk
This represents any risk you may identify on your Project(s) and allows you to manage them
- Risk impact
- The risk impact is the evaluated effect or result of a particular outcome actually happening. [PRINCE2Revealed]
- Risk mitigation
- Risk mitigation planning is the process of developing options and actions to enhance opportunities and reduce threats to project objectives [PMBOK2013]
- Risk probability
- A Project risk probability is the evaluated likelihood of a particular outcome actually happening (including a consideration of the frequency with which the outcome may arise). [PRINCE2Revealed]
- Risk types
- PRINCE2 recognizes 3 types of issues: request for change, off-specification, and a problem/concern. [PRINCE2Revealed]
- Risks
- Every Project is subject to constant change in its business and wider environment. The risk environment (Project risk) is constantly changing too. The Project’s priorities and relative importance of risks will shift and change. Assumptions about risk have to be regularly revisited and reconsidered, for example at each end stage assessment. [PRINCE2Revealed]
- Risques
- Risque
- Le risque est un événement considéré comme mal ou dommageable poru le projet, identifié sur votre projet et qui nécessite une gestion.
- SaaS
Software as a service is a software licensing and delivery model in which software is licensed on a subscription basis and is centrally hosted.
- Service Order
- A Service Order means an order for Services served by the CUSTOMER on the CONTRACTOR in accordance with the Ordering Procedure and the agreed format which includes the Terms of Reference and any Special Terms.
- Every member of the team is aware of the status of the Project, its deadlines, risks and issues associated
- Stakeholders
- Stakeholder
A Stakeholder represents an organization involved in the Project. It can be your organization, a partner, a supplier or your client.
- Structure de répartition du travail
- En gestion de projet et les systèmes d’ingénierie, il s’agit d’une décomposition des livrables d’un projet en composants plus petits tels que des produits, des données, des services ou toute combinaison de ceux-ci. [WorkBreakdownStructureWikipedia]
- Subscriptions
- Subscription
StratEx comes with several business models depending on the customer needs; the user pays periodically (monthly or yearly) the use or access of StratEx. A free version of StratEx is available on top of the “Standard”, “Professional” or “Enterprise” versions
- User Acceptance Test
- User acceptance testing (UAT) consists of a process of verifying that a solution works for the user. [AcceptanceTestingWikipedia] It is not system testing (ensuring software does not crash and meets documented requirements), but rather is there to ensure that the solution will work for the user i.e. test the user accepts the solution (software vendors often refer to as Beta testing).
- Word template
A pre-developed page layout describing a certain type of report such as Meeting Minutes
- Work breakdown structure
- In Project management and systems engineering, is a deliverable-oriented decomposition of a Project into smaller components such as a product, data, service, or any combination thereof. [WorkBreakdownStructureWikipedia]
- Work packages
- Work package
A Work package is a building block of the work breakdown structure that allows the Project management to define the steps necessary for completion of the work. (e.g. Program management, Production Control Software, Testing, Deployment, Dissemination). A Work package belongs to a Work stream.
- Work stream
A Work stream defines high-level Project steps. A Work stream belongs to a contract.
- Work streams
- See Work stream