Primavera P6 Professional system administration allows you to restrict user data privileges within the Enterprise Project Structure (EPS), which is P6’s file structure system, and the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS). Let’s take a further look.
System Administrators in P6 Professional define Project Security privileges and assign them to differing levels of the Organizational Breakdown Structure (OBS). Each entity of the OBS is referred to as an OBS element or Responsible Manager. These privileged OBS elements or Responsible Managers are linked to individual users.
Further they are apportioned to folders, projects, and deliverables. In this way the System Administrator controls access to project data across the company organizational chart.
This article describes how applying the Primavera P6 Professional system administration capabilities can distribute project data user privileges across the organization and down to the deliverable.
To begin let us choose Admin | Security Profiles, Figure 1.
This opens the Security Profiles dialogue, Figure 2, where we define Global Profiles and Project Profiles.
Global Profiles grant access to global elements of the P6 system. Global elements are those that can potentially change P6 data for all users in the system. Here you can allow users to change items such as project codes, activity codes, the OBS, the EPS, and Calendars.
In play are any aspects of the system other than the content of project schedules. Project Profiles pertain to the data elements of a project. This includes add new projects, edit WBS elements, assign roles or resources to activities, add, edit, or delete activities and more.
Global security profiles may be assigned directly to users. Project security profiles are not. Project security profiles are assigned at the point where the OBS meets the EPS node, which is a folder in the EPS, EPS Project, or WBS element, i.e., deliverable, determining at that intersection who has what access to the respective project elements.
The OBS is used to manage project ownership and responsibility within the system. The OBS typically represents an organization’s divisions, departments, teams, and individuals. The owner (a division, department, group, or individual) of a project or, perhaps, a deliverable, is referred to as the Responsible Manager.
As mentioned above, the OBS element is therefore the Responsible Manager. It can be assigned to an EPS node (again, a folder in P6), EPS project, or WBS element (deliverable).
In the following diagram, Figure 3, Bob is a P6 user and has Project Access rights defined for two of the OBS elements.
For projects that have Engineering as the Responsible Manager, Bob has Read Only Rights; he can view the projects but cannot modify them. For projects that have R&D as the Responsible Manager, Bob has Project Manager privileges and can work with the project data as the Project Manager security profile allows.
The way this works, again, is you assign security privileges to OBS elements known as Responsible Managers. In turn you then assign these advantaged Responsible Managers to EPS nodes, EPS projects, and WBS elements.
In this way you allocate project privileges among divisions, departments, groups, or individuals. For example, you can provide each department with project manager privileges to a specific deliverable in the project. Whichever department Bob is part of he can have the project manager rights to that department’s respective deliverable.
Let’s look at a demonstration.
We first want to modify the OBS. We begin by choosing Enterprise | OBS, Figure 4.
In Figure 5, choose Display | Filter By | All OBS Elements.
Click the Add button, Figure 6.
In the OBS Name field type in a name, Figure 7.
In Figure 8 we enter the OBS Name, R&D, and OBS Description, Research and Engineering, then shift right to make it a child of E&C.
Our OBS then displays in Figure 9.
Let us proceed and modify the Project Manager Project Profile. Choose Admin | Security Profiles, Figure 10.
For the Project Manager Project Profile, Figure 11, toggle to include the privileges: Add Projects, and Delete Projects.
Confirm the Project Manager Project Profile privileges, Figure 12.
Next, we want to assign privileges to an individual user. Let us proceed, Figure 13, and choose Admin | Users.
Select the user Stanley from the list of users and choose Project Access from the bottom details, Figure 14.
Click Assign button and in the popup, menu choose Display | Filter By | All OBS Elements, Figure 15.
Then choose the E&C OBS and click assign button, Figure 16.
In Figure 17, make the security profile of E&C ‘Read Only Rights’.
Assign Stanley R&D rights, Figure 18.
Make the R&D Security Profile ‘Project Manager’ rights, Figure 19.
Then in Figure 20 we assign Manufacturing to Stanley with ‘Project Manager’ rights.
Stanley’s assignments conclude with the Responsible Managers and Security Profiles listed in Figure 21.
We now have our individual with a list of assigned Responsible Managers and respective Security Profiles. Next, we assign Responsible Managers to EPS nodes, EPS project, and WBS elements. Figure 22 displays the EPS for our fictional organization.
Note in Figure 22 that the icons that look like yellow pyramids are folders, and what look like light blue folders are projects. The E&C Responsible Manager, Figure 22, is assigned to the Engineering & Construction EPS node, Substation Projects EPS node, and Wellmont Substation Project. Continuing, we display the WBS of the Wellmont Substation project and make the Responsible Manager of all WBS Elements E&C, Figure 23.
Then in Figure 24, we update Above Grade deliverable by assigning it the R&D Responsible Manager (OBS element).
The list of WBS Element Responsible Managers for Wellmont Substation appears in Figure 25.
Log out and Login as Stanley to confirm his privileges. Stanley can view the E&C and Manufacturing EPS nodes, Figure 26.
Check that Stanley also has project manager privileges to the Manufacturing node. Then note the Responsible Manager E&C assigned to Engineering and Construction EPS Node, Substation Projects EPS node, and Wellmont Substation project, Figure 26.
Confirm that Wellmont Substation is open then click the WBS tab to list the Responsible Manager for each deliverable, Figure 27.
The Responsible Manager for all WBS elements or deliverables is E&C, except for the Above Grade deliverable, which is R&D, Figure 27. Last select an activity in the Above Grade deliverable and click the bottom details General tab. You will observe that all tasks in the Above Grade deliverable have the Responsible Manager, R&D, Figure 28.
Summary
In the P6 Professional System Administration features, the Global Profile assigns directly to a user. The Project Profile is more involved. Each user is assigned a list of Responsible Managers and respective privileges. Then these privileged Responsible Managers (OBS Elements) are allocated to EPS nodes (i.e., again, P6 folders), EPS projects, and WBS elements.
In this way the System Administrator controls project data privileges across the organization and down to the deliverable. The System Administrator may have to experiment with differing Project Profile settings to confirm the appropriate privileges for each user.