Accelerate Strategic Portfolio Management with Metrics Zone Cloud Connect for Microsoft Project

We recently shared ways that you can elevate your strategy planning using Strategic Portfolio Management (SPM). Simply stated, SPM is the difference between having a vision and having a plan to execute on that vision. SPM can be the defining factor for a company that successfully executes on its strategic vision, versus one who is stuck trying to turn its goals into reality.

We are excited to announce that StrategyBlocks fully integrates with Microsoft Project and Project Online through our Metrics Zone integration service, part of our Strategic Portfolio Management capabilities. 

MS Project and Project Online are a part of Microsoft’s Office Enterprise Project Management Solution, designed to raise the bar on visibility, control and collaboration in the enterprise. MS Project tools help project managers with various tasks including developing a schedule, assigning resources, tracking progress, managing the budget and analyzing workloads. 

StrategyBlocks is an ideal partner with MS Project and Project Online because we make it easy to map your key initiatives into your corporate strategy, which can then be turned into projects and programs to be managed more efficiently. Our Metrics Zone Cloud Connect integration technology, helps transition your company’s strategy into a portfolio that can be readily actioned and managed to provide greater control, agility and transparency of portfolio delivery across the enterprise.

Together with Microsoft Project and Project Online, Microsoft flows and Amazon Web Services (AWS) serverless infrastructure, StrategyBlocks Strategic Portfolio Management tools help you to better understand your digital environment, extract value from your data and ensure a more transparent and agile decision-making process.

How easy is integration?

Our integration with Microsoft Project and Project Online is automatic. Key data is made available from Microsoft Project and pulled into StrategyBlocks automatically on a scheduled basis. We can take it from there, and we can help you automate the process.

For Project Online, StrategyBlocks’ Metrics Zone solution template takes advantage of a number of integration paths, using a combination of Microsoft flow and AWS. This allows real-time or batch integration directly into StrategyBlocks’ core fields and metrics, any time a user publishes project changes in Project Online. This integration also makes it possible to access all the data from StrategyBlocks, creating easy to read, on-demand reporting capabilities. A set of public-facing API interfaces are also available for real-time integration into StrategyBlocks.

Amazon Web Services provides the platform for Metrics Zone ensuring that data security and compliance are met at all times. The integration process provides full logging and monitoring, built in a combination of email exception notification and reporting, over the AWS Athena query layer. 

This process is coded in a combination of Amazon Web Services Serverless Functions with Python, NodeJS and JSON Data Interchange Structures. Due to the nature of the open platform, integration, notification and reporting are extensible and flexible.

How to find greater value in your strategic projects

StrategyBlocks offers seamless integration with Microsoft Project and Project Online making it easy to create added value on strategic projects. By sharing progress and status with StrategyBlocks, users can see additional insights into the progress and effectiveness of an overall project or strategic implementation. 

The integration also enables the quick capture of metrics (KPIs) into the StrategyBlocks dashboard, from a combination of Microsoft Project Online and other core operational systems. This means project-based outcomes and measurements can be included in the StrategyBlocks metrics scorecard, giving an enhanced view of the success of organizational strategies through the project management framework.

Want to find out more?

Read more about StrategyBlocks Metrics Zone Cloud Connect for Microsoft Project or book a StrategyBlocks demo and let us help you find greater value with your Project Online project management activities.