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Preventing Data Loss with Primavera

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The increasing power of Project Management applications has changed the way people work and manage projects. The ability to consolidate all of the information relating to multi-billion dollar projects, analyze it, report on it, track it, and manage what would otherwise be unmanageable is undeniably a great advancement. With that advancement comes risk in the form of all of that data being consolidated into a single application. As any experienced IT professional will tell you, no application, server platform, hardware platform, or group of users is foolproof. Power outages, natural disasters, equipment failure, software corruption, or user error can all lead to lost data. The cost of this lost data can be as simple as lost time due to re-entry of the information, or as devastating as losing several years of gathered corporate knowledge.

Managing this risk in Primavera means backing up the SQL database. This database stores all of the information for Primavera Contractor, Primavera Project Management, Primavera Contract Management, and is also used by many other applications. This database runs in the background, and is often overlooked in backup strategies; a standard hard drive backup will NOT successfully back up a running SQL database. A successful backup strategy will involve scheduled backups specifically of the SQL database, using a simple script that can back up the database while it is in use, and can save that backup to a location of your choice, such as an external hard drive, tape drive, or network file storage. This backup should be performed at least daily, with large multi-user organizations running the backup more frequently to capture the amount of information that is changing.

Managing the risk of lost or corrupted information allows organizations to confidently move forward with their Project Management applications, secure in the knowledge that their hard-earned corporate experience is protected from loss.

Get step-by-step instructions!
Running Background Jobs »
SQL Backup »

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Project Resources

Standardized Best Practices and Technology Adoption in the AEC Industry
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Learn from your peers about best practices and technology usage in the AEC Industry. Read the Primavera 2008 Project Management Report "Standardized Best Practices and Technology Adoption in the AEC Industry".

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EARNED VALUE LITE: Earned Value for the Masses
Authors Quentin W. Fleming and Joel M. Koppelman
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When one hears the term Earned Value Management or EVM, there is often a tendency to immediately think of the American National Standards Institute-Electronic Industries Alliance-748-1998 now required by many government agencies and private contractors. The authors suggest an alternative to this formal definition of EVM. While the ANSI/EIA-748 standard requires compliance with 32 precise criteria or guidelines and will result in an earned value management system, the authors suggest that a simple form of EVM can be started by simply imlementing just 10 of these formal criteria on all projects. Some have chosen to call this this approach "EVM Lite."

Couldn't all projects, not just major complex systems, benefit from "A methodolog for...objectively measuring project performance and progress?" We think so.

There are 10 minimum requirements necessary to employ "simple" earned value. Start the earned value process with "Earned Value Lite" on all your projects!

Resource Links

Primavera Software
Visit www.primavera.com »
Primavera Systems, Inc. is the world's leading project and portfolio management software company. Nu Solutions Consulting, through its partnership with Primavera, provides the software foundation that will enable your business to achieve excellence in managing portfolios, programs, projects and resources.

National Association of Women in Construction
Visit www.nawic.org »
Knowing that women represented only a small fraction of the construction industry, the founders organized NAWIC to create a support network. Women in Construction of Fort Worth was so successful that it gained its national charter in 1955 and became the National Association of Women in Construction. NAWIC's core purpose is to enhance the success of women in the construction industry.

The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC)
Visit www.agc.org »
The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC), the voice of the construction industry, is an organization of qualified construction contractors and industry related companies dedicated to skill, integrity, and responsibility. Operating in partnership with its Chapters, the association provides a full range of services satisfying the needs and concerns of its members, thereby improving the quality of construction and protecting the public interest.

Associated Builders and Contractors
Visit www.abc.org »
Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) is a national association representing 24,000 merit shop construction and construction-related firms in 79 chapters across the United States.

AACE International
Visit www.aacei.org »
Since 1956, AACE International has been the leading-edge professional society for cost estimators, cost engineers, schedulers project managers, and project control specialists. With more than 5,500 members worldwide, AACE International is the largest organization serving the entire spectrum of cost management professionals.

PMI
Visit www.pmi.org »
PMI professionals come from virtually every major industry including, aerospace, automotive, business management, construction, engineering, financial services, information technology, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, and telecommunications.