The Oracle | Primavera Risk (Pertmaster) reports menu contains all of the schedule maturity and risk output reports in the Pertmaster product. Many of the most important charts can be run quicker by right-clicking on an activity in the Gantt chart or from the icons in the tool bar. Some of the reports can only be found under the reports menu. In our 7 step process we consider the reports the final step relative to the tool, although explaining the reports is really another step.
Video Walkthrough of the Oracle | Primavera Risk (Pertmaster) Reports Menu (Duration: 3 min: 46 sec)
Reports Menu Item: Import Log…
The Primavera Risk import log lists all changes that were made as the schedule was imported from Primavera P3, Primavera P6, or Microsoft Project. These are not schedule check flags. These items are issues that Pertmaster actually changed to import the data. Issues such as removing actual dates in the future, rounding fractional days, removing loops, and other items that Pertmaster cannot import are found here. Some items are acceptable, however some items may completely invalidate the risk analysis. This is the first area to check after importing a project plan..
Reports Menu Item: Schedule Check Options…, Run Schedule Check
The Pertmaster schedule check lists flags that may have an impact on running a proper Monte Carlo analysis. A flag found by the schedule check does not mean that the item is wrong, however it means that it should be investigated by the users. 50 flags might not impact the risk analysis results while one critical flag may derail the entire Monte Carlo simulation. We will focus on this in many of the modules, however it is important to note that the schedule check functionality is more proper than many other tools on the market and is truly designed to help make the schedule better. It will find things that the Primavera P6 log does not find.
Reports Menu Item: Distribution Graph…
The distribution graph is also know as the confidence or probability histogram. This is one of the two charts that is used for every risk analysis. The histogram will show the probability of hitting on or before/under a metric. A schedule histogram will show the chance or probability of hitting on or before a schedule date. A cost histogram will show the percent chance of hitting on or under a budget amount. This chart is used to set contingency early in a project or detect potential overruns in later phases of the project. Simply put, this chart show “where am I at?”
Reports Menu Item: Distribution Analyzer…
The distribution analyzer takes any curve generated by the distribution graph and allows the risk analyst to view the curves in one chart. Pertmaster users can show 2 scenarios for finish dates, a schedule and a cost curve, man hour and float curves or other chart they wish to sell. Users can also highlight the delta between multiple curves and show an unlimited number of items side-by-side.
Reports Menu Item: Tornado Graph… (F11)
The tornado chart is the second chart that is used in every risk analysis. The histogram shows where the project is at and a tornado shows how to fix things. The tornado chart is based on correlation metrics, however simply put it is “how do I fix it.” From a high level it highlights the 80/20 rule. It will show you the 20% of activities that is having 80% of the impact on project or milestone delivery. This chart can be run for the entire project or to individual activities or milestones such as substantial completion or the end of engineering. This chart can be run for cost or schedule and is read the same way. This chart is often explained incorrectly so we will have many modules to make certain that this is not an issue on your project. Other metrics such as criticality, the percentage of time a task is on the critical path during the simulation, can be shown.
Reports Menu Item: Scatter Plot (Ctrl+F11)
The scatter plot shows a confidence level of hitting a budget amount and a schedule metric at the same time. A single plot is put on the graph for the cost and schedule number for every simulation. This is not a widely used report, not because it is not useful but due to the challenges of keeping a fully cost loaded schedule in Primavera P3, Primavera P6, Microsoft Project, or any scheduling tool.
Reports Menu Item: Probabilistic Cash Flow…
The probabilistic cash flow will show a time-phase cost or resource curve. This is another chart that is easy to create, however the challenge is having a properly cost or resource loaded schedule. If man hours are loaded properly in the scheduling tool, then this chart can have a huge benefit.
Reports Menu Item: Summary Risk Report…
The summary risk report provides a narrative risk report based on a simple check box wizard. It may not be comprehensive enough to submit as a final report, however if it gets you 80% of the way there, then it can be a huge time saver.
Reports Menu Item: Criticality Path Report…
The criticality path report shows how the critical path switched through different streams of activities during the Monte Carlo simulations. This can be an important chart to show what tertiary critical paths could become critical in your project.
Reports Menu Item: Criticality Distribution Profile…
The criticality distribution profile shows the number and percentage of activities that were critical during Monte Carlo simulations. For example, it may show that 32 task were critical 100% of the simulations and 12 tasks were critical between 50% and 60% of the Monte Carlo iterations. This is another valuable report for showing how many tasks are truly driving the finish date.
Reports Menu Item: Compare Plans…
The compare plans report is very similar to the claim digger report from Primavera P6. This will compare the changes between any two project plans. This is a great report for plan version control and claims analysis.
