Programs Overview Tab

This tab displays details about the program and the associated projects, such as client information, earliest and latest project dates, budget details, and benchmark attributes. Some of the data is pulled from uploaded project snapshots and some is manually entered.

For a description of the fields and menus above the tabs, see Programs Common Fields.

Field Description
Name Enter or view the name of the program. It can have a maximum of 20 characters. Alphanumeric and special characters are accepted.
Description Enter or view a description of the program.
Contract ID Enter or view the contract name or number.
Client Enter or view the name of the client to whom the contract belongs.
Location Enter or view the client's location.
Current Program % Complete

This is the weighted average of percent complete across all of the projects included in the selected program, using the activity count to weigh the projects. Calculation: Sum (current project % complete * activity count) / Sum (activity count).

This field is populated using the latest snapshot for each project and is blank until at least one associated project has an uploaded snapshot.

Current Activity Count This is the total number of activities for all associated projects. This field is populated using the latest snapshot for each project and is blank until at least one associated project has an uploaded snapshot.

Current Dates

The date fields are populated using data from the last snapshot for each associated project. The fields display None until at least one associated project has an uploaded snapshot.

Field Description
Start Date This is the earliest actual start date from the associated projects. It displays as a UTC date and is not adjusted to the local time zone.
Finish Date This is the latest actual end date from the associated projects. It displays as a UTC date and is not adjusted to the local time zone.
Time Now

This is the latest Time Now date for all associated projects.

Time Now is called Data Date in P6 and Status Date in Microsoft Project.

It displays as a UTC date and is not adjusted to the local time zone.

Baseline Start Date

This is the earliest baseline start date from the associated projects. For Primavera P6, this date comes from the Planned Start Date.

It displays as a UTC date and is not adjusted to the local time zone.

Baseline Finish Date

This is the latest baseline end date from the associated projects. For Primavera P6, this date comes from the Planned Finish Date

It displays as a UTC date and is not adjusted to the local time zone.

Budgets

Field Description
Negotiated Cost Enter or view the estimated cost negotiated in a cost-plus-fixed-fee contract, or the negotiated contract target cost in either a fixed-price incentive contract or a cost-plus-incentive-fee contract. Enter a total amount for all associated projects. This field is not used in any calculations and is for information purposes only.
Current Projected Cost

This is the sum of the budgeted cost for all associated projects. It is populated using the latest snapshot for each project and is blank until at least one snapshot is uploaded. It displays a zero value if there are no associated projects.

The budget cost is calculated in the following manner:

  • Primavera P6 XER/XML files: The sum of the budget costs for all activities including summaries.
  • Deltek Open Plan BK3 files: The sum of the budget costs for all top-level activities including the rolled-up budget costs from the children.
  • Microsoft Project MSP files: The sum of the budget costs for all top-level activities including the rolled-up budget costs for the children; however, if the project has a baseline cost, Touchstone uses the baseline's budget cost.
Contingency Enter or view the reserve that is set aside for unexpected events and is usually part of the contract's base budget.

Benchmark Attributes

Benchmark attributes are qualitative measures of success for the project that are used in benchmark reporting. After each period end, you enter the benchmark attribute values in the Submittals view or on the Projects Snapshot tab for each project snapshot.

This grid displays the attribute range and average option for all associated projects.

You can delete an attribute from the grid by hovering over the attribute and clicking the X that displays to the right of the line. If you delete an attribute from the grid, options for the deleted attribute are deleted for all snapshot records in the associated projects.

For more information about how benchmark attributes are set up and calculated, see Understanding Benchmark Attributes.

The Benchmark Attributes grid header includes the following icons:
  • : Click the Maximize / Minimize icon to hide the Navigation pane so that more of the grid is visible. When you click the icon again, the grid returns to the original size and the Navigation pane displays again.
  • : Click the Export icon to download all data in the grid to a .csv file.
Field Description
Name This is the attribute name.
Current Snapshot Average

The current snapshot average is calculated as follows:

  1. The Reviewer selects attribute options on the Projects Snapshots tab or in Submittals for the current snapshots (including missing snapshots that have records created, as well as both accepted and rejected snapshots).
  2. Touchstone adds up the option values (ignoring null values) selected on the most recent snapshot for each associated project.
  3. Touchstone counts the number of projects associated with the program (all of the projects; not just the ones to which the user has access) that do not have null benchmark attribute values for their most recent snapshot.
  4. The average is the sum of the option values divided by the project count. The option name for the option closest to that value displays in this column.

    For example, if the calculated average is 3.4 and the option for value 3 is Happy and the option for value 4 is Very Happy, the average that displays is Happy. If the calculated average is 3.5, the average that displays is Very Happy.

Touchstone performs this calculation whenever an attribute is changed on any of the associated project snapshots, making sure that the average displayed takes into account any attributes that have been added, edited, or deleted since the last time the calculation was performed.

This column is blank until at least one attribute option for an associated project snapshot has been added.

Range This is the range of attribute options as specified in the Benchmark Attributes in Settings > Benchmark Attributes, from the lowest value to the highest value. For example, if the attribute options are, Unhappy (1), Happy (3), and Very Happy (5), this column displays Unhappy - Very Happy.
+Associate Benchmark Attribute Click to add a benchmark attribute to the grid. The list is populated from the attributes set up in the Benchmark Attributes view in Settings > Benchmark Attributes and excludes any already in the grid.