The Change Baseline is used to save the change and for Cobra’s Integration Wizard to easily apply the change. At the end of the step in the workflow where the change request is applied to the project using Model Changes, the Change Baseline is created to save the details and is used to load the change request into the Cobra sandbox project. When the change request is approved, the changes are not saved to the live project, but the Change Baseline is saved. During the complete step, the changes are applied to the live project and the project saved. This allows modeling of the change request without affecting the live project.
When you make any change to an activity, that activity gets added to the change baseline. In addition, when there are many activities linked to the same work package, all of the associated activities are added to the change baseline so that the work package new baseline dates encompass all of the activities linked to that work package.
If you delete an activity from the schedule, PM Compass includes the activities that are linked to the same work package as the deleted activity in the change baseline. If your change caused an activity date to change (for example, adding a target date to an existing activity, changing a relationship, duration, or EVT, or moving an activity to a replanned work package), and you want the baseline dates of all associated activities linked to a work package to be updated, you must enter a Yes or Y in the PMC Update Baseline Dates field and select the Automatically Update Baseline Dates When a Change Causes the Activity Dates to Change option in Change Details on Form tab of Workflow Type Configuration. Alternatively, if you select the PMC Update Baseline Dates option on the Change Details on Form tab in Workflow Type Configuration, PM Compass will automatically add the flag to the PMC Update Baseline Dates column in Open Plan for any changed activities.
The Change Baseline is made up of two tables: the Baseline Activity table and the Baseline Usage table which contains the resource assignment information. The Baseline Usage table of the Change Baseline contains only the resource assignments with the change number. When Cobra's Integration Wizard is run to update the work packages dates and load the changes, the existing Cobra data is moved within the new dates using the Respread these Classes to Remain within Dates option in Workflow Type Configuration.
When a budget or forecast change request is processed, the change baseline is created using the same name as the system-generated change number. If the change class is a budget class, you have the option to update the forecast with the budget change. When this option is selected, a temporary change baseline is created after the scheduler approves using Model Changes. This temporary forecast baseline is used only during the complete step to update the forecast. If the project has a Forecast Baseline selected in the Project Details, the temporary baseline is merged into the forecast baseline.
When Cobra’s Integration Wizard is called by the change process, the name of the change baseline is passed to the web services overwriting what is stored in the configuration file. You can view the change baseline by using a spreadsheet view in Open Plan by changing the preferences and selecting the table baseline activity or baseline usage.
The schedule Budget Baseline is selected on the Schedule Integration tab of the Project Details view. This is the baseline from which the approved project budget for the schedule project being associated with the PM Compass project is loaded. A schedule may have multiple baselines and usually one of these baselines would represent the approved Performance Management Baseline (PMB).
When changes are made to an activity, changes to the current baseline are held in a change baseline during approval, and when the change is approved, these changes are merged into this budget baseline.
The Temporary Forecast Baseline is created at the same time as the change baseline after the scheduler approves using Model Changes. This temporary forecast baseline is used when the Integrated Wizard is run to update the forecast baseline selected in the Project Details view after workflow completion.
Optionally, you can maintain a forecast baseline if you select a forecast baseline on the Schedule Integration tab in the Project Details view. The forecast baseline represents the approved project forecast. When the change class is a forecast class, the approved requested amount is merged into this forecast baseline. In addition, if the option to Update the Forecast with the Budget Change is option is selected, the temporary forecast baseline is merged into the forecast baseline.
Open Plan uses the forecast baseline to demonstrate cost and schedule integration to auditors. The forecast baseline in Open Plan time-phasing will match the Cobra forecast. When a change class contains a forecast class, or the option to update the forecast with the budget change is selected, the forecast baseline selected in Project Details is updated with this change to match the Cobra forecast. If the forecast baseline is not selected, then forecast changes will not update the forecast baseline.
When a baseline is created or updated in Open Plan, there are a number of options. These options are set in Workflow Type Configuration on the Change Details on Form tab and passed to Open Plan when the Change Baseline is created:
Change Baseline Type |
Settings
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Budget Baseline
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Forecast Baseline
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When the change class is a forecast class:
The change baseline does not use the underline (_) character at the start (like the forecast baseline for a BCR).
The check box for updating the forecast with the baseline change is ignored.
If there is a forecast baseline specified in project details, then it is used in the same way as the budget baseline is used for a BCR/CCR. It is copied at the start to create the change baseline, and at the end, the change baseline is merge into the forecast baseline.
If there is no forecast baseline in project details then the change baseline is created using the same dates as the budget baseline. There is no merge on completion — the change baseline is just removed.
Steps are taken within the change baseline creation to identify when multiple change requests are submitted for the same activity. This is performed by storing the baseline start and finish date in the Budget Baseline at the time the change baseline is created. When the change is completed, if the Budget Baseline dates no longer match what is stored in the change baseline, it means that a change request containing the same activity has been completed since the change request was created. Completing this change request could revert the previously approved change.
Changes that are applied in Model Changes are applied in workflow order; therefore, a later workflow may impact an earier one prior to approval.
The following steps explain how the budget baseline dates are saved and compared.
When the change request is applied in Model Changes during the approve step, the change baseline is created.
The existing start and finish dates are saved off for comparison.
The date set used is determined by a setting in the baseline indicated in the Project Details form. If this baseline was based on early dates, then the early start and finish dates for the activities are saved in the following Open Plan user-defined fields:
PMC Budget Baseline Start Date: PM Compass uses this field to save the start date.
PMC Budget Baseline Finish Date: PM Compass uses this field to save the finish date.
The change request is applied to the schedule.
In other words, the changes made in the change request are applied to the read-only project. Time analysis is run on the project, so the new dates are calculated based on the change request.
A filter is created to determine all activities that changed by comparing the current date set (early or late dates) with the date set that was saved before the change was applied.
This filter is used to create the Change Baseline (as well as the forecast baseline when the Update the Forecast with the Change Amount option in Workflow Type Configuration is selected).
When an activity is included in the filter, both the change amount and any existing resource assignments are included in the change baseline. Including the existing resource assignments ensures that the existing budget moves to the new work package dates. The Change Baseline will be used by the Integration Wizard to load the change into the sandbox project and during the approval step.
In addition to the change baseline, a second baseline is created for the forecast with the same filter. This ensures that when the change is applied, the forecast is increased by the budgeted amount. This baseline is not loaded into the sandbox project. It is loaded into the forecast class on the live project during the complete step.
The included activities are indicated by populating the following Open Plan user-defined field:
PMC Change Request Baseline Filter:PM Compass uses this field to filter the Change Baseline.
PMC Associated Activities: PM Compass uses this field to find all activities associated with a changed work package to include in the change baseline.
The read-only project is closed without saving the changes because the change request has not yet been approved. All of the data stored in the user-defined files is lost; however, the Change Baseline is saved in the Open Plan project.
The Change Baseline is deleted when the last step action in the workflow (Remove Temporary Data) executes. This process cleans up data created by PM Compass to support the change process. The following data is removed:
The temporary Cobra project
The PM Compass Change Details View data
The data in the Change Log
The Change Baseline
Any classes no longer needed in the source Cobra project
If you get an Unable to Create Baseline error, confirm that:
The user specified in EPM SA has access to the Open Plan project; check the access control of the project.
The baseline being created doesn't already exist.
The Processdll2.dll is registered on the application server.
View the system generated Change Number field description
Change a rate file or date set
Understand the different date sets