PROJECT CONTROL PANEL
USERS GUIDE
VERSION 2.0 FOR EXCEL
INTEGRATED COMPUTER ENGINEERING, INC.
Copyright © 1996-2000 Integrated Computer Engineering, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1996-2000 Integrated Computer Engineering, Inc. 142 N. Central Ave. Campbell, CA 95008
www.iceincusa.com ice@iceincusa.com 1-888-463-0744
Project Control Panel 2.0
TM
Table of Contents
Available Training...........................................................................................................................................4
I. Introduction...................................................................................................................................................4
1. Background....................................................................................................................................4
2. How Does Project Control Panel Work?......................................................................................4
3. New Features in Project Control Panel 2.0...................................................................................5
4. System Requirements....................................................................................................................5
5. The Software Program Managers Network...................................................................................5
6. Disclaimer Notice..........................................................................................................................6
7. Acknowledgments.........................................................................................................................6
8. Technical Support..........................................................................................................................6
1. Project Control Panel 2.0 Files......................................................................................................7
2. Installing Project Control Panel....................................................................................................7
3. Starting the Project Control Panel.................................................................................................7
4. Problem Reporting and Suggestions.............................................................................................7
III. The Main Control Panel.............................................................................................................................8
1. Control Panel Worksheet...............................................................................................................8
2. Data Worksheets............................................................................................................................9
3. Chart Worksheets...........................................................................................................................9
4. History Graph Worksheets............................................................................................................9
5. Problem Report Worksheet.........................................................................................................10
IV. Control Panel Menu Options...................................................................................................................10
1. Refresh.........................................................................................................................................10
2. Import MS Project Data...............................................................................................................10
3. Create New Panel........................................................................................................................10
4. Add New Gauge...........................................................................................................................11
5. Edit Gauge...................................................................................................................................11
6. Remove Gauge.............................................................................................................................11
7. Toggle Grid Lines........................................................................................................................11
8. Project Control Panel Help..........................................................................................................11
9. About Project Control Panel........................................................................................................11
V. Importing MS Project Data.......................................................................................................................11
VI. Creating a Custom Control Panel............................................................................................................12
1. Add Custom Control Panel Worksheet.......................................................................................12
2. Place Gauges on the Control Panel.............................................................................................12
Adding a Bar Gauge..........................................................................................................13
Adding a Dial Gauge.........................................................................................................14
3. Tying Gauges to Your Data.........................................................................................................16
Copyright © 1996-2000 Integrated Computer Engineering, Inc. 142 N. Central Ave. Campbell, CA 95008
www.iceincusa.com ice@iceincusa.com 1-888-463-0744
Project Control Panel Version 2.0 2
4. Adding Other Excel Objects........................................................................................................16
5. Modifying Your Custom Control Panel......................................................................................17
Appendix A. Technical Background for the Main Control Panel................................................................18
Copyright © 1996-2000 Integrated Computer Engineering, Inc. 142 N. Central Ave. Campbell, CA 95008
www.iceincusa.com ice@iceincusa.com 1-888-463-0744
Project Control Panel Version 2.0 3
Available Training
Integrated Computer Engineering, Inc. offers a variety of project management and software
engineering training courses including, training on our Risk Radar
TM
and Project Control
Panel
TM
software tools . For information about ICE training courses and technical support
services, visit ICE on the Web at: http://www.iceincUSA.com/about_training.htm or send
Email to ice@iceincusa.com.
I. Introduction
1. Background
Project Control Panel is a tool for monitoring and visualizing the metrics that reflect the
condition of a project and help predict its future course. The Panel allows the entire project team
to determine the status of a project quickly and to identify areas for improvement. The Panel
can help project managers keep their projects on course when data is updated regularly and
gauges are maintained within acceptable ranges.
Project Control Panel comes with a predefined main Control Panel, which is based on the project
metrics recommended in Chapter 2 of The Program Manager's Guide to Software Acquisition
Best Practices, published by the Software Program Managers Network (see Appendix A). The
main Control Panel has five major categories and two subcategories of project data: Progress,
Productivity, Completion, Change, Staff, Risk, and Quality. These categories were chosen to
cover the primary areas that every project manager should track on large-scale software
development projects. The gauges and indicators on the Control Panel are in the form of bar
charts, dial gauges, line graphs, scatter plots and warning lights. The information visually
displayed on each indicator is based on data contained in the Project Data and Risk Data
worksheets found directly after the Control Panel worksheet in the workbook. Earned Value data
can be imported directly from a MS Project file into the Project Data worksheet.
The user can also create supplementary or custom control panels and tie these to user-defined
data worksheets to expand upon the data contained in the main Control Panel or to meet project
specific needs. Project Control Panel provides options to create user-defined dial and bar gauges
for these custom control panels and the user can add other standard MS Excel graphical features
like line and pie charts.
2. How Does Project Control Panel Work?
Project Control Panel is a standard MS Excel workbook that makes extensive use of the standard
Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) capabilities built into MS Excel. The only requirement to
run Project Control Panel is that you have MS Excel. There are no external files or add-ins
required. The advantage of this system is that you have all the extensive data handling and
Copyright © 1996-2000 Integrated Computer Engineering, Inc. 142 N. Central Ave. Campbell, CA 95008
www.iceincusa.com ice@iceincusa.com 1-888-463-0744
Project Control Panel Version 2.0 4
graphical capabilities of MS Excel available. In addition to the extensive features that Project
Control Panel provides, you can add your own worksheets and other MS Excel features to help
collect, manage, or display data that are specific to your projects. Although you do not have to
be an MS Excel expert to use Project Control Panel, if you want to create your own Control
Panels and tie them to your own worksheets, you would be well-advised to read the MS Excel
Users Guide and become familiar with the conventions, features, and limitations of this powerful
application. You do not need to learn Visual Basic for Applications to use Project Control Panel
or to create and use custom control panels, but you should have more than a passing familiarity
with MS Excel to make effective use of this tool. This user guide does not replace the MS Excel
User Guide and assumes you are familiar with MS Excel and its standard features and naming
conventions.
3. New Features in Project Control Panel 2.0
Version 2.0 of the Project Control Panel offers many enhancements over Version 1.1 including:
CustomizabilityCreate custom control panel worksheets with gauges and graphs to reflect
specific needs of individual projects.
MS Project import featureImport Earned Value data from a Microsoft Project (.mpp) file.
Weekly reporting period optionUse weekly as well as monthly project data in the Project
Data worksheet.
Improved graphicsExcel-based vector graphics replace the bitmapped main Control Panel
display.
4. System Requirements
The following minimum configuration is required:
IBM PC (or compatible) 486DX or better
Mouse
8 Mb RAM
VGA Monitor
Windows 95 or higher
Excel 7.0 (for Windows 95) or higher
5. The Software Program Managers Network
Integrated Computer Engineering, Inc. developed Project Control Panel for the Software
Program Managers Network (SPMN). The SPMN was established in 1992 by the Assistant
Secretary of the Navy for all Services and OSD agencies. The Network’s goal is to identify
highly effective practices from industry, government and academia, and to convey them to
software managers and practitioners to improve the cost, schedule and performance of weapons,
command and control, and information systems. These best practices and lessons learned are
Copyright © 1996-2000 Integrated Computer Engineering, Inc. 142 N. Central Ave. Campbell, CA 95008
www.iceincusa.com ice@iceincusa.com 1-888-463-0744
Project Control Panel Version 2.0 5
