Hi PPM practitioners! I’m sure many of you will weigh in on this topic. It’s one of the basic elements of implementing CA PPM, but I get a lot of questions from customers on how and when to leverage the CA PPM organizational breakdown structure (aka OBS).
OBS Defined
The OBS is a powerful CA PPM feature that enables a hierarchical representation/categorization of data to be defined and assigned to most studio-created data objects (e.g., resources, ideas, projects, portfolios, etc.), including custom objects. It differs from a lookup-type attribute, which is just that—a data point that you select from a list of values. With an OBS, you select from a list of values but can also do the following:
- Grant security permissions to CA PPM users for specific data instances based on their OBS membership. Example, if you want to implement guidelines that enable PMs to update projects within their department only, or resource managers to book projects for their team members only, using an OBS is a perfect way to do it.
- Categorize data object instances such as resources and projects for portlet and report filtering (e.g., by Organizational OBS, line of business OBS, etc.)
Should I Use a Lookup or an OBS?
My best advice is to consider carefully how you will use the data. If you will use it as common criteria for filtering data instances to be included in reports or portlets, and/or to govern security permissions, consider OBS. Most out-of-the-box CA PPM portlets and reports (and all object list pages) can be filtered by one or more OBSs.
If a custom lookup is defined, portlets created with an object data provider (instead of a query) can be configured to use the lookup. However, query-based portlets and out-of-the-box reports must be modified to leverage the custom lookup. There’s value in both methods.
For older versions of CA PPM that still leverage the Data Mart, a maximum of five OBSs are supported. The flexibility of Jaspersoft/ Data Warehouse removes this restriction, but most organizations have fewer than five OBSs.
OBS Components
An OBS is composed of the following components:
- OBS name: Think of this as an OBS type to specify how the OBS will be used. Common OBS examples include:
- Organizational (to model the organization’s team structure)
- Department (similar to organizational, but it models the financial cost center structure and is used by CA PPM financials). This is a required OBS, but default value can be set up if financials aren’t used.
- Lines of business (to identify the sponsoring or funding org)
- Geographic locations (to be optionally leveraged in identifying resource rates for costing and used by CA PPM financials) This is a required OBS, but default value can be set up if financials aren’t used.
- Project types (to model types of work tracked in the organization)
- Resource pool (to model where staffing should occur)
- Other customer-specific OBSs (e.g., product line)
- OBS levels: Specifies the structure depth of the OBS hierarchy. CA PPM supports up to ten levels in a hierarchy. For financial OBSs, it’s common to flatten/summarize the cost center structure to fit within CA PPM’s ten levels (e.g., cost center levels 10 and below would be reflected at level 10). An unlimited number of parallel OBS levels (width) can be created in the OBS.
- OBS units: Specifies a specific node in the hierarchy structure. An OBS unit can be an ancestor or descendant in relation to other OBS units. When you reorganize, or make certain OBS units obsolete, you can move them to another branch/level without losing access to the data.
OBS Association
An OBS must be associated with one or more objects to enable the OBS’s capabilities. For example, once you associate an OBS (such as a resource pool OBS) with a resource object, a resource manager/administrator can assign the specific resource pool OBS unit to a resource. When associating an OBS with an object, you may specify whether the association can be assigned to any OBS level/unit or to only the lowest-level unit.
Financial OBS Framework
Two pre-defined OBSs in CA PPM are mandatory when using financials—department and location. The basic framework for processing financial transactions in CA PPM includes entity, location, and department.
- Entity represents the distinct legal company (e.g., a corporation). Each entity must be assigned to specific departments and locations by assigning the department and location OBSs to the entity in the Financials Setup section of the CA PPM Administration menu.
- Locations represent the second level of the financial structure. When a location is added to CA PPM through the UI (Financials Setup section of the Administration menu), the location is automatically added to the location OBS structure. CA PPM does not permit adding units directly to the location OBS structure.
- Departments represent the 3rd level of the structure and designate the units in the organizational structure of the company. The units typically represent the organization’s cost centers. Departments must be tied to a location and may be assigned to one or more locations. When a department is added to CA PPM through the UI, it is automatically added to the department OBS. CA PPM does not permit adding units directly to the department OBS.
Customer-Specific OBS Framework
CA PPM supports the definition of other OBSs not directly associated with the organization’s financial structure. The key difference is that for financial OBSs (department and location), CA PPM manages the hierarchical structure, including addition or removal of units in the OBS as new departments and/or locations are added through the UI. The hierarchical structure setup and addition/removal of units for non-financial OBSs must be done via the CA PPM OBS Administration menu. Assignment of the OBS unit to a specific data instance (such as a specific project or resource) may be done on the application side general properties page for the relevant object. A data instance (e.g., Credit Card Processing Enhancement project) can be assigned to only one OBS unit in a given OBS type. However, it may be assigned to more than one OBS type (e.g., Credit Card Processing Enhancement project may be assigned to both the department OBS and the organizational OBS).
OBS Filtering for Portlets and Reports
As noted earlier, OBSs are available for filtering CA PPM portlets and reports based on whether they have been associated with the data object. For example, when filtering for resources, all OBSs will be available in a “Show OBS” drop-down list at the top of the “Select OBS Unit” browse window. Once the OBS type has been selected (e.g., department OBS or resource pool OBS), the specific hierarchy and values for that OBS will be displayed for selection.
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Readers interested in more detail around CA PPM OBSs can check out DocOps. I encourage you to participate in the best-in-class site, where you have access to your peers, events and support. You can also reach out to CA Services for information about CA PPM and individualized business outcome references and analysis. Feel free to post in the comments section of this blog or contact me directly via email and Twitter @kdobsonppm.