PROJECT PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT

• US 20100100409A1
• Filed: 02/26/2009
• Published: 04/22/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 10/16/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Schlumberger Technology Corporation (Schlumberger NV)
• Original Assignee: Schlumberger Technology Corporation (Schlumberger NV)
• Inventors: Rahi, M. Ahsan, Villegas Bello, Oscar Mauricio, Ward, Victor Lee, Narayanamurthy, Vishwanath, Peters, Andrew
• Granted Patent: US 8,306,842 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/8
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0631 Resource planning, allocation, distributing or scheduling for enterprises or organisations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/103 Workflow collaboration or project management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/12 Accounting
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/02 Agriculture; Fishing; Forestry; Mining

Abstract

A tool integrates various components of project planning and management. The tool enables the creation and tracking of authorization for expense (AFE) information for a project. Also, the tool allows risks to be assigned to corresponding activities of the project.

Claims

1. A method executed by a computer for project planning and management, comprising:

receiving planned expense information relating planned activities for a project to corresponding estimated expenses, wherein the planned expense information covers multiple different functions of the project; and

during performance of the project, tracking deviations from the estimated expenses for corresponding planned activities.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising linking the planned expense information to a schedule to provide time-based tracking of the estimated expenses for the planned activities.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the planned expense information comprises receiving authorization for expenditure (AFE) information.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

presenting a view to provide an indication of whether the project is under or over budget and whether the project is meeting a planned schedule.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving and tracking are performed by a tool executable in the computer, the method further comprising:

the tool enabling business development of a prospective project.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

using the tool to send notifications to target managers in an enterprise to seek approval of the prospective project.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

using the tool to develop a proposal for the prospective project; and

using the tool to create a contract between an enterprise and a customer.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

using the contract to determine a revenue for the prospective project.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

presenting different line-of-sight (LOS) views of information relating to the project, wherein the different LOS views provide different information for different types of users.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the different LOS views are provided according to any one or more of the following:

roles of the users, levels of the users within an enterprise, types of suppliers to the enterprise, types of resources of interest, and types of activities of interest.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving risk information identifying risks associated with the functions of the project, wherein the risk information specifies expected monetary costs of the respective risks; and

tracking occurrence of any of the risks during performance of the project.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

based on the tracking, determining whether the costs associated with the risks have been over-estimated or under-estimated.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving risk information identifying risks associated with the functions of the project, wherein the risk information specifies expected monetary costs of the respective risks; and

presenting a view indicating risk as a function of time.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein presenting the view comprises illustrating time intervals where accumulated risk is high, wherein the accumulated risk is an aggregation of risks associated with plural activities.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving and tracking are performed by a tool executable in the computer, the method further comprising:

the tool integrating plural components of project planning and management, wherein the components include scope, communications, risk analysis, schedule, human resources, finance, and quality.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising integrating a procurement subsystem with the tool, wherein the procurement subsystem is used for ordering supplies for the project.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

the tool sending information to the procurement subsystem to cause the procurement subsystem to order supplies.

18. A computer-readable storage medium storing a software tool that when executed cause a computer to:

create and track authorization for expense (AFE) information for a project; and

assign risks to corresponding activities of the project.

19. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the software tool when executed cause the computer to further:

determine based on the risks corresponding to the activities whether any time interval exists that is associated with an elevated risk.