Integrating Agile Central and Clarity
The integrated solution of CA Project & Portfolio Manager (CA PPM) and CA Agile Central (formerly Rally) helps you effectively balance agility and governance by connecting the work of agile teams to your enterprise portfolio. With a single, consolidated view into all types of work happening across your portfolio, portfolio managers and business leaders can realize clear business optics to monitor budgets and optimize resources for maximum value. You can read more about the integration on this CA Solution Overview.
The integration between CA PPM and CA Agile Central is not difficult, with a little guidance and experience. WinMill has written a whitepaper that provides a step-by-step walkthrough for setting up the integration. Contact us for a copy of the complete whitepaper!
Table of Contents
Introduction and Overview
- PPM Object Definitions
- AC Object Definitions
- Object Mapping
Initial Step
- Agile Time Tracking Template
- Information Collection
- Synchronize Agile Central Job
- Synchronize Existing Object Instances
AC to PPM Flow
- Project Synchronization Workflow
- Task Synchronization Workflow
- Team Synchronization Workflow
PPM To AC Flow
Bi-Directional Flow
Timesheets Integration
- Setup PPM
- Setup Agile Central
- Use
Reporting
Introduction and Overview
V14.3
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V14.4
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V15.2
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V15.3
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V15.4
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Portfolio item from a PPM SaaS Project |
Synchronize PPM project team with AC users for Feature and Initiative Portfolio Items |
Agile Time Tracking – create tasks in template
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Bidirectional Synchronization
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Synch User Stories from AC into PPM
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Task from an AC Portfolio item |
Identify if the Synchronized team members are open for time entry in PPM |
Bi-Direction: Configure PPM to AC
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Agile Time Tracking Template available for AC to PPM and PPM to AC directions
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Track work status information at PPM SaaS Project and Task levels |
Support for universal unique IDs: Integration instance object ID, default Rally Owner ID, Default Rally Project ID |
Access PPM Timesheets from AC
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Synchronize Job added to Project Actions Menu
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CA PPM Portlets:
– Product Roadmap Product Status |
SSO Support for PPM timesheet from AC
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Proxy Servicer Support for On-Premise environments
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Agile Summary Fields are DWH enabled in PPM
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PPM Objectives
understand the integration, it helps to define these objects.
- Portfolio : A portfolio is an inventory of investments that determines where to invest funds or when to delay or cancel investments. Scorecards and scenarios are used to evaluate the financial health of investments in portfolios and their alignment to corporate goals.
- Program : A program (initiative) is a top – level project that is the parent project to child projects. Unlike a master project, a program shows actuals and effort for all the projects it contains.
- Project : A project is a set of related tasks that is designed to achieve a specific objective. A project is composed of tasks, staff who complete the tasks, financials, collaboration, document sharing, and so forth.
- Work Breakdown Structure: A work breakdown structure (WBS) refers to the organization of tasks into a hierarchy that typically includes phases, key tasks, milestones, and subsequent tasks (child tasks that fall under a parent task).
- Phase : A phase is a collection of tasks grouped together in a logical format. In traditional project management, all tasks in a phase must be completed before moving to the next phase. In most agile methodologies, a phase is a grouping of tasks necessary to complete a user story.
- Task : A task is a unit of work in a project plan that is assigned to one or more resources for a specified period. Actuals are tracked at the lowest level task.
AC Object Definitions
Within CA Agile Central, there are many objects which are mapped with objects in CA PPM. To understand the integration, it helps to define these objects.
- Initiative (Largest): The largest portfolio item in a project hierarchy. Initiatives are split into large blocks of work that will be spread out over multiple teams.
- Feature (Large): An improvement or capability of value to a stakeholder that can be developed in a PSI or release timebox (usually 10 – 12 weeks).
- User Story (One to Several Weeks): A listing of acceptance criteria needed to deliver a new feature or piece of work. Generally written from the perspective of a user of the system. A commonly used format is: As a X, I want to Y, so that Z.
- Task (A Day): A unit of work that, when performed, contributes to the fulfillment and completion of a scheduled user story within the iteration. Tasks allow decomposition of stories into manageable units of work. Team members can take responsibility and ownership for each task, providing estimates and work left to do for completion.
Object Mapping
Initial Setup
Agile Time Tracking Template
As of CA PPM v 15.2, a Time Tracking template was added to the list of templates included with PPM. It contains the following subtasks, which are automatically generated for any new features (phase – level tasks) imported from CA Agile Central or for tasks created within CA PPM.
- Design
- Development
- Test/QA
- Documentation
This template is configurable, and any tasks included in this template will be added to corresponding projects’ imported features. With these high – level tasks in place by default, teams can focus on the actual work of stories and tasks within Agile Central.
After these are established, when running the Rally Synchronization job, the following are reflected:
- PPM to AC (or Bi – Directional): When a portfolio item (feature) is created in AC and brought in as a new task to PPM, tasks from the Agile Time Tracking Project template are created as sub tasks under this new integrated task in PPM.
- Subsequently the sub tasks are updated to reflect the latest status from the AC portfolio item.
- AC to PPM (or Bi – Directional): When a new task is created in PPM and then the Rally Synchronization j ob runs, the tasks from the Agile Time Tracking Project template are automatically created as sub tasks under this new task.
- Subsequently the sub tasks are updated to reflect the latest status from the AC portfolio item.
Information Collection
The following information is required for a successful setup of the CA PPM/Agile Central Integration:
- Integration URL: Defines the URL for the instance of CA Agile Central. This is not set at a system level, but rather per integration so that a single PPM instance may integrate with >1 CA Agile Central instance.
- Integration Instance: Defines the integration instance to connect to. Typically, this is the CA Agile Central Workspace ID
- Referrer URL: Defines the identity provider URL for use by the CA PPM timesheet integration with CA Agile central. This must only be populated if you are not using the same URL as the integration URL (e.g. when using SSO for CA PPM).
- Authentication Type
- Basic: This authentication type should be selected/used to integrate with CA Agile Central On – Premise. This authentication type uses username/password combination, only.
- API Key: This authentication type should be selected to integrate with CA Agile Central On Demand. An API Key should be generated using the instructions in this KB Article (https://help.rallydev.com/rally-application-manager). The API Key must be associated with a CA Agile Central user with privileges to update the workspace. Whenever you synchronize between PPM and AC, the updates appear for that user associated with the API Key.
- Portfolio Item Type Map (Project): Defines the AC portfolio item type which the PPM project maps to (Default: Initiative). You can map to any level of portfolio items, except the P1 level. After initial synchronization, this value should not be changed.
- Portfolio Item Type Map (Task): Defines the AC portfolio item type which the PPM task maps to (Default: Feature). The portfolio item type must be at a lower hierarchy level and contiguous to the item type chosen for the Project mapping field. If the value for project and task mapping are the same, then only one task is created in PPM. The task has the same name as the project, and all details from AC are rolled up into that task during synchronization.
- Create and Sync Team: Specifies whether to synchronize the PPM project tea m with users assigned to the AC portfolio items.
- Create and Sync Task: Specifies whether to synchronize the PPM project tasks with the AC portfolio items.
- Create Direction : Defines the integration direction for synching tasks.
- Agile Central to PPM: Depending on the portfolio item type mapping, projects that you create in CA PPM are created as corresponding portfolio items in CA Agile Central. Child portfolio items that you create in CA Agile Central are created as corresponding tasks in CA PPM. If you do not select an integration direction, Agile Central to PPM is used as the default option.
- PPM to Agile Central: Depending on the portfolio item Type mapping, projects that you create in CA PPM are reflected as corresponding portfolio items in CA Agile Central. Tasks that you create in CA PPM are also created as child portfolio items in CA Agile Central.
- Bi – Directional: Tasks are synchronized in either direction provided the Synchronize flag is checked at the task level. Any tasks that you create in CA PPM are synchronized with CA Agile Central features. Also, any features that you create in CA Agile Central are synchronized with CA PPM tasks.
- Default Agile Central Owner ID: Defines the owner ID to use when a portfolio item is created in CA Agile Central. This account, within PPM, should be granted the following rights, as it is used to (1) run the Synchronize Agile Central job; and (2) Update the CA PPM project and task status from CA Agile Central:
- Global Rights:
- API – Access
- Projects – Navigate
- Resource – Navigate
- Instance or Global Rights:
- Project – Edit Management
- Resource – View
- Resource – Hard Book
- Global Rights:
- Default Agile Central Project ID: Defines the default project ID (agile team ID) to use when a portfolio item is created in CA Agile Central.
- Open for Tim e Entry (Team): Specifies whether team members that are synchronized from AC are open for time entry in CA PPM.
- Open for Time Entry (Task): Specifies whether tasks that synchronized from AC are open for time entry in CA PPM
- Cost Type: Defines the default cost type assigned to a task created in CA PPM by the integration.
- Charge Code: Defines the default charge code assigned to a task created in CA PPM by the integration.
- Time Tracking Project Template: Defines which time tracking project template to use for creating time tracking sub tasks under a new task when a task is created by the integration in CA PPM.