Displaying programme-specific dashboards
You can use programme-specific dashboards to display a dashboard view of an individual programme. This provides you with an indication of how the programme is progressing without the need to use an external reporting package.
A number of standard programme-specific dashboards are available. If you would like these to be enabled in your instance of Asta Vision, contact Eleco. If the available dashboards do not provide exactly the information you require, Eleco can build tailored dashboards for you. Contact Eleco to find out more.
If programme-specific dashboards are available in your instance of Asta Vision, the Dashboard selector that you use to select a dashboard may appear in one of two places on the Project page:
- Near the top of the Project page. If the Dashboard selector appears here, it displays each available dashboard once for each programme type.
- In the lower part of the Project page, which displays details of the project's programmes on separate tabs. If the Dashboard selector appears here, it displays only those dashboards that are available for the programme type that is displayed on the current tab.
You use the Display dashboard selector in programme details check box, on the Site Settings page, to configure the location of the Dashboard selector.
To display a programme-specific dashboard of a programme from the Asta Vision Home page:
- Click Projects. The Projects page appears.
- Click the name of the project you want to view. The Project page appears.
- Click Dashboard to view a list of your programme-specific dashboards. Each available dashboard is displayed once for each programme type, in the format <programme type> - <dashboard name>. For example, if you have two programme types - 'Tender' and 'Contract' - a 'Programme Dashboard A' dashboard would appear in the list as 'Tender - Programme Dashboard A' and 'Contract - Programme Dashboard A'.
If you have any legacy programme dashboards available in your instance of Asta Vision, they appear at the top of the Dashboard list. Legacy programme dashboards can be identified by the fact that their name is purely the name of the corresponding programme type. You may or may not see legacy dashboards in your instance of Asta Vision.
If the Dashboard selector does not appear near the top of the Project page, click the tab that relates to the programme type for which you want to display a dashboard to access the selector. - Click the name of the programme-specific dashboard you want to view.
Displaying legacy programme dashboards
Legacy programme dashboards are those that appear at the top of the Dashboard list, on the Project page. Legacy programme dashboards can be identified by the fact that their name is purely the name of the corresponding programme type. You may or may not see legacy dashboards in your instance of Asta Vision.
When you display a legacy programme dashboard, the programme dashboard view comprises the following elements:
Finish Variance (days)
The 'Finish Variance (days)' section of the dashboard shows the number of days by which the live programme finish date varies from the planned programme finish date, taken from the baseline. A positive value means that the programme is due to finish earlier than was planned in the baseline; a negative value means that the programme is due to finish later than was planned in the baseline.
A coloured variance indicator gives you a visual indication of the status of the programme's finish date: green shows that the programme finish date should give you no cause for alarm; red shows that the programme finish date is in a poor position when compared to the baseline, so you should take action; amber shows that the programme finish date is somewhere in between - so although there is no cause for alarm, you should monitor the finish date closely to ensure that it does not fall behind.
You specify the number of days' variance at which the different colours of the variance indicator are triggered, using the Finish Variance Green (Upper) Boundary and Finish Variance Red (Lower) Boundary fields, on the Dashboard Options page.
User-Defined Fields
The (untitled) 'User-Defined Fields' section of the dashboard displays one or two project-level user-defined fields that help to identify the programme. For example, 'Sector' and 'Sub-Sector' user-defined fields, or a 'Region' user-defined field, may be displayed.
You specify the user-defined fields to display, using the Project UDF Name 1 and Project UDF Name 2 fields, on the Dashboard Options page. If the user-defined fields you specify do not exist in the project, the (untitled) 'User-Defined Fields' section does not appear in the dashboard. If you display a user-defined field in the dashboard and subsequently change its name, the user-defined field name is not updated on the dashboard until you have edited the dashboard options and reselected the renamed user-defined field.
Cost To Date
The 'Cost To Date' section of the dashboard is a simple bar graph that displays:
- Forecast cost - the total cost of the programme in the live data, up to the report date of the last used progress period in the project.
- Planned cost - the planned cost of the programme in the baseline, up to the report date of the last used progress period in the project.
- Actual cost - the total cost of the programme that has been completed in the live data, up to the report date of the last used progress period in the project.
If no cost is recorded in the programme, the 'Cost To Date' section does not appear in the dashboard.
Activity Days
The 'Activity Days' section of the dashboard is a simple bar graph that displays:
- Planned activity days - the total number of days in all tasks in the baseline, up to the report date of the last used progress period in the project.
- Actual activity days - the total number of completed days in all tasks in the live data.
If a task spans the report date, only those days that occur before the report date are counted.
Activity Count To Date
The 'Activity Count To Date' section of the dashboard is a simple bar graph that displays:
- The total number of tasks that have started (or finished) in the live data, up to the report date of the last used progress period in the project.
- The total number of tasks that were planned to have started (or finished) in the baseline, up to the report date of the last used progress period in the project.
You specify whether to count tasks that have started, or finished, by the report date using the Count Activities By Start Date check box, on the Dashboard Options page.
You can specify whether or not milestones are included in the task count, using the Include Milestones In Activity Count check box, on the Dashboard Options page.
Activity Count By Code To Date
The 'Activity Count By Code To Date' section of the dashboard displays the same data as the 'Activity Count To Date' section, but grouped by the codes in a specific code library. For example, if you chose to group the tasks according to the codes they have been assigned from a 'Floor Level' code library, you might see one comparison graph for 'Ground Floor', one for '1st Floor', and so on.
You specify the code library by which to group the tasks in the Activity Count Code Library Name field, on the Dashboard Options page.
You specify whether to count tasks that have started, or finished, by the report date using the Count Activities By Start Date check box, on the Dashboard Options page.
You can specify whether or not milestones are included in the task count, using the Include Milestones In Activity Count check box, on the Dashboard Options page.
Allocated Resources vs Planned
The 'Allocated Resources vs Planned' section of the dashboard is a simple bar graph that displays:
- The number of resources that are allocated in the live data for each of the next six weeks.
- The number of resources that are allocated in the baseline for each of the next six weeks.
Critical Path Upcoming Activities
The 'Critical Path Upcoming Activities' section of the dashboard lists any critical tasks that are due to take place in the future.
You specify the number of weeks into the future in which to look for upcoming critical tasks, using the Critical Path Look Ahead (Weeks) field, on the Dashboard Options page.
Key Milestones
The 'Key Milestones' section of the dashboard lists the following details for all milestones that have been assigned a code from a specific code library:
- Name.
- Planned Date - taken from the baseline.
- Forecast/Actual Date - taken from the live data, and displayed in bold for milestones that are completed.
- Variance - the number of days by which the milestone date in the live date varies from its date in the baseline date. A positive value means that the milestone is due to finish (or has finished) earlier than was planned in the baseline; a negative value means that the milestone is due to finish (or has finished) later than was planned in the baseline.
A coloured variance indicator gives you a visual indication of the status of each milestone: green shows that the milestone date should give you no cause for alarm; red shows that the milestone date is in a poor position when compared to the baseline, so you should take action; amber shows that the milestone date is somewhere in between - so although there is no cause for alarm, you should monitor the milestone closely to ensure that it does not fall behind.
You specify the code library to use in this section of the dashboard in the Key Milestone Code Library Name field, on the Dashboard Options page. If the code library you specify does not exist in the project, the 'Key Milestones' section does not appear in the dashboard.
You specify the number of days' variance at which the different colours of the variance indicator are triggered, using the Milestone Variance Green (Upper) Boundary and Milestone Variance Red (Lower) Boundary fields, on the Dashboard Options page.
To maximise an element of the programme dashboard view so that it takes up the full window, click 
at the top-right of the individual element. To restore the full programme dashboard view after having maximised an element, click the maximised element then click 
at the top-right of the maximised element.
You can export the entire dashboard or a specific element of the dashboard, in PDF or Microsoft Excel format, or as an image. You may want to do this to access the information using another application. For example, you may want to incorporate programme dashboard information in a report.
Working with projects and programmes