If you’re interested in exploiting the features available in Microsoft Planner premium plan but can’t because you are still managing existing projects with Project Desktop, we have good news for you! Microsoft has functionality to import MPP files from Microsoft Project Desktop into Planner. This will allow you to migrate existing project schedules easily and effectively into Planner and leverage the team collaboration and other features available in it. I find that this is also a great way to import schedule templates from Project Desktop to Planner, where you can start a new plan from an existing (template) plan.
To get started, go to the Power App named ‘Project’ in your environment. Please contact your Systems Administrator if you do not have this URL, as it will be different in every organization. Once you are in the app, navigate to Plans, and then from the ribbon, select Import. In my case, due to my screen size, I need to select the ellipses to see Import. Select the Right Arrow next to Import, and then select Import from MPP.
This will start the import wizard. You can select the appropriate Work Hour template based on organizational policies to define the working hours for this plan. While you can change the Project Manager’s name, please be aware that this person will be the owner of the plan, so you should only change this field if someone else will be taking over the plan right away. While you can select the Schedule Mode as needed, we recommend you leave it as Fixed duration. Select the Choose File button and search for and select the MPP file to be imported, and then click Import.
The import wizard runs and displays the results. Please note, as shown on the dialog, that there are some Project Desktop features not available in Planner. I will talk about this later in this blog post, but for now, let’s proceed to the new imported Planner premium plan.
The imported Planner premium plan
With the import complete, we have a new Planner premium plan which contains the same tasks, dependencies and start/finish dates as the original MPP file. The overview of the plan is available on the Summary tab, and the Work Breakdown structure can be viewed on the Tasks Tab.
In addition, I also immediately have access to all the new features in Planner, including the color-coding of the Finish dates alerting me to the fact that my project has not been properly maintained in Project Desktop.
At this point, the project is saved in my organization’s environment and available for team collaboration.
Now, let’s loop back and discuss the differences between Project Desktop and Planner as it relates to the Import Wizard. Microsoft has documented these differences here. While this web page documents the complete list of items which will not be imported, I believe the two most important are:
Therefore, most likely the first thing you will want to do after you import a new schedule into Planner will be to review the list of exceptions shown on the Results Page (see Figure 3 above) and take the necessary actions to change the new schedule appropriately, specifically reassigning the appropriate resources to the Planner tasks.
Now you have successfully imported an existing Project Desktop MPP file into Planner as a premium plan. You are ready to take advantage of enhanced team collaboration and leverage the new features for more powerful visual management of your project work, including the Grid, Board, and Timeline views. For example, here you can see the Progress Board set up automatically based on the import, including color-coding of all late and current tasks. Now you can easily update the status of the work on your project by dragging tasks to the ‘In progress’ and ‘Completed’ columns.
Since Planner has native integration into Microsoft Teams, each project can now be managed entirely within a Channel in Teams.
Also, once your schedule has been imported, you can take advantage of the Microsoft Power Platform to add executive dashboards through Power BI.
Additionally, you can extend Planner to include enterprise management with Sensei IQ™, a Microsoft Power App which provides Portfolio, Program, and Project management with integrated reporting and full support for other project management items such as issues, risks, change requests, benefits, and financial management.
