Starting the Scenario Comparison

To start a scenario comparison, select a scenario in the header menu under Scenario. Then, in the drop-down menu, select Start Scenario Comparison.

Then, choose the scenario, or Plan of Record, to compare.

You can start a scenario comparison in any view, but it will only have an effect in the Portfolio Designer and Reports views.

You can also start a scenario comparison in the Scenario Manager. In this case, selecting a scenario or the Plan of Record to compare with the active scenario starts the scenario comparison mode.

Scenario Comparison Menu

Once you have enabled scenario comparison, the scenario comparison menu will be displayed in the header showing the compared scenario. Here, you can select among the last compared scenarios and the Plan of Record, open the scenario manager or end the scenario comparison.

Expand the drop-down menu to see:

• The five most recently compared scenarios and the Plan of Record.
• A list of all scenarios via View All Scenarios.
• Access to the scenario manager via Manage Scenarios.
• The End Scenario Comparison option, which will return you to the default view.

Scenario Comparison in the Portfolio Designer

The Gantt Chart in Scenario Comparison Mode

Over each project in the active scenario, the corresponding project from the compared scenario or from the Plan of Record is displayed in grey. This allows you to recognize scheduling differences at a glance.

Click on a project to see its milestones and dependencies.

Projects that are not part of the active scenario will not be displayed here.

The Project Overview in Scenario Comparison Mode

To compare specific values of a project, such as cost, rank or planned benefit, select the project and open the Project Overview in the Information Panel. For every configured value, the value from the compared scenario will be displayed in gray.

If a value is identical in both scenarios, no comparison value is displayed.

Applying and Submitting Projects

Via the Apply Project from Compared Scenario or Apply Project from Plan of Record options of the project context menu, you can apply any scenario dependent data from the selected project's counterpart in the Plan of Record or compared scenario to the active scenario, overwriting that project there.

Via the Submit Project to Plan of Record or Submit Project to Compared Scenario options of the project context menu, you may submit changes made to a project in the active scenario to the Plan of Record or compared scenario, overwriting that project there. You may also submit projects that don't exist yet or anymore in the Plan of Record or compared scenario.

As with any other changes, this requires edit rights for the target scenario or Plan of Record.

The following data will be transferred to the target scenario or Plan of Record.

• Start, Finish
• Financial events
• Milestones
• Milestone dependencies (if associated milestones exist in the target scenario or Plan of Record)
• Role and resource allocations
• Rank
• Program (if the program doesn't exist in the target scenario or Plan of Record, it will be created there.)

If the project exists in the target scenario or Plan of Record, it will be overwritten there. Please note that this will remove financial events, milestones and dependencies of the target project if they do not exist in the submitted project.

This has no effect on global project data, which stay available in all scenarios in which a project exists, as well as in the Plan of Record if it includes the project.

Scenario Comparison In Integrated Reports

General

You can also benefit from scenario comparison mode in the Reports view in the left sidebar. Open any Pivot & Charts-type report, and start scenario comparison mode.

In order to see compared values, you must add the compared KPIs you want to see in the field chooser:

The KPIs additionally available in scenario comparison mode are:

• All data fields of the compared scenario
• The difference between the KPIs of the two compared scenarios
• A scenario filter field, which can be used to filter for one of the two compared scenarios

The only KPI that is unavailable is the difference between the two scenarios' "Deviation of Actual Time Worked or Cost from Planned". These KPIs are only available when you are in scenario comparison mode. If you save your report, and then end scenario comparison mode, the new KPIs will no longer be visible in your report.

If you use the Single Filter/Grouping Fields Project by Rank or Program by Rank, they will be arranged by the ranks in the main scenario. The field Project Score is scenario independent.

Saving your Report from Scenario Comparison Mode

You can also save and share reports with data from scenario comparison mode with others. In order to view this configuration again, the user must be in the exact same scenario comparison as when it was originally saved.