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Sharing & Ownership

In a professional environment, a schedule is not just a file—it is a governed asset. MSP Planner provides a robust governance model to ensure that the right people have the right level of access, maintaining a clear chain of accountability and continuity.

1. The Governance Model: Ownership & Continuity​

Every persisted schedule in MSP Planner has a clear ownership structure to prevent ambiguity and protect data integrity.

The Schedule Owner​

The user who creates or copies a schedule is the Owner.

  • Full Authority: Only the owner can delete a schedule or modify its sharing settings.
  • Portfolio Quota: To ensure system performance, there is a limit on the number of schedules a user can own globally. Schedules shared with you do not count toward this limit.

Collaborative Access Roles​

The owner manages access through two primary roles:

  • Read Access (The Reviewer): Users can view the schedule and use the comparative overlays to analyze drift. This role is ideal for stakeholders and steering committees who need visibility without the risk of accidental modification.
  • Write Access (The Planner): Users can edit the schedule, manage resources, and synchronize data with Jira. This role is reserved for the active project management team.

Ensuring Continuity (The "Bus Factor")​

In enterprise settings, relying on a single individual as the owner can create a "zombie schedule" if that person leaves the organization.

  • Best Practice: For critical project schedules, it is recommended to share Write Access with a designated administrative account or a secondary lead. This ensures that the plan remains manageable and that the "Chain of Ownership" is preserved throughout the project lifecycle.

2. Collaborative Review Workflows​

Sharing is not just about permissions; it's about the Governance Cycle. MSP Planner supports a structured review process:

The Review $\rightarrow$ Approve $\rightarrow$ Sync Lifecycle​

  1. Planning: The Owner/Planner creates a "Working Copy" of the schedule.
  2. Review: The plan is shared with Read Access stakeholders. They review the critical path and resource loads using the comparative overlays.
  3. Approval: Once stakeholders align on the plan, it is formally approved.
  4. Synchronization: The Owner executes a Push to Jira, transforming the approved plan into the team's operational reality.

This workflow prevents "planning noise" from reaching the execution team in Jira, ensuring that developers only see committed, vetted dates.

3. Enterprise Versioning & Audit Trails​

Instead of maintaining a single "Master Plan" that is constantly overwritten, professional PMOs use Versioned Scheduling to create a historical audit trail of commitments.

The Versioning Strategy​

  • The Baseline (V1.0): Save the original approved plan as the "Truth."
  • The Working Copy (V1.1, V1.2): Maintain separate versions for daily adjustments and iterative refinements.
  • Scenario Planning: Create "What-if" copies to test different resource strategies (e.g., "Aggressive" vs. "Conservative") without risking the primary plan.

By naming schedules with version numbers (e.g., Project X - Baseline V1), you create a permanent record of how the project's commitments evolved over time, which is essential for post-mortem analysis and stakeholder accountability.

4. Portfolio Oversight​

For organizations managing multiple projects, the Manage Schedules dialog serves as a portfolio-level governance tool.

Cross-Project Visibility​

You can opt to "Show schedules from other projects." This allows PMO leads to:

  • Centralized Audit: View every schedule you own across the entire organization in one list.
  • Rapid Switching: Load a schedule from Project A while working in Project B, facilitating cross-project resource balancing.
  • Orphaned Plan Detection: Identify and clean up outdated or orphaned schedules that are no longer active, maintaining a lean and performant environment.

Deletion Governance​

To prevent accidental data loss, the app implements strict deletion rules:

  • Active Schedule Protection: You cannot delete the schedule currently loaded in your project.
  • Cross-Project Confirmation: If you attempt to delete a schedule that is marked as "active" in another project, you must type DELETE to confirm the action.

Governance & Security​

Explicit Synchronization​

Synchronization between the schedule and Jira is always explicit. This ensures that the Project Manager remains the final gatekeeper of the data, preventing automated syncs from disrupting the team's daily work.

Data Residency​

Built on the Atlassian Forge platform, MSP Planner adheres to strict security standards. Your planning data is stored in the Atlassian Fortified Cloud, ensuring that your enterprise's intellectual property never leaves the protected environment.