The latest version of Mission Control is now available on the Salesforce AppExchange. Version 1.69 has an impressively long list of improvements that customers will enjoy. It also includes many customer-requested updates.
Aprika publishes detailed release notes of its updates and hosts a webinar to discuss the improvements putting them into a better context for users. This is an admirable approach. It delivers customers an easy, quick-to-consume resource that keeps them abreast of the many changes that the Mission Controls team introduces with each update.
Customer feature requests first
Enterprise Times also had the opportunity to quiz Colin Johnson, CEO of Aprika, about the release. I asked him what the most requested update by customers was in this release.
He replied, “The ability to utilise the Meeting Manager in context of a Project and the Holiday Exclusions feature.”
There are several improvements to the Meeting Manager. Johnson highlighted the one that enables users to tie a project to the Meeting Manager using a new “Project Field”.
When in a project it enables a user to see Meeting Manager records in the related lists sections. The integration works in the other direction. Users can add a Meeting Manager component to the Project Lightning Page as well. Only Meeting Managers related to the project will be displayed.
Other improvements include the ability to collapse elements on the page. On the left side, there is a list of Meetings. There is also a Time Logger, which frees up space to view the agenda section. The agenda tasks can also be turned into checklist items.
The holiday exclusions feature enables administrators to exclude specific roles from being allocated to a holiday. It enables greater flexibility, especially when working with international employees who may not be eligible for certain holidays.
On certain projects, holidays are not automatically assigned. Individuals can opt to take a day off in lieu instead of the holiday, depending upon project demands and deadlines.
Project Time Log report
One of the most useful features in this release is the Project Time Logs PDF. Project Managers can now create a PDF detailing the time logs related to a project between specified dates to submit to a client.
Additional data can be added to the report, which can then be sent to the client requesting the information. Potentially, this saves a lot of time for project managers who have to extract the data into Excel and prepare a document to send to customers.
What would be interesting is whether this report is available in a customer portal with limited restrictions for customers to potentially add comments. The report already includes Project Member, Date, Hours Completed and Time Log Notes. It can also be customised to include other fields.
I also asked Johnson what his favourite feature within this update. He replied, “I’m pleased we’ve added the Rejections Tab to the Timesheet as this brings this element of the approval process to the forefront for the individual users, ensuring they can efficiently adjust their Timesheet entries and resubmit in a timely manner.
“I’m also excited to see the ability to apply filters to the work breakdown structure on the Project Overview. With many of our customers running large, complex, multi-year projects in Mission Control, being able to filter down to key areas of the Project will provide project team members with the ability to focus on the elements of the Project that are important to them right now.”
Other improvements
There are several new major features and many other minor improvements as well.
- A new list view to see expenses rejections in a single location.
- The Daily Digest can now include Checklist Items, Risks, Issues, the Role’s hours as Action Owner / Contributor and a summary of Rejected Time Logs / Expenses / Holidays.
- Several enhancements to the Scheduler and Meeting Notes features.
- The Project Launch Wizard is available from the Mission Control Console’s Launch Pad and can include customised fields.
- Red and Yellow Warning Icons are now available on more fields though the criteria for their appearance appear preset.
- The time log now has two new Rate Source fields: Billable Hourly Rate Source and Cost Hourly Rate Source.
- Several enhancements to the Billing Event PDF.
While this release has several very useful improvements and even more minor new features, it does not appear to include a major new component. I asked Johnson what the dev team is working on for the next release.
He replied, “The main new feature we’ve got scheduled for our next release is a Sprint Board, enabling customers running agile projects to plan out an individual Sprint.”
Enterprise Times: What does this mean
Mission Control is built on the Salesforce Platform and continues to benefit from Salesforce’s feature improvements. This update does not disappoint in terms of the volume of improvements that the development team has made. It also seems that the firm is working on adding more capabilities for Agile organisations, especially development teams.
With Dreamforce looming, it will be interesting to hear how Mission Control are taking advantage of the latest Salesforce features.
