PPM Express Digest: What’s New in Q1 2025?

As we wrap up the first quarter of 2025, PPM Express continues to evolve, delivering powerful new capabilities, refinements, and fixes that streamline project and portfolio management. Whether you’re a PMO leader, portfolio manager, or hands-on project manager, here’s a curated look at everything we shipped in January, February, and March.

New Roles, Departments & Tags in People Management

PPM Express has expanded the People Management page with three additional columns: Role, Department, and Tags, giving richer context for each team member.

At the resource level, departments and roles are defined within the Resource details screen, and you can introduce new tag values by typing them into a user’s profile on the People Management page. Any changes you make to roles, departments, or tags on the user side automatically synchronize with their linked resource record (and vice versa), whether you edit these attributes inline or through the User Settings pane.

PPM Express will populate role, department, and tag values during synchronization if you use Azure AD integration and have mapped these fields. Just be sure that the corresponding values already exist in your tenant. When you invite someone new, these columns won’t appear in the invitation dialog; once the user is created and linked to an existing resource, you’ll see their role, department, and tags in the User Settings pane (for entirely new resources, these fields start blank).

Finally, you can sort, filter, and search your user list by any combination of Role, Department, or Tags, making it easy to locate exactly who you need.

Process Management Module

PPM Express now includes a fully featured Process Management module, bringing Stage-Gate discipline into the platform. With this enhancement, administrators can establish, tailor, and oversee project processes, phases, and stages, guaranteeing every project adheres to a coherent, structured workflow aligned with organizational requirements. Key aspects include:

Automated Process Assignment

Each new project picks up a default process unless you select a different one, so you start with the right phase and stage every time.

Users can move between project stages using the available actions in the Process project section.

Full Admin Control

Create, clone, edit, deactivate, or delete processes (Enterprise & Ultra plans), set defaults for new projects, and see which projects use each process.

Phases & Stages Customization

In a project’s workflow, each process is broken down into distinct phases, and within every phase, you can define as many stages as needed. While you can rename and change the color of phases, their sequence and existence remain fixed; in contrast, stages offer full customization. The Stages section includes a flowchart view to visually insert new stages and adjust phase configurations for a more visual approach.

Automatic Project Date Roll-Up

PPM Express now offers an option that automatically derives a project’s Start and Finish dates from its designated Primary Schedule. Found under Project Settings → Calculated Automatically, this toggle controls whether those key dates are maintained by hand or dynamically adjusted.

When enabled, your project’s start and end dates will roll up directly from the primary schedule, yet you retain the ability to fine-tune them manually. Any subsequent changes to the linked schedule or swapping in a different one will automatically override your edits, while manually entered dates persist only if the schedule lacks data definitions.

If you switch the setting off, date management reverts entirely to manual entry, and flipping it back on later will once again populate the dates based on the schedule. Administrators can preset the default behavior for all new projects at the tenant level by visiting Tenant Settings → Default Project Settings.

Other Improvements & Fixes

Improvements

• CSV exports have been enhanced with virtual columns for Portfolio, Program, User, and Resource fields.
• The Issues icon has been refreshed for better visibility and a cleaner dashboard look.
• Time-tracking entries can now be retrieved via the API, expanding your integration possibilities.
• Browser extension sizing is now adjustable, letting you customize the interface to your preferences.
• Jira connections now support OAuth 2.0 authentication for enhanced security and a seamless login experience.
• Project names remain fully visible when scrolling through lists, preventing any cropping of critical information.
• The Set Project Baseline screen has been completely redesigned for clarity, putting key options front and center.
• The MS Teams connection dialog includes a direct link to its help article, making support resources easier to reach.
• A toggle has been added to automatically roll up Start and Finish dates from the primary schedule, with manual overrides preserved until the schedule changes.
• Power BI report URLs hosted on U.S. Government domains are fully supported, simplifying secure report sharing.

Fixes

• Calendar exceptions imported from CSV files retain existing entries instead of being accidentally cleared.
• Azure DevOps imports no longer fail when bringing in items, ensuring a smoother connection between systems.
• Status update notifications now reliably post to Microsoft Teams, so your team never misses an alert.
• Sorting projects by the Process field now sticks, even after refreshing the page, so your custom order remains intact.
• A custom filter on the Resource Reported Time view no longer produces a blank screen, ensuring you always see your data.
• All projects now display correctly under Portfolios → Programs & Projects, even when filters or custom settings are active.
• Area names with special characters no longer trigger errors during Azure DevOps project imports.
• Tasks imported from Microsoft Project (MPP) files keep their original dates, preserving your timelines accurately.
• Predecessor task links move correctly when tasks are rearranged, maintaining proper dependency relationships.
• The “This Week” task filter has been fine-tuned to display the necessary tasks without omissions.
• Pre-filter behaviors have been standardized, ensuring consistent task filtering across views.
• Task dependency indentation issues have been corrected, so hierarchical task lists behave as expected.
• KPI widgets tied to “Select”-type fields now render correctly, briefly giving you accurate metrics.
• A rare bug that could reset an overridden project status has been fixed, ensuring your manual status changes stick.

Looking Ahead

PPM Express focuses on flexibility, governance, and user experience with every incremental release. Whether adding visual process mapping or giving administrators more control over default behaviors, these Q1 2025 updates help you spend less time wrestling with configuration and more time delivering real project value. Stay tuned for continued enhancements in Q2!