Review the following P6 EPPM terms to help you better understand how to administer users and security:
User Any person who needs access to P6 EPPM modules, including P6 Professional, P6 Team Member interface, and P6.
Resource The people, materials, and/or equipment that perform the work on activities. In P6, you can build a resource hierarchy that includes the required resources across all projects in the organization. Resources are assigned to activities in P6 and can be set up to use the P6 Team Member interface to report actual work hours for those resources.
OBS A global hierarchy that represents the managers responsible for the projects in your organization. The OBS usually reflects the management structure of your organization, from top-level personnel down through the various levels constituting your business. The OBS can be role-based or name-based.
EPS A hierarchy that represents the breakdown of projects in the organization. Nodes at the highest, or root, level might represent divisions within your company, project phases, site locations, or other major groupings that meet the needs of your organization, while projects always represent the lowest level of the hierarchy. Every project in the organization must be included in an EPS node.
WBS A hierarchical arrangement of the products and services produced during and by a project. In P6 EPPM, the project is the highest level of the WBS, while an individual activity required to create a product or service is the lowest level. Each project in the EPS has its own WBS.
An OBS is not the same as a resource pool. While resources are assigned to activities, OBS elements are associated with EPS nodes and projects. The OBS element corresponding to an EPS node is the manager responsible for all work included in that branch of the hierarchy. In this way, an OBS supports larger projects that involve several project managers with different areas of responsibility.
A user does not have to be included in the OBS if he/she needs to access P6 but is not part of the responsible management structure. Similarly, a user might not be a part of the resource hierarchy. For example, if the user is a resource assigned to activities and needs to update them in the P6 Team Member interface, he/she must be included in the resource hierarchy; however, a user who is an executive requiring access to Dashboards in P6 is not a part of the resource pool.
For more information on resources, OBS, EPS, and WBS, see the P6 Help.