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In this article, you learn which software programs are popular, what vendors have to say about their own programs, and how to get in touch with vendors.
Yesterday's News
As each day passes, any software program evaluation presented in any book ages and soon becomes obsolete. Consequently, the surveys and review of products listed in this lesson are presented for the sake of example only!
A survey titled "Tools of the Trade: A Survey of Project Management Tools" appeared in the September 1998 issue of the Project Management Journal. The Journal evaluated what the authors called "Top Project Management Tools." Some 159 project managers responded to survey questions out of 1,000 managers initially contacted. The typical respondent had slightly more than 10 years of project management experience and slightly more than 12 years' experience in the field of information systems. Hence, this was a select group of veteran project managers.
The 159 respondents cited 79 different project management tools that they either were using currently or had used within three years. Of note, the top 10 of these 79 tools were identified by three-quarters of the respondents. The top 10 tools in order were
1. Microsoft Project
2. Primavera Project Planner
3. Microsoft Excel
4. Project Workbench
5. Time Line
6. Primavera SureTrak
7. CA-SuperProject
8. Project Scheduler
9. Artemis Prestige
10. FasTracs
Microsoft Project
...was the most frequently used Project management software at the time of the survey. This is somewhat understandable. In the late 1990s, Microsoft dominated all channels of software advertising and promotion.
Artemis Prestige, Primavera Project Planner, and Project Scheduler were sited as being used more often for projects lasting six months or longer. However, for overall satisfaction with project management software, the ratings were close, with Project Scheduler first, followed by Primavera Project Planner, Project Workbench, Microsoft Excel, Primavera SureTrak, and CA-SuperProject. Thereafter, the score began to fall off a bit.
These programs were rated as to content, accuracy, format, ease of use, timeliness, and then given an overall rating. The top five or six choices in terms of overall satisfaction closely matched the top five or six software packages for which project managers routinely received the most training within their organizations.
However, FasTracs was one product for which managers routinely had no hours of training, and yet it received a remarkably high score. This was especially true in terms or "overall adequacy" when respondents were asked how many months they had been working with the various software products, and how many hours a week they spent using them. Thus, based on this one study, FasTracs would be the product of choice for the first-time or light user, if all things could be held constant.
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Not surprisingly, the training time that project managers received for the various software packages (that they were charged with learning) influenced how adequate they thought the software to be. Said alternatively, the more training you have to work with a particular type of project management software, the higher you tend to rate that software.
Armed and Online
Flash forward to today, when more and more project management tools have an online component. The power and capability of such programs is awesome.
The following is but a snapshot in time as to what is available now, largely in the words of the vendors themselves.
CAUTION
The array of software options available today is even more bewildering than that of years ago.
PlanView
PlanView provides all-browser software within a Windows environment for managers, employees, and others throughout the enterprise—as well as partners, vendors, and service providers in the extended enterprise. The software helps manage projects and other work, update employee information, and manage the workforce. PlanView optimizes the staffing of multiple projects by taking into account the skills and true availability of your workforce. Thus, PlanView enables an enterprise to measure all work and to manage to its full capacity.
PlanView is delivered by user role. That could be managers, employees, and others throughout the enterprise—as well as partners, vendors, and service providers. PlanView Online is an integrated project and workforce management system, is 100 percent Web software, and features
Personalized Web portal
Self-administration by staff
Collaborative critical path engine
Support for your project office
Viewing workforce capacity
Integrated time and expense tracking
Project delivery model
PlanView uses an enterprise Web portal to manage workplace access to information and applications. The enterprise portal is the workers' interface to the PlanView intranet or extranet. The features available to each role are tailored for each customer.
Managers, employees, and business partners sign on to PlanView through a dynamically built Web page called HomeView. Each person's HomeView portal reflects his rights to the information in the central repository and the unique needs of his role in the enterprise.
When the user signs on to the system, his or her profile is recalled, and a unique set of features is placed on the menu for his or her use. PlanView calls these FeatureSets, and they provide access to the rest of the functions of the PlanView suite. For instance, a project manager has access to her project portfolio, the scheduling engines, and approval of status information. A contributor will report time, expenses, and remaining work and update his skills.
Users' favorite Web links for discussion groups, project or department Web sites, as well as executables for key software like a virtual meeting software, project sites, and methodology content providers are all easily accessed.
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Reminders let users track events with knowledge of current time, to inform them when events are due.
Dekker
Dekker TRAKKER project management software offers many en-hanced features, such as enhanced integration with Oracle and SQL Server for complete enterprise control and enhanced human interface to simplify data entry through spreadsheet views. The software also does the following:
Provides the ability to utilize Microsoft Access for Work-group and offline data requirements.
- Increases system performance.
- Provides user-defined three-dimensional bar charts.
- Provides configurable milestone and bar colors. Enables enhanced curve loading.
- Yields real-time calculation. Offers ABC and Gantt view screens.
The Gantt view screen, for example, offers selectable three-dimensional activity bars, user-defined bar style, customizable colors, configurable columns, integrated baseline control, interim milestones on a single line, user-defined milestone symbols, fiscal and standard time scale, and real-time calculation.
The ABC View Screen offers selectable data row, values in heads, quantity dollars, burdens, configurable columns, the new Trakker spreadsheet view for familiar data entry, integrated baseline control, real-time calculation, and complete cost and schedule integration.
Primavera
Primavera SureTrak Project Manager recognizes a project team's need for constant, timely project communications and updates. Primavera bolstered its SureTrak with Web publishing enhancements that let users quickly and easily save project layouts and reports in HTML format. The Web Publishing Wizard can then group and sort the tabular and graphical HTML reports and layouts from all your projects, into a single, easy-to-read project Web site that can be conveniently viewed by the whole team.
Based on extensive usability testing, SureTrak simplifies project management for mainstream use by addressing the ease-of-use needs of novice project managers, while delivering project management applications for small-to-medium-sized projects. Its rich feature offering includes advanced organization of project plans, activities, and team members; Project KickStart for step-bystep project plan creation; Progress Spotlight for easy updating of project activities and Web Publishing Wizard for enhanced online communications among team members.
The Variable Timescale feature lets users zoom in on a portion of the project time scale. For example, activities scheduled for the next month can be displayed in days, while the rest of the project is displayed in weeks or months. This feature presents the details for one period of interest, while still displaying the entire project on one page.
To give project teams greater insight into the sequence of interrelated project tasks, SureTrak 3.0 includes an intuitive PERT Timescale display.
SureTrak builds on existing customization capabilities, by enabling users to modify an individual or group of bars based on activity attributes. By combining new display options with colors and patterns, project managers will be able to graphically communicate valuable project details and status for analysis.
SureTrak includes several other new capabilities, designed specifically to simplify use of the software. In addition to an updated user interface that adheres to accepted 32-bit operating environments, users will find they are more productive when analyzing alternative what-if scenarios for their projects, by taking advantage of new options for using project filters and display layouts.
Other Primavera Products
With P3e you can manage the entire project lifecycle. P3e is a total project management solution, encompassing all aspects of the project lifecycle. It combines all of the in-depth project management capabilities required by project-driven managers.
Through costs, schedule, and earned value thresholds, or variances, P3e automatically generates issues when thresholds are exceeded by project elements. Project managers can prioritize resulting issues and let P3e send e-mail alerts to the responsible parties to ensure prompt resolution. To make sure that project risks are properly identified and quantified, P3e also integrates risk management and assesses the impact of those risks. P3e quickly performs what-if simulation to determine the schedule and cost exposure of project risks based on estimated impacts and probability factors.
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Risks can be categorized and risk control plans can be documented as part of the overall project plan.
Prima Progress Reporter provides full workgroup support and coordination of project resources with minimum training and hassle. Each team member receives activity assignments—even across multiple projects. Team members use Progress Reporter to communicate timesheet and activity status to the project manager and project database via the LAN, remotely via e-mail, and over the Internet.
Primavera Portfolio Analyst provides unparalleled project summary and tracking information to executives, senior managers, and project analysts through a rich set of graphics, spreadsheets, and reports. The Project Portfolio wizard groups together any number of projects, based on project attributes or hierarchy, for comparison and analysis. Portfolio Analyst's interactive interface allows quick drill-down to see information at any level of detail for clear presentation and discussion.
P3e combined with Portfolio Analyst and Progress Reporter form the most advanced solution for managing all projects within an enterprise.
Welcom
Welcom offers "Project Management for a Changing World." Welcom is a global distribution of project management software, providing leading tools to corporations worldwide. The Welcom product line includes totally integrated and versatile software for managing both in-house and enterprise-wide projects.
Welcom has joined Pacific Edge Software to define the XML (Extensible Markup Language) schema for project management.
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The flexible business-to-business schema will enable intelligent project data exchange between an organization's information systems.
Microsoft
The best way to manage your projects is to have the information you need right in front of you. Microsoft Project 2000 gives you that information by providing flexible tools for organizing, viewing and analyzing project data and by allowing your team members to update their status through the Web—another way of making The Business Inter-net work for you.
Since the most accurate status information comes from those doing the work, Microsoft Project 2000 includes a simple, Windows-based interface that team members can access from their Web browsers to provide collaborative input. It's called Microsoft Project Central, and it can give you upto-the-minute data that will help you to make the best decisions for your business.
Project KickStart
Project KickStart is a powerful, but easy-to-use planning tool that helps you design, organize, and schedule any project. Project Kick-Start's eight-step planning process focuses your attention on the structure of the project, the goals, resources, risks, and strategic issues critical to your project's success. Your plan is ready in 30 minutes.
Schedule your project using the pop-up calendar and Gantt chart. Print out a to-do list or one of the seven presentation-ready reports. Or, for added versatility "hot link" your plan into Microsoft Project, SureTrak, P3, FastTrack Schedule, Super Project, Project Scheduler 7, Time Line, Milestones Etc., WBS Chart, Word, WordPerfect, and Excel.
Some of the features and benefits include
- The ability to work with any size project up to 750 tasks and 75 resources. Sample projects packed with information, and ready to use. Drag-and-drop hints from libraries of goals, phases, and obstacles. Gantt chart for "big picture" scheduling.
- Seven presentation-ready reports.
- Saving as HTML—post project plans on your Intranet.
- Hot-link to Word, WordPerfect and Excel—include project plans in proposals and business plans.
- Hot-link to other Project management software. Free technical support.
Project KickStart requires no project management training to use and comes with a helpful (and knowledgeable) "advisor" and free, friendly telephone support.
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By working through the program's icons and organizing your project step by step, you'll develop a clear overview of the project and what it will take to complete it. You become totally in control—more efficient, more effective, more successful.
The next time your boss asks for a project plan or your staff demands a marketing strategy, just click on Project KickStart. This breakthrough program will help you design, organize, and schedule your project in only 30 minutes.
It's fast and easy—no training required. Your plan is ready in minutes!
Plan with complete confidence. With Project KickStart, nothing is overlooked. Nothing is forgotten.
Schedule the way you want. It is your choice. Use Project KickStart's built-in Gantt chart for small to mid-size projects. Or hot-link data to Microsoft Project and other software for added functionality.
The 30-Second Recap
Project management software changes so rapidly that no book is published fast enough to review the latest software.
The more training a project manager has with a particular type of Project management software, the more highly he or she tends to rate that software. Hence, training is important!
Many vendors now offer total online project management capabilities.
Many vendors offer software support, and with the complexity of the programs they sell, support is crucial. | 
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