Project management software for structural consultants?

[VanIsleEng]

Our company has grown to the size where, given the number of projects we now deal with, we require a way to effectively schedule and track projects, the resources assigned to them, any schedule slips, etc. Is there a software that anyone uses/would recommend to achieve this? I don't believe Excel can effectively track resources, schedule dependent items, etc. Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[IRstuff]

Microsoft Project?

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[VanIsleEng]

Thanks - considering that as an option. Is it simplistic enough for a company of 12-15 employees in a structural consulting environment?

 

[dik]

Can you use Microsoft Outlook, a relational database?

Dik

 

[VanIsleEng]

Hm, I hadn't even considered outlook and wasn't aware it could function in this way. I'll have to look into that as we already use outlook. Do you know of any resources regarding this use of it?

 

[dik]

Check with the sister site Tek-Tips. They have several active Outlook Access forums. When I first started with one of the companies I work for, I'd done up some 'cartoons' for a relational database for their projects. I was going to write up a program to look after projects, clients, documents, etc. only to find out that of the 50 computers in the office, only 2 had Outlook Access installed... our famous IT department at work (profit center). I was going to write a 'stand alone' outlook executable in Delphi, but, the IT department would not allow it.

Dik

 

[dik]

From Tek-tips, the forums for Access:

Microsoft: Access Forms
Microsoft: Access Modules (VBA Coding)
Microsoft: Access Queries and JET SQL
Microsoft: Access Reports
Microsoft: Access Tables and Relationships
Microsoft: Access Other topics
Microsoft: Access Project (ADP)

My error... I was thinking of Access, and, not Outlook.

Dik

 

[IRstuff]

I have never seen anything to suggest that Access can be used for project scheduling and management. That's not to say that it couldn't be done; I think that Primavera is based on a relational database. Primavera was used at a previous company to do Gantt charts and critical path analysis, but it appeared to be quite complicated and we had a special "someone" who was the only person who could run it. Meanwhile, Project is used by all sorts of program managers and engineers ;-).

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[dik]

IRS: Access is a reasonably tolerable relational database, and, I had set up the pseudocode for 'record management' , not project management. The approach would be similar. Access is good for managing data, and, it wouldn't be much of a stretch to include time as one of the fields. I'm not sure about doing an 'automatic' query on time... maybe that you have to add a button for this.

Dik

 

[IRstuff]

I don't believe that Access can tell you about schedule slips or track resources, at least, not without a serious truckload of programming. At the heart of MS Project is something that resembles a RDB, but the usage and user interface is very different.

There appear to be add-ons that could possibly do things like critical path and Gantt Charts:

https://www.brighthub.com/computing/windows-platform/articles/57933.aspx

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[GroovyGuy]

Hi VanIsle,
If your looking for a tool to track the deliverables on multiple projects, I can recommend Kye Bay Systems Inc. "Document Management System" or DMSys. It was developed for small engineering offices in mind. It is written in MS Access (& VBA). Refer to flyer below.
They can be contacted at info@kyebaysystems.com

GG

ps Yes, Kye Bay is located on Vancouver Island

"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931)

 

[dik]

I don't know if Access has time built in...

Dik

 

[GroovyGuy]

Howdy dik,
What component of time where you referring to above? Note: MS Access has all of the date-time functionality of Excel. A lot of this functionality has to be accessed thru VBA, but this is not an issue.
Curious,
GG

"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931)

 

[dik]

Some means of providing 'alerts' when a milestone was approaching. Access is not a 'full fledged' relational database, but, is capable of doing a lot of items. I posted a query in Tek-Tips, and no response so far...

Dik

 

[Zygimantas]

Hello,
Our company uses a project management software called WiseTeam, might be worth having a look.

 

[D.G.]

Hi, my team uses Zenkit (

https://zenkit.com)

for task workflow overview. It's really great for progress tracking and keeping on top of things.

 

[Lilai]

Check out what Zazmic recently released:

https://zazmic.io

. Surprisingly, it’s the most simple yet useful agile team management tool I've ever tried. Z-Stream is an all-in-one tool that keeps everything in place. It streamlines data gathering, management, and assessment for all my projects. You can create different products through Z-Stream that include releases, sprints, tasks, and share them with your clients at your discretion. It’s easy to get the exact data I need with a bunch of filters by product, users, time range, etc. My personal cherry on top, it lets you set different levels of access for different team members, depending on their role on the project.

 

[FreddyNurk]

Lilai, what is your relationship with zazmic?

EDMS Australia

 

[Lilai]

FreddyNurk. My company worked with them on one of the projects and after we started using Z-Stream

 

[Rika90]

I used to only work with jira at my previous job. Now at the new place we use Z-Stream, and I’m still impressed by the clever customization, versatility and overall simplicity of the platform, especially having my past experience in mind