Project Management Software 4

[Qshake]

To get things started in this forum, I thought it might be best to get an idea of what software is in use.

Presently, I deal mostly with Primavera (P3) but have used Suretrack and Microsoft Project in the past.

Anybody else? Any different software?

 

[stick1]

We use Microsoft Project also. One limitation we have run up against is when we go to share the views of the schedule with all interdepartment team members. Not all of them need to use Project and therefore have not purchased a seat of the software. This means they do not have the ability to electronically view the schedule.(We also do not have provisions for seat licensing.) This requires us to convert the document to a .pdf format so others can use Adobe Acrobat reader(freeware) to view schedules rather than incur the cost of buying additional seats that would not be otherwise put to use.
Does anyone else experience this problem? If so, how do you deal with it?

 

[Baldy]

I think all of our project managers use Etch-A-Sketch. They present the project schedule at a meeting and shake it over their head on the way out of the meeting. We suffer from "PROJECTUS LATEOCIOUS" here and a lack of training.

Funny story: I went to a project "KICK OFF" meeting recently where the project manager gets up in front of the room and had these great overheads on the project showing our next product outlined from beginning to end. Everybody congratulated him for a nice presentation yadee yadee ya. I had noticed on his Gantt Chart that he literally had a the project completing before one of the tasks was complete. He had a question and answer session at the end and I had asked him "How could you FINISH the project before the completion date of a task. His repliy was "WELL SOME OF THESE DATES AREN'T RIGHT" as the CEO of the company began to chew him out I walked out shaking my head. Unfortunately he is still here still blowing smoke.

Anyway I've used Microsoft Project for a long time and it seems to be the best. We are a small company and have about 10 seats for all of the necessary personnel to view it but the project manager usually distributes hard copies of a Gantt Chart with a revision and then puts "Read Only" status on the electronic copy and only he/she can manipulate the project.

Sorry to ramble but had to share it with you guys.
Mark

 

[Qshake]

Yes, we use the management software only a fraction of what it should be used and by inexperienced personnel. I guess, the thought is the more we use it, the more we'll get the hang of it. Trouble is, no one is forcing us to use it. And when they do, its an emergency situation...nothing like a 10 alarm fire to learn how to use the equipment.

Our industry is going to multi-office projects and I guess we will use the software more in the future.

Things are definitely different these days!

 

[ADBoldy]

Currently our department is changing over to Scitor PS8 project management software. It offers Critcal Chain type of management.

From what I have seen so far it is far superior to MS Project and is more user friendly than other Critcal Chain software options. I wish more software companies would realize the benefit of multiple undo's!

 

[tipster]

Hiya all,
I have used projects for a number of years now and as already mentioned I have found the best way to pass the plan around is to convert to pdf format. The other method I have used is the camera option in projects which allows you to create a gif file but this sometimes can cause problems on large files

 

Need view only capability witout paying for seat licenses for Scitor. Prefer not to convert files to Adobe and lock them down to do this. Is there a way, such as using Com3 with a guest, read only account that had handle multiple logins on the one user ID? Or does someone know of a converter that will open the Scitor Program schedules for view only?

Thanks again. B-(

 

[rptaylor]

Hi,

I've used MS Project for a few years too. Although I also use the PDF route to communicate the project status from MSP, I have recently been using the MS Outlook link that came in with MSP98. You have to install a small driver on everyone's PC (this is free) and you can then send out the project tasks to the resources allocated to them. They can feed back progress (in the usual way for an Outlook task) and you can incorporate this into your MSP plan. It also works well for multi-site projects. I use this as an additional rather that a replacement for the PDF overviews. I've also often output eps files from MSP and incorporated these into monthly reports etc.

MSP is also OK for cost tracking, provided you're very careful about how you enter your data - and that you get your calander right!

As far as Risk management goes, MSP doesn't include anything, but you can use tools such as @Risk and link into your Project plan.

Metrics like cost index, performance index, resource usage etc. can be obtained with a little manual effort.

The biggest critisism that I've heard about MSP is that although its very user friendly in that its easy to get into using it, it does not force you into good project management practise, unlike tools like MicroPlanner for example (which isn't easy to get into, but does force good PM practice). I guess this comes down to training.
The big pluses for MS Project (in my view) are:
- Easy GUI
- Its Micrsoft, so - bugs have a good chance og being fixed eventually (new release every year at least) - good chance that you can share data with others (they are probably using MSP too), albeit with difficulties mentioned above - relatively low price

Communication is easily half of Project Management (IMHO), so for me its a big factor if a tool allows for easier communication. MSP does have room for improvement, but then so do all the other tools I've seen - the question for me is, what are the chances of improvement in the near future?

Hope this helps!
Cheers
Russell ---
Russell Taylor BEng CEng MIEE
Hampshire, UK.

 

[Dercon]

I want to convert a SureTrack Project into P3. How can I do that?

 

[asdf]

I have used Microsoft and Primavera for scheduling for years, and have tried to use Lotus Notes and the likes to keep track of what is going on on the project. I have to clarify something, this is from a Contractor's position. Two or three years ago I sat in one of Primavera's free breakfast siminars, and watched a demo on Expedition. I bought it, hook, line, and sinker. I spent the first year monkeying with the forms and the usual reworking that goes along with a new program. It all paid off a year later when a delay hit the project, and I was able to go back and recreate the timeline of events, and link it with the associated documents(letters, PO's, RFI,s), daily reports, etc, in a week. It literally saved me three months of work. It has the capability to allow multiple used to access the same data, and input and update data. If the low bid (owner vs constractor) way of life ever changes to the partnering dream, this would be the tool to use. You can incorporate P3 schedules, and attach submittals, letters, RFI's , etc to the schedule activities, as well.