Adobe Workfront vs. Microsoft Project Server

I write music and sound design for multiple projects at the same time, all within the same company, sometimes as much as 8-10. It can be hard to keep track of and stay on top of notes and changes, but Adobe Workfront is great at keeping everything organized, and informing you of deadline changes as they occur.

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Microsoft Project Server I believe is best for any organization from small to large. As I mentioned, it is a little pricey so I would do research into alternative software and depending on your needs maybe look at all options, competing software. This is a tool with a learning curve and some may not be able to easily navigate this software. There isn't really great training, resources available for this tool however there are some free YouTube tutorial videos. This is great for cross company, department project management, sharing, managing of projects and timelines.

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• Fosters communication between team members.
• Serves as a virtual "to do list" for me personally - I can track where I am with projects and what there is left to do, and when it's completed.
• Sharing documents between team members that can be updated.

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• Project planning: tasks assignments, resources allocation, progress and cost tracking. The Server version is the natural extension of the Microsoft Project standalone.
• Provides one place to manage all projects, accessible by everyone in the team. This opens the plan updates to team members as well(on their tasks), as opposed to being done only by the project manager.
• Reporting and visualization - resources utilization, timeline etc
• The integration with the Microsoft Project standalone: if you don't like the web version, you can download the latest and work locally. When done just sync it back to the server.

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• Notifications (sometimes I am emailed when I am tagged, other times I am not)
• Certain file formats do not render correctly in Workfront Proof (eg, .XLS files)
• It can be difficult to manage projects if you have not been assigned the correct permissions.

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• Resource loading and leveling extremely complicated within the tool
• Software makes incorrect assumptions and changes without user knowledge
• Inconsistencies within the tool make it hard to predict & troubleshoot

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All that I've said already is why. I suppose the clearest way to say it is that at this point? I cannot imagine running the 300+ active projects in eMarketing without AtTask; it simply wouldn't be possible and even more; I wouldn't imagine why we'd try to find an alternative tool when we have one meeting our needs.

I gave a rating of 10 on overall usability because Workfront is cloud based and very easy to use. Workfront also provides collaboration on projects which is critical to a projects success. The tool gives everyone high level visibility in their projects down to the smallest detail. Wonderful project management system, allows you to cut down on emails, meetings and no more spreadsheets for tracking your projects.

We don't have to worry about maintenance, upgrades, or compatibility issues. All the capabilities we need are there, and are easily customizable.

Maintenance is required, but usually after work hours, Some days the proofing tool function is not operational, but this is a new function of the tool that WF is working out. the kinks on. Chrome is the best browser to use the system in and we find Firefox and Explorer lose some view functionality - Gantt Chart, Resource Grid

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Workfront's performance has been very good. Everything always feels very fast and snappy in my experience. We have integrated it with custom scripts to create folder structure for media managing our projects. It works very well.

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It would be nice if the support forms were more dynamic so you could add more information to the support ticket when you enter it to reduce back and forth with the support team member. Also communication on escalated tickets isn't always great. It's gotten better over the years but still needs improvement. Other than that, initial response on support tickets is really quick and the people I've dealt with have always been very professional.

It was from my boss, not a rep from AtTask.

The training is very easy to use and you can simply choose the topics included in the course(s) that are most important to your training needs. After each training course, you are tested on what you have learned. If you need a refresher course, they provide Course Catalogs as well as instructor-led courses & workshops.

Most people learn as you go, a lot of this stuff requires trial and error throughout so my suggestion is to provide as much information in the upfront and keep it as simple as possible. You can add other tools and features as you go but everyone should have the basics down so no bad habits can start to develop. Be persistent with everyone, and don't be afraid to correct and talk through steps again so everyone is on the same page

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Per Microsoft, Project Online provides more value long-term by reducing infrastructure cost and increase feature release cycle time

Jira is mostly used as a bug locking tool or to track any new development for any specific region/EPIC. But Workfront has a lot of other features which are beneficial in project management. I still consider Jira and Workfront my top two options for project management and believe both have some of the other useful features which are required to manage any team.

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One of the key advantages of Microsoft Project Server (MSPS) is its ecosystem. It gels very well with SharePoint, Office, Office 365. The support from Microsoft is also a key driver and they are very experienced and many ways to resolve issues. Also, Microsoft has bridged the gap of cloud offering from other competitors by providing Project Online. It is an offering through Office 365 which is very lean and low maintenance.

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As I stated earlier, I didn't have to pay for Workfront myself- I'm a user under a large organization. I know it's not cheap to implement, I don't know how the price scales for a small-business, but I do like the product enough that I'm going to look into it in the future for my own company.

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Our organization has thousands of users that use Workfront and it seems to hold up very well. I have not encountered any issues using it and I think it makes it very easy for multiple people to be involved in a project and keep things organized and clear for everyone involved.

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• Workfront allowed our company to have multiple offices and work remote and still have projects continually move through the agency
• The platform allowed streamlined project management needs so PMs could look at a higher level of timing for resourcing needs for a given team
• Workfront's ease of integration with other tech allowed for a lot of flexibility to meet the needs of individual wants/needs so that each person could do their best work

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• We've been able to reduce the number of staff in our PMO by utilising the Project Server data in Power BI, reducing the need for manual reporting.
• Being able to forecast utilization in the product allows us to accurately estimate resource needs to ensure optimum staff levels.

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