Avolution ABACUS vs Microsoft Project Server

Likelihood to Recommend

Well suited scenarios include IT portfolio management, project portfolio management, enterprise architecture planning, modeling of business capabilities, using standard frameworks that ship out of the box such as TOGAF, and integration with SharePoint.Less appropriate scenarios would be detailed data modeling and using the tool expecting to get model drive code execution.

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Nolan Victor Pillay, Pr. Eng

Enterprise Architect

Anheuser-Busch InBevConsumer Goods, 10,001+ employees

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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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Verified User

Professional in Other

Non-Profit Organization Management Company, 11-50 employees

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Pros

Customisable meta-model that allows you to focus on areas of interest, cut out the clutter, and grow organically as requirements arise.
Integration to third party products such as SharePoint, and export/import with Excel feature makes getting information in and out really easy.
Reporting and analytics, and impact analysis are simple using the built-in features as well as ABACUS intelligence and/or integration to third party analytics tools.

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Nolan Victor Pillay, Pr. Eng

Enterprise Architect

Anheuser-Busch InBevConsumer Goods, 10,001+ employees

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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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Cristian Bodnarasec

Senior Software Development Manager

eSiliconSemiconductors, 501-1000 employees

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Cons

More standard connectors for integration with other modeling tools could be beneficial for companies having legacy tools/fragmented toolsets.
Better automated diagramming features would be useful.

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Nolan Victor Pillay, Pr. Eng

Enterprise Architect

Anheuser-Busch InBevConsumer Goods, 10,001+ employees

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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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Verified User

Consultant in Corporate

Management Consulting Company, 10,001+ employees

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Pricing Details

General

Free Trial

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Free/Freemium Version

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Premium Consulting/Integration Services

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Entry-level set up fee?

No

Starting Price

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General

Free Trial

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Free/Freemium Version

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Premium Consulting/Integration Services

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Entry-level set up fee?

No

Starting Price

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Usability

No score

No answers yet

No answers on this topic

Microsoft Project Server 10.0

Based on 1 answer

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

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Ross Ghiasi

Senior Consultant

Protivix Business SolutionsInformation Technology and Services, 11-50 employees

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Support Rating

Avolution ABACUS 9.0

Based on 2 answers

Highly knowledgable team and fast response times

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Nolan Victor Pillay, Pr. Eng

Enterprise Architect

Anheuser-Busch InBevConsumer Goods, 10,001+ employees

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No score

No answers yet

No answers on this topic

Implementation Rating

No score

No answers yet

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Microsoft Project Server 10.0

Based on 2 answers

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

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Ross Ghiasi

Senior Consultant

Protivix Business SolutionsInformation Technology and Services, 11-50 employees

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Alternatives Considered

More flexible and user friendly interface.Better customization enables organisations to grow based on their maturity and requirementsAvolution is highly rated on Gartner and Forrester reviews

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Nolan Victor Pillay, Pr. Eng

Enterprise Architect

Anheuser-Busch InBevConsumer Goods, 10,001+ employees

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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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Ved Mishra

SharePoint/MS Project Server Engineer

MerckPharmaceuticals, 10,001+ employees

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Return on Investment

Enabled rationalization of IT portfolio to save costs
Supporting of strategic planning of EA and IT initiatives

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Nolan Victor Pillay, Pr. Eng

Enterprise Architect

Anheuser-Busch InBevConsumer Goods, 10,001+ employees

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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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David Lean

Project Management Officer and Resource Manager

CPSInformation Technology and Services, 51-200 employees

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Avolution ABACUS vs Microsoft Project Server