ConceptDraw PROJECT vs. Microsoft Project vs. Replicon Polaris PSA

For small and medium companies or independent departments of large companies where usually an individual plans the projects this is the best tool without all the overheads of complex software like Microsoft Project and without any privacy concerns of all online project management tools being used today. Not that convenient when you want your employees to update timesheets, etc., as everything needs to be fed into the tool by the project manager.

Microsoft Project is the perfect platform for medium and large companies. I do not recommend this software for small businesses, because all its functions in the work plans are high cost and this would cause the small business to not perform well in the use of MS Project in the long term. It is very easy to use software, it allows adding, modifying and eliminating all kinds of assignments and tasks for all employees, it allows monitoring the progress of all projects in real time and it also shows the gaps in the planned project. It has a very good performance, it does not take up many computer resources and all the information is stored in sync with the Office 365 service. It occasionally has crashing problems, but this is something that does not affect users as much.

Incentivized

Really do your homework so make sure this is the right product for your company needs.

Incentivized

• PROJECT is tightly integrated with Diagram and MindMap, the two other tools in the CD Suite. This allows me to do initial scoping in MindMap and then switch to PROJECT and go back and forth as new requirements are exposed and tasks are developed.
• For projects that entail the development of mechanical or electro-mechanical systems it is necessary to develop a topology of the system. By using MindMap I can define the required elements of the system, switch to Diagram to develop an initial layout of the components of the system and then switch to PROJECT to start defining the task to develop the system. Once the system has been defined I use CD Solutions to generate presentations that incorporate the reports and dashboards generated by PROJECT.
• PROJECT is cross platform (Mac and Windows). We are a Mac shop, so the ability to import Microsoft project and Visio charts and export to those formats as well saves a lot of heartburn when so many of our partners and potential customers are Windows users.

• It is part of Office365 subscription. The look and feel is similar to other tools like excel. Helps in creating project plans, Gantt charts, work break down structures etc.
• Helps in resource allocation and tracking the projects. There is an option to use it to capture timesheets too.
• Helps project managers in producing weekly status reports and integrates well with other collaboration tools like Skype, sharepoint etc.

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• Timesheets are pretty straightforward, you just have to choose a client/project/task that you worked on (in that order), and put the hours for each day. You can then specify if it is billable or not and that’s it, you can submit.
• Time off are also very efficient, as you can select your days off from your calendar, and choose if it is a paid time off, sick leave, or other type of leave. By selecting a range of days, it automatically subtracts weekends, bank holidays, and gives you the remaining days off that you have (and if it is possible to request paid time off for example). The calendar view is very good.
• Expenses management are very efficient, you just have to describe what you spent and select on what project or client, then put the incurred amount and upload scans of your receipts. It also handles different currencies which is good for international companies, and you can keep track of the approval status, to know when you are going to be reimbursed without asking the finance team.

Incentivized

• We had to spend a good amount of time to understand all the features so some interactive built-in tutorials would have made getting started easier.
• The UI does not look so good in macOS Catalina Dark Mode and I often switch to light mode when working on this software.
• Multiple people working on the same project at a time cannot update as there is no way to synchronize changes so we put the file in our code repo but manually co-ordinate to make sure only one of us is changing the plan at a time.

• Remote work can be challenging - as Project must be downloaded to a specific computer.
• Upgrading to the top of the line version can feel like a requirement. There is a lot of functionality that is not available unless in the most expensive pay-tiers.
• Microsoft Project can be extremely expensive on a per user basis. Other tools can be much more cost-effective - especially for more basic project management needs.

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• Rejected timesheets are sometimes harder to update and send back.

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I like using Microsoft Project. It simplifies building a schedule

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Microsoft
Project is easy to operate because data could be inserted, changed and
deleted like you are in an Excel timesheet. Besides, it provides a great
level of automation beween his fields allowing few data changes. Also, its
funcionalities are well defined and grouped in upper menus, so you can find a
funcionality quickly

Customer service from the ConceptDraw sales team is relatively quick and they do a good job of answering basic questions. However, the user base for ConceptDraw products is not huge so finding answers online for anything beyond basic help-file questions is difficult

Incentivized

I’m giving MS Project an 8 because in general this is a solid scheduling program. It’s definitely designed with the professional in mind, and they have done well preparing the program to integrate with their other Microsoft products. The program is a workhorse so if you have serious scheduling needs then I would highly recommend MS Project.

Incentivized

I wasn't part of it so I don't know

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Microsoft Project is a typical Microsoft product - too much programming overhead, poor graphics, confusing and fussy interface. OmniGraffle is close to CD PROJECT but has its own fussy parts, plus it is a lot more expensive than CD PROJECT; it is in the middle between Microsoft and CD.

Microsoft Project provided more robust, collaborative solution to Turnkey Project Management. With Excel like sheets for Project Task Schedules are used for contractors and users it was well accepted i.e good UI UX. Integration capability of Microsoft Project Online with Power App and Power Automate + Share point made collaboration most useful. Security features of Microsoft Project is managed by Azure Active Directory Settings.

We used to track time on JIRA on the tickets. This was good enough for time tracking, but didn't integrate efficiently with accounting software, so accountants had to replicate manually the data from JIRA to their software in order to bill clients. Using Replicon made things much easier for them.

Incentivized

• Inexpensive way to present a professional project plan when needed

Incentivized

• Since it is reasonable priced and flexible and fits into our Microsoft products, it meets our objectives
• It has prevented expensive scope creep, this has saved us money and had solid ROI
• Project does require light training cost to use it effectively

Incentivized

• Improved ability to track employee hours and time off.
• Improved ability to track and check employee expenses.
• Iimproved ability to assign resources to projects.