Replacing the suite of apps from BizNet Software, which was acquired by Insightsoftware, Bizview’s cloud-based platform delivers a way for users to leverage planning capabilities and work on budgeting, forecasting, and reporting tasks from any location with internet connectivity.
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Planview ChangePoint
Score 7.0 out of 10
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Planview Changepoint is a platform that marries professional services automation (PSA), project portfolio management (PPM) and business analytics to provide managers broad operational visibility and control over their strategic business portfolios.
My favorite part is using if for analytical review reports, especially budget to actual reviews. I can make changes to the GL based on issues found during the review and the report updates immediately without having to update, re-key, verify changes, etc. I know it is going to be updated and correct every time.
Changepoint is basic and would, therefore, work for businesses with uncomplicated requests, pretty straightforward workflows and willingness to work with an unsightly solution. It is basic, from the UI to the search option and the way the information is captured, which can be frustrating and counter-intuitive at times. It is relatively robust (i.e. I have been using it for almost 2 years and have not seen it crash once) but it does log me out when the system has been inactive for about 30 minutes - and I am only notified about being logged out upon clicking the Submit button, meaning many a line of text have been typed more than once!
Once a worksheet has been created, you can change a single cell and update the entire report. This makes it much easier than recreating a report every time you start.
It draws data directly from our database that can be filtered down in various ways. This allows us to get the data that we really need quicker.
Changepoint has significant reporting capabilities, though of course, the data that comes out is only as good as the data that goes in. I enjoy being able to use the standard reports to understand exactly how much a project has cost us and to compare it to how much we are charging. This allows us to more accurately set our prices. Though we have not used the report designer capability, I understand that custom reports can be designed with relative ease.
Changepoint has a versioning capability for changes made to user profiles in the system manager, which I find particularly helpful. As a non-power user, it is valuable to be able to see what changes I have made to various profiles so that I can troubleshoot a problem down the line.
Changepoint has significant functionality well beyond the features that we are currently using, and for this reason, I think it is affordable and a good deal. Particularly if your organization is interested in dedicating the time and resources into using all of the features around project planning, resource allocation, etc., the price is well worth the value.
Access to comprehensive training for new users is lacking. While the pay-based BizNet University has some useful videos it doesn't allow for other learning styles.
Having to create a separate OCBC data source and linked server for each arm of business opened is sometimes a hassle.
We use Changepoint to manage the IS organization. I would like to see more advancement in order to do benefits management.
I would like to see a capability where a project manager can build a very detailed work breakdown structure, but only require project resources to charge time and provide a task status at a higher level.
Sometimes the decision to renew boils down to an old adage "if it isn't broken don't fix it". Previous to moving to Changepoint, it was obvious that we needed a better project management tool. Projects we completed on time but the time zone difference between the teams and several iterations of back and forth caused a number of communication issues with projects. The difference is night and day.
FRX - Great Plains Report Writer - These do produce financial reports but are much more tedious to set up. BizNet is much more flexible and easier to use. The functionality is an Excel add-on which allows us to use the powerful functionality of Excel as well as Biznet's functionality to do data retrieval from Sage 100 general ledger.
Planview Changepoint helps us to understand our key customers enabling us to capitalize on every financial opportunity and helps us to forecast demand against the capacities required for new opportunities, and also it automates and monitors contractual terms and conditions. It gives us visibility into our employees' skills and helps to optimize resource allocation.
Employee efficiency has decreased significantly within our Project MAnagement team. The main causes are lack of logical steps/not user-friendly and the slowness of the entire program.
Changepoint PSA has greatly improved being able to track budgets for all projects. Before this software, budgets were done manually by hand and cross-referenced with Accounting. Now, we can pull a report out of the system, as long as all parties entered their time and data correctly.
