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Microsoft Project

Microsoft Project

Overview

What is Microsoft Project?

Microsoft Project is a project management software. It provides core PM functionality, including agile workflow support and resource management. Project can be deployed in the cloud or on-premise.

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Recent Reviews
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Awards

Products that are considered exceptional by their customers based on a variety of criteria win TrustRadius awards. Learn more about the types of TrustRadius awards to make the best purchase decision. More about TrustRadius Awards

Popular Features

View all 18 features
  • Gantt Charts (103)
    10.0
    100%
  • Scheduling (105)
    9.9
    99%
  • Task Management (106)
    9.0
    90%
  • Resource Management (103)
    6.9
    69%

Reviewer Pros & Cons

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Pricing

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Project Plan 1

$10

On Premise
per user/per month

Project Plan 3

$30

On Premise
per user/per month

Project Plan 5

$55

On Premise
per user/per month

Entry-level set up fee?

  • No setup fee

Offerings

  • Free Trial
  • Free/Freemium Version
  • Premium Consulting/Integration Services
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Product Demos

Microsoft Project 2021 Overview And Features Walkthrough

YouTube
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Features

Project Management

Project management software provides capabilities to streamline management of complex projects through task management, team collaboration and workflow automation

8
Avg 7.5

Professional Services Automation

Features that support professional services organizations

7
Avg 7.4
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Product Details

What is Microsoft Project?

Microsoft Project is a project management software. It provides core project management and planning functionality, including agile workflow tools like Gantt charts. The software provides prebuilt workflow and report templates for rapid deployment. Project also enables resource management and planning and integrates with BI tools and other 3rd party programs. It can be deployed in the cloud or on-premise.

Microsoft Project Competitors

Microsoft Project Technical Details

Deployment TypesOn-premise
Operating SystemsWindows
Mobile ApplicationNo

Frequently Asked Questions

Microsoft Project is a project management software. It provides core PM functionality, including agile workflow support and resource management. Project can be deployed in the cloud or on-premise.

Earliz and Cerri Work are common alternatives for Microsoft Project.

Reviewers rate Gantt Charts highest, with a score of 10.

The most common users of Microsoft Project are from Enterprises (1,001+ employees).
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Comparisons

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Reviews and Ratings

(691)

Attribute Ratings

Reviews

(1-25 of 42)
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Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Use : Project Monitoring, Scheduling, reporting
Business Problem: To record project progress quantitatively and time consumption by getting data from third party contractors Online
Product : Project Online bundled with Share point helps to record progress collaboratively online. With Custom Fields and Custom JS code approval flow, Quantity Schedule Format was designed.
Use Case: Turnkey Construction Projects around 700 Km radially geographically distributed needed to be tracked. Project Progress by Time Schedule and Quantity Schedule executed by third party is to be reported.
  • Scheduling of Tasks on time basis or on custom criteria
  • Collaborative Task Assignment and getting Progress Inputs Online
  • Road Maps, Numerous Reports help assess the projects
  • Readily available apps from Share point Store MS Office store are useful for extending the functionality of the product eg Custom Dashboards
  • Calculating Project Progress based on Custom Fields( which are used to measure Task Progress on Special Performance Criteria )
  • Simplifying CSOM and JSOM customization
  • Not limiting Support to Only Out of The Box features
Microsoft Project Online is suited to Turnkey Projects where more Collaboration is required in Project Progress monitoring, risk assessment and conveying, issue recording and tracking. It is less appropriate when ERP Suites other than MS Dynamics are used, i.e when Enterprises need to integrate Finance / Accounting with It and having straight project management workflow
Madison Sophia Bennett | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Microsoft Project is the tool that most helps in the planning of a large number of projects; the delivery time of projects and tasks is essential for success in all departments and this tool allows us to know specifically in which task we are doing a good job and in which we have different problems or delays. I can also say that Microsoft Project is very easy to execute and control according to our specifications and requirements. We have success in our hands and this is thanks to the good performance of Microsoft Project.
  • The ability to diagram specific aspects of each project or task
  • The ease of execution
  • Ability to make modifications (assignments, dates, schedules, diagrams, monitoring)
  • Has some limitations related to performance in areas of visual analysis
  • The configuration is not the simplest--the use is perfect, but after configuring it
All projects and tasks require effective planning. It is necessary to use tools that can execute impeccable planning. Microsoft Project has shown that it is a tool capable of handling large projects that require large planning. A great example of efficiency is the virtue of make changes to projects and tasks at any time. Microsoft Project is very easy to execute after going through a complex configuration--that is the only annoyance of this tool. I want to recommend it to expand the planning of projects that always require robust tools.
Score 6 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Microsoft Project Professional and Microsoft Project Online are being used as the primary project management platform within our project and deliverable based business. We manage marketing, strategy and technical projects with a lifecycle of 3-6 months and a cost up to $1 million. Our project managers plan all their projects in Microsoft Project, our resources all put in their time sheets for official billing records into Project Online, we reconcile our financials using Microsoft Project and Power BI.
  • Provides a base line
  • Built in critical path view
  • Complex predecessor relationships
  • Multiple path task chains
  • Ease and Simplicity of using multiple billing rates or seasonality in billing
  • User management is still complicated and time consuming
  • Project deployment can be advanced and require additional configuration instead of out of the box functionality
Large or medium size and complexity projects using standardized project management methodologies will benefit from using Microsoft Project. Small, temporary, time-bound projects with small teams could be managed using something like Microsoft Planner or Workfront.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
It is being used by both the department level, and also across the whole organization. It is not mandatory to use the MS Project for Project software needs, but it is the main one that is widely used since it is part of Office 365. It addresses the business problem of having a really good, industry-standard, project software solution, that also pretty much does everything you may need in project software package
  • One thing it has is good integration with other Microsoft Office products and tools. More than likely most environments will already be using MS products such as Word, Excel, and Powerpoint, so it makes it easier to integrate documents, files, etc. with Project.
  • It also offers many good tools for communications, which makes it beneficial for those that are using communication tools such as Outlook and Skype.
  • Could be too advanced for those that are new to Project Management software, or those that are just starting out in Project Management. Since MS Project has many tools/features built into the program this can be overwhelming to new users in how to do certain things, or where to find the tool for doing something
  • There is a cost to this software, and if buying standalone licenses it can be expensive. It usually doesn't come bundled with the standard Office 365 suite. This is technically considered an add-on, and if you are on a subscription for the software, it can be cheaper.
It is well suited for environments that are already using other Microsoft based programs, as it integrates well with these different programs. Most environments are going to be using main document editing and spreadsheet software such as Word and Excel, so it would help to integrate files, etc. from those programs into MS Project. It is less suited for environments that want Project Management software that is really easy to use and doesn't really require a lot of formal training
Sasha Brito | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Microsoft Project is the right software for all companies that want to maintain a general control of the projects they handle in the various areas of the company. For us, this software has become very essential, because it has helped us to maintain an order in the planning and in the fulfillment of the tasks to be able to complete a specific project. In our Marketing work sector, it has become a very important software, since I have been able to plan projects, assign tasks for each employee in order to complement the project, review each of the tasks that my employees completed and I can also have a broad visualization of progress, performance and where my project is going. Microsoft Project is present in all areas of my company, it is the main project planning software of our entire company, and it has had a really remarkable success since it arrived in the area of ​​marketing. With this software I have been able to track the activities that my employees are carrying out, I can know which employee is behind schedule with the fulfillment of the tasks and it also allows me to see Gantt-type charts, which helps me to know much more exactly the trend of growth or decline of my project.
  • I love the Gantt Chart that Microsoft Project offers me, because it provides me with a view from various aspects, it provides me with exact details about the fulfillment of tasks over a period of time, it also allows me to make comparisons with the necessary data and the fulfilled data. by the employees, in order to know exactly if the project's expectations have been met.
  • I love the Gantt Chart that Microsoft Project offers me, because it provides me with a view from various aspects, it provides me with exact details about the fulfillment of tasks over a period of time, it also allows me to make comparisons with the necessary data and the fulfilled data by the employees, in order to know exactly if the project's expectations have been met.
  • The alert system for the fulfillment and delay of assignments is perfect. Microsoft Project allows me to configure the task system, I can assign the necessary tasks to fulfill the project, and the software alerts me immediately if the managers are fulfilling the assignments.
  • The main drawback encountered while using Microsoft Project is that it does not allow me to modify the template or the general user design. For me, the UI that this software has is quite simple, and I would like to apply different templates or modify the layout of my MS Project workspace, currently it is not possible.
  • Sometimes the software crashes suddenly, throwing an error code, and the software closes immediately. This has happened to me when I am going through the detailed reports on my gantt chart, it is not something that affects me that much, but I think they should fix it.
  • I have not had any other problems with Microsoft Project, it has been an exemplary software that has helped me to maintain a very good project planning in general.
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.
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
MS Project is used by most of our project managers, in order to organize and keep track of our business [and] strategic projects, regardless of which department they belong to.
After an experience with MS Project server that wasn't very successful, "traditional" MS Project helped PMs to manage plannings and shared resources.
  • Gantt chart and tasks planning
  • Tasks dependencies and delay impacts
  • Shared resources management
  • Project timeline visualisation
  • Hidden costs can rise very quickly (licencing, training...)
  • Not available inline and not included in Office 365
  • Old fashioned and not intuitive to use
MS Project suits well for Project managers that either have experience on the software or time/access to training. But it can be challenging for beginners or for non-advanced Excel users
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Our department has previously used Microsoft Project to monitor our routine security audits as well as planning the opening of new sites. From our experience we found MS Project best suited for large scale and complex projects rather than spreadsheet style task management tools. Opening a new building is a great type of project for MS Project structure to manage.
  • Big picture view.
  • Gantt timeline view.
  • Collaboration with MS Teams.
  • Integrating with non-MS collaboration tools.
  • It get more functionality it can become expensive.
  • More visualization tools to analyze trends.
Microsoft Project is a good service for large scale and complex projects such as the opening of a large office building for example. It allows for easy collaboration across other Microsoft Teams and other Office products. It also works well for integrating data from MySQL and Excel sources and storing or sharing documents on Azure Cloud server.
Darrell Dunavan | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 6 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We are using this software in my department. It does have a learning curve and those that are a little older are having a little trouble getting around but we, as a whole, are making it work. It's doing a good job of allowing us to assign tasks and keep up with what's going on with our projects. It is cutting down on the number of meetings we are having to have due to the amount of information we can transmit through the software.
  • Scheduling
  • Assigning of tasks
  • Communication
  • Learning curve is steep
  • Integration of other software would be nice.
  • Must have Office 365.
If you are currently running office 365 then this is a good starting option for a project management software. It does a good job of handling your basic management and scheduling processes It helps if you have some computer savvy employees to dig into it first and then have them train others. If you have to run certain software's within your company then this might not be for you due to the lack of integration.
Kristen Silvan | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Microsoft Project is used daily at the company I work for. It is utilized for both our project schedules and our bid schedules. The program allows us to track the project progress, delays, issues, review times, and many other project details. The majority of the time, Microsoft Project is utilized by our project managers. Also, our quality control department and estimating department use the program occasionally.
  • Easy to use
  • Easy to update / change / manage
  • More templates available
  • Help section could be more descriptive (use photos)
Microsoft Project is very well suited for any size construction company. It is so easy to use and easy to manipulate, change, update. It is so much better than other scheduling software available. The Gantt chart is excellent and easy to read. Most people are familiar with this program, so it makes it easy to discuss and share throughout the project duration. An excellent tool for any project!
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Microsoft Project is a tool primarily used by product management and secondary users include marketing and pro services teams. The tool is intended to enhance project time and collaboration between cross-functional teams. The Gantt chart is used heavily to determine a projects’ critical path and key milestones associated with that path in order to keep a project on time and in the case of pro services especially, on schedule for cost forecasts.
  • Microsoft Product integrations, including sharing and reminder notifications.
  • Interactive Gantt chart.
  • More efficient, reliable project and DevOps integration.
  • Training resources for new users.
Microsoft Project is well suited for product, marketing, pro services, and engineering teams for mapping out project milestones in order to keep a project on time, on budget, and on schedule. Additionally, key stakeholders can have view rights in order to stay tuned on progress which may dictate their strategy. Sales teams are ideal review candidates along with an individual contributors’ manager. This tool is ideal for team meetings to report on overall progress and individual tasks. It encourages contributors to continue updating their respective sections.
Christian Oquendo | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Currently, Microsoft Project is being used by my company to keep track of our company's progress and current tasks. It resolves many issues, one in particular would be the useful time-prediction for current tasks. This software has helped keep my businesses organized and helped become more efficient in productivity and urgency.
  • Organizes tasks efficiently
  • Predicts length of time for task completion
  • Difficult for first-timers
  • High price compared to other software
Depending on the nature of the business, Microsoft Project can be used to accurately and efficiently track company data and progress. The many features included may seem enough for a no-brainer purchase, however, I don't recommend for those that are not familiar with similar software, as it can be complicated to use without the proper training/instruction.
Duane Da`Vein | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
It is used to manage projects.
  • Resource allocation
  • Time tracking
  • Using it fully can be time intensive.
Microsoft Project is perfect for complicated projects with multiple resources since you can track costs as they incur. It is probably not the best for a single task since it may take longer setting up Project than the time it takes to complete the task.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Microsoft Project is quite popular in my organization for defining the timeline and deliverables. This tool is really useful to manage the projects that involve cross functions and systems. It also enable us to track the status of the project and risks around the activities. It is used mostly by the department for various projects which has a huge engagement of resources and needs a detailed layout of projects. It usually helps us to understand resource allocation and defining the planning schedule. It also helps us to understand the risks associated with the project.
  • Resource allocation.
  • Project tracking.
  • Expensive license - Online it is available as free with Microsoft Office but the offline license for desktop use is too expensive.
  • The online version of Microsoft Project does not have Gantt charts and project tasks like the offline version does.
  • Resource allocation - Assign resources for project tasks and allocate the percentage of their involvement.
  • Track the project status - Enable people to track the progress of the tasks and risks associated with activities.
  • Visualization - Provide the flexibility to visualize the status of the project and risks associated with dashboards and help to present data in a useful manner to executives.
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Microsoft Project is a great software tool for project planning and budgeting. It is used primarily by the Operations and IT Departments to work on project tasks to ensure that timelines and deadlines are met. It addresses the immediate need for project planning and coordinating to ensure projects are being completed.
  • Microsoft Project provides all the typical options you'd want to do in a project management app.
  • The Gantt chart bars are interactive; therefore, as you adjust these, the information inside the cells update simultaneously.
  • Microsoft Project can take a long time to learn due to all of its functionality and even longer to master.
  • The feature-rich application has different ways of doing the same thing, and it might get a bit tricky for some users.
Choosing to use Microsoft Project for your organization makes sense if you are familiar with the Microsoft Office Suite Apps. First, its recommended to have a certified Project Manager to drive the software or someone willing to put the time and effort to learn it thoroughly. Second, it helps if your team already uses Microsoft apps. If you have to manage lots of projects, it would be best to have a dedicated individual to update and maintain these for the organization, such as a Project Manager.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Yes, Microsoft Project is used by my organization. Microsoft Project is used in my department. The tool is fantastic in making project scheduling and allocating resource simple.
  • Ease of Use
  • Advanced Options
  • Could be made faster
  • Could included in office 365 package
If you are looking for a tool to help with project planning and you are familiar with Microsoft products, then this MS Project tool is the right fit for you. You could create a .pdf file if you would like to share it with the colleagues who don't have Project installed in their PC. The downside is that he/she can't modify without the tool installed.
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Microsoft Project is currently being used by project managers in our company. Microsoft Project is used to schedule and manage different projects within the company. The Gantt charts and trackers are useful for tracking projects. Built in templates are also useful for project management. Using Microsoft Project Server, files can be shared with everyone involved with the project.

  • Gantt chart tracker is very good at tracking projects.
  • Templates are very useful for different projects that managers are involved in.
  • Beginner users need some help to get started with Microsoft Project. It needs better documentation.
  • There's no real-time updating and Microsoft Project does not work well with multiple users at the same time.
It is great for tracking different type of projects and working alongside different Microsoft applications. If someone plans to run several projects, then this is a good resource. It utilizes everyone's skills and decreases wasted time.
Jakub Wilk | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 6 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We just use MS Project to create Gantt charts and I would say that's all what we use, I know that MS Project can do much more but in my scenario we use it only for Gantt and to exchange Gantt charts with other companies, this was the installed version on my computer.
  • Gantt charts.
  • Resource management.
  • Collaboration.
  • Integration with other software.
MS Project is very good for people who would like to plan project timelines with all dependencies, it is also good when you would like to exchange projects across other organizations because almost everybody has it and you just send a project file and the other person can open it and work.
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Microsoft Project is being used at Duquesne Light to manage project resources and timelines across the entire enterprise. Project allows us to visualize and map out the critical path of our projects, identify over-allocation of resources, and adjust or project timelines as needed. It is a good tool and integrates well with the rest of the Microsoft Office suite.
  • Lots of templates.
  • Can be used offline since it's a desktop application.
  • It's an expensive license.
  • Doesn't work well if you open a newer file with an older version of Project.
Project is useful for medium and larger organizations where you can negotiate a better price for the licenses. It is also well suited for any computer-savvy users. It's user-friendly enough for project managers of any ability to use for their projects. It's incredibly helpful when you're doing complex projects that require integrated work plans where small projects feed into a larger one.
October 28, 2019

Microsoft Project Review

Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use Microsoft Project within our development, IT, business operations and sales departments. Our development and IT departments use MS project extensively to plan new feature upgrades, issue resolutions, build-out projects and plan future projects. Our sales department primarily used MS project to plan to acquire new clients and sell additional features to our existing client base.
  • Task management is what MS project is made for and it has a vast array of templates for practically any industry.
  • Great and assigning tasks to departments, teams, and individuals.
  • Being able to track company resources and how they are being utilized.
  • MS Project has great integration into the entire MS corporate product line.
  • Then need to improve the UI to be more user-friendly for less technical users.
  • More free online resources so users can train and improve there MS Project skills.
  • Integration into more 3rd party software providers that are none MS.
MS Project is great from small to enterprise-level organizations and practically any industry since there is a huge array of templates out of the box. It can also be custom tailed to your exact industry-specific needs. MS Project is less appropriate for small projects where you don't need too much detail and just require to track the basics of a project.
October 01, 2019

Best bang for your buck

Jonathan Ayers | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
I use Microsoft Project to plan and execute IT projects at the customer facility I work at. This keeps track of in-house projects that are done at the facility level and do not require higher-level planning. This allows me to keep track of everything associated with these projects and serves to meet customer needs.
  • Plan project tasks.
  • Execute project tasks.
  • Provides management tracking of project completion.
  • The clunky interface is occasionally hard to use.
  • Help articles are not always clear and concise.
  • Feature integration is lacking.
Overall, it is the best project management tool I have seen for the money (represents the best value). It comes with Office 2016/Office 365 so it allows me to plan and execute projects without having to purchase additional project management software. Additionally, it allows for management oversight of project and task completion.
amelie suarez | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
This software is used in the project department of the school to efficiently manage projects and plan tasks for projects to be carried out in order to achieve successful projects for a long time.
  • Organize a job
  • Efficiently manage the resources of a project
  • Detect vulnerabilities in a project
  • It only works on Windows platforms, without freeware
It is suitable for transforming disordered ideas into organized projects and I believe that this program can be used in any area that is required so it would not be inappropriate.
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use it to manage and track the projects that the team is working on. It is an amazing tool and easy to use. It can be customized as per requirement. It has proven to be very helpful in tracking the development of a project, as well as prevent possible roadblocks.
  • Easy to use.
  • Cheap.
  • Easy to customize.
  • Great customer support.
  • Sharing data is an issue.
  • Some people might need significant training if never used software like this before.
  • Might be costly for some.
Easily compatible with Office 365. It's being very commonly used by many Program Managers for project management. Scheduling is very easy.
Shiva Krishna | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Ours is a project driven organization. Microsoft projects is an integral part of our lives. All project plans, work breakdown structures are done in Microsoft Projects. Each Associate in the company is expected to know Microsoft Projects. We use most of the productivity tools from Microsoft, and Microsoft projects integrates well with other tools like Skype. The Microsoft Projects look and feel is similar to Microsoft Excel, so it makes people comfortable from the get-go.
  • 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.
  • The user experience can be improved.
  • More tutorials can be provided online. It takes time to master this tool. It can be made much simpler and easy to learn on the fly.
  • The tool can be made more catered towards to agile, scrum project management methodologies.
If your organization uses office productivity tools from Microsoft, it is no brainer to use Microsoft Projects. The tool integrates well with other Microsoft tools. It is the most popular project management tool and most people with expertise on this tool are available in the market. For some projects we hire contractors and we find most contractors are well versed with this tool, so it makes easier for us to hit the ground running.
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use Microsoft Project in the engineering department to manage our water jobs. This helps us coordinate different activities and make sure our projects are on time.
  • Easy to use out of the box
  • Good integration with the rest of our Office suite
  • High price
  • To use it well some training would be necessary
It is useful in a Microsoft shop to keep your software catalog consistant.
Robert Paul | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
I used Microsoft Project to develop the framework of all our projects, and to track their progress and resources throughout implementation. We typically had about 20 projects running at any one time, so it was useful to see everything in one place. While we used a ticketing system for the day-to-day stuff, Project worked better for long-term, per-planned operations.
  • Gantt Charts: Every project manager's favorite thing, MS Project does this very well. A Gantt chart keeps everything in a project timeline visible, and in Project, you can drill down to look at resources, costs, and a myriad of other things. It's also very easy to rearrange items as necessary, either by dragging them around or opening them and manually entering data.
  • Resource Management: Project allows you to set up resources, either as individuals or with type of work (e.g., Bob Smith or Network Engineer I). Within those resources, you can set up hours of availability, when overtime kicks in, costs, and a myriad of other useful items. Then, when you assign them tasks, the software calculates the time needed or how much extra it will cost if you need a resource to work longer on a particular piece.
  • Multiple Projects: With the resource pool and other elements shared between projects, managing multiple projects becomes easier. Project will warn you if resource is over-scheduled, and show which projects that resource is being used on. It'll also show conflicts.
  • Integration: Since this is a Microsoft product, it integrates very well with other Microsoft products, especially those in the Office suite like Excel. That allows you to, for example, export the Gantt chart to a spreadsheet to send to stakeholders, or link it into a Word document.
  • Time Management: Tied into the Gantt and Resource pieces, Project lets you set prerequisites and linked work, so even if you have to adjust steps to deal with scheduling or change management, Project will keep everything organized. It will automatically re-adjust dates and milestones as things are shifted.
  • Expertise Needed: The software is not always easy to use or intuitive. I took several Project courses, on top of my project management certifications, to understand the software better. While all the elements are there for anyone familiar with standard project management processes, it takes experience and training to really get the best out of the software.
  • Collaboration: Project does not work well with multiple users simultaneously. There's no real-time updating, and if we had multiple project managers, there'd be no way to work together on the same projects.
  • Price: Project is expensive, largely due to it being an industry standard.
Microsoft Project is well suited for anyone running a standard, PMBOK (Project Management Body of Knowledge) project. It is especially good for managed service providers who need to run projects for clients, not just for support. If you plan to run many projects, either simultaneously or consecutively, this is a good resource.

If you're in a small business and you don't have multiple resources or multiple projects, this is probably not a good solution.
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