Planview: The Solution to Project and Resource Management
Updated April 09, 2015

Planview: The Solution to Project and Resource Management

Carol Higgins | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Software Version

PVE 10.4.1

Modules Used

  • Portfolio and Resource Management (formerly Planview Enterprise)
  • PPM
  • ARP

Overall Satisfaction with Planview Enterprise

  • Planview is an excellent tool for managing project plans and resources (resource capacity). We are able to clearly see what stage work is at, forecast remaining effort and manage work with the view into resource capacity and availablity
  • ARP is an excellent platform for reporting. We are able to pull valuable project and resource data and view it many different ways (by division, by PL, by project sponsor/owner, etc. ) Reports can be scheduled and sent via email to customers, create custom dashboards that are role specific and with Work Builder custom reports are easy to develop
  • Planview Enterprise is flexible and intuitive for the end user and the use of work and resource grants and the different license types helps control access to project data and who has the ability to view specific work/resources and edit/make updates.
  • Planview has developed a culture of customer service and consults customers in regard to enhancements as new versions are being developed. Inner Circles are comprised of a broad array of customers who meet and discuss proposed changes to the tool and provide insight and feedback as to what is working well or not as well as making suggestions to improve the user experience. Not only is Planview listening to their customer but much of this feedback is implemented.
  • Planview Customer Care provides excellent customer support and are responsive to reported incidents in a very timely manner. The support staff is very knowledgeable and the escalation process if needed is very easy.
  • Planview CRM's are a great resource to customers and provide a layer of support and assistance when trying to determine which path to take when an issue occure or even following up and making calls to get an outstanding issue resolved more quickly. They also work to ensure that the tool is working for their customer and that they have what they need to use the tool to the fullest.
  • Planview has worked to improve performance over the years and keep current with technology. With this said, performance is always what a customer wants and continued improvements in that area is always welcome
  • With Planview we have been able to have a better view into resource capacity by resource type and role and do strategic planning as to how much work can be accomplished in a given period. It has allowed us to identify resource capacity and work trends for more effective planning. Because of this we have actually been able to increase our output while maintaining and delivering high quality projects/deliverables
As previously stated Planview provided the enterprise view needed into work and resources as well as allowed for better reporting. Users could perform work based on their license type that could be configured by role. It held historical data that could be leveraged later as needed, is web based, so there was no individual client installation needed and the support offered by Planview made it easy to maintain and/or upgrade the tool as needed. It also was easy for our endusers to learn and use.
The tool is well suited for a dynamic IT and/or business environment that wants to plan and manage work, resources, capacity and financials as well as track trends and forecast future capacity. It provides flexibility, different views into large amounts data and provides great reporting options for executives and other layers of management. It works for a variety of business industries and can be customized and integrated with 3rd party tools/applications.

Using Planview Enterprise

160 - IT and Finance
2 - Planview is owned by the PMO and supported by an infrastructure resource and a member of the PMO, project Administrator. Both have attended extensive administrative training by Planview and are responsible for the daily maintenance of the tool as well as upgrades, migrations and training. The skill sets of the resources include but are not limited to SQL, OS platform and server administration, Business Objects, report writing
  • Project Management
  • Resource management
  • Reporting
  • strategic planning
  • project requests
  • project pipelines
  • document storage
We have been a Planview customer since 1999 and have seen it grow and mature as a tool. We have looked at other tools and have found that PV continues to meet our needs and is easy for our resources to use. They work to stay up on the project management industry and the direction it is going, keep on on current technology so that we can work more effectively, provide excellent customer support and have great pricing for what they offer. We can purchase only the modules we need versus buying a tool where we would only use a portion of the functionality.

Evaluating Planview Enterprise and Competitors

Yes - Planview replaced Microsoft Project management as it offered the time reporting feature, resource management capabilities, additional flexibility in work and resource management and the ability to manage financial data. The reporting capabilities was also an important need that we had. There are some out of the box standard report and the integration of Business Objects into the tool allowed for the creation of custom reports
  • Price
  • Product Features
  • Product Usability
  • Product Reputation
  • Vendor Reputation
  • Positive Sales Experience with the Vendor
  • Third-party Reviews
Performance and functionality/capabilities were very important. We were looking for a singular tool for project and resource management and reporting so our users do not have to go to multiply locations and applications to do their work. this helped increase adherence to our PMM processes and procedures which were developed in increase output while maintaining a high level of quality.
We have a proven an tried RFI process. We have developed a standardized list of question for both the vendor and references that span all areas, infrastructure, functions, capabilities, usability, performance, etc. We also include resources from various roles to ensure insight is obtained from all areas impacted by the decision. We would not change how we chose this product.

Planview Enterprise Implementation

Always have a pre-implementation meeting or conference call with Planview to ensure all are on the same page, disclosure of all and any customization (including reports) and plan for support after implementation of a specified amount of time with the assigned implementation resource. And document everything
Yes - We first Scope the project to see if the version and its changes meet our need. We then implement the version into our development environment for design, construction and QA/UA testing. Then we implement o our production environment for final configuration, training and rollout to our users.
Change management was minimal
  • technical issues due to inexperience with new technology (ie Sharepoint)
  • technical issues due to changes in user licenses and not being informed that we needed to update those

Planview Enterprise Training

Planview Enterprise Support

Customercare has made many improvements over the years and I am impressed with the level of service, responsiveness and knowledge of the support staff.
ProsCons
Quick Resolution
Good followup
Knowledgeable team
Problems get solved
Kept well informed
No escalation required
Immediate help available
Support understands my problem
Support cares about my success
Slow Initial Response
Yes - We wanted the additional extended support and dedicated customer care resource who would be familiar with our company and tool configuration
Yes - Yes, we have reported a few bugs and my experience was positive. I had a deadline to meet and PV developers resolved the bug and sent me a controlled hotfix to resolve it so I could meet my deadline.
I had a singular report that when we migrated would not display correctly when published to a dashboard. The assigned support resource worked with me tirelessly to resolve the issue including be flexible to my schedule, involving development and making sure that I was kept int he loop to all action that was being taken and following up afterward to make sure all was still working as expected. All of this with a sincere attitude, friendly demeanor, empathy for my frustration and professionalism throughout.

Planview Enterprise Reliability

We are long time Planview users and its availability is only limited to our internal SLAs for nightly backups. I have never experienced any unexpected or prolonged software downtime from Planview itself.