Great for the novice who isn't ready for P6
June 23, 2019

Great for the novice who isn't ready for P6

Che Odom | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Microsoft Project

We use it as a quick and dirty backup to P6 scheduling software. We have an in-house scheduling department that uses P6 to schedule our projects. However, for teams looking for a quick schedule that need turnaround when the scheduling team is unavailable or when it just makes sense to make a project themselves (ourselves), we can use Microsoft Project as a little more user-friendly quick option.
  • Schedules and Logic.
  • User-friendly.
  • Easy to learn interface, similar to all Microsoft products, so familiar to most new users.
  • The overall look of the schedules produced is a little lackluster. There are not a whole lot of customization options, and to the construction field, it is quickly recognizable that the schedule was produced in Project. It's not a bad thing, but not the industry standard. I think it would be better to design the output to follow P6 just for credibility. It almost looks a little bit "cartoonish" or juvenile. Now I understand that MS design is certainly "better looking," but this is simply in comparison to the industry standard for credibility purposes.
  • The simplest answer to this is that it makes "on the fly" or quick turnaround scheduling possible without engaging an outside provider or getting bogged down in the long list of scheduling projects that our in-house scheduling team is working on. Its best fit is for small and fast-tracked projects.
P6 is the biggest competition and, as previously noted, is the gold standard in scheduling in the construction world. We select them in some cases, and Project in other cases, depending on how much experience in scheduling the end user has under their belt.
It is well suited for scheduling quickly, and scheduling by a project team member that may not be familiar with the complexities of other scheduling software. The logic is easy to adjust and understand, and the inputs are easier than typical Primavera products. I overall think that it is a great product, much easier to use, just know that the overall scheduling industry standard is Primavera P6. I am not sure why, or how to address moving that over.

Microsoft Project Feature Ratings

Task Management
5
Resource Management
5
Gantt Charts
10
Scheduling
10
Workflow Automation
Not Rated
Team Collaboration
10
Support for Agile Methodology
10
Support for Waterfall Methodology
10
Document Management
Not Rated
Email integration
5
Mobile Access
Not Rated
Timesheet Tracking
Not Rated
Change request and Case Management
Not Rated
Budget and Expense Management
Not Rated
Quotes/estimates
Not Rated
Invoicing
Not Rated
Project & financial reporting
Not Rated
Integration with accounting software
Not Rated