Getting better with Microsoft Project Sever
January 21, 2016

Getting better with Microsoft Project Sever

Ved Mishra | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Microsoft Project Server

Microsoft Project Server (MSPS) is being used by our company in IT department across various divisions. It is used for business case, portfolio and project management, financials, schedule and reporting. MSPS is easy to setup and get started. There are many features that were leveraged out of the box to get the process running.
  • Project schedule is one of the key features we use. Project professional can be used to do bulk task updates, manage resources, find critical paths of project tasks very easily.
  • A lot of extension capabilities are available when it comes to reporting. You can create SSRS reports or integrate with SQL database in the back-end to create OLAP cubes for Power Pivot and other BI reports
  • Workflows and Project Detail Pages (PDP) are very easy to configure. You can also control which field(s) to display on a particular phase or PDP.
  • There is no cost structure available out of the box other than resource driven scheduling
  • Performance (page load time in general) can be improved
  • There is no program level construct. Program/portfolio is just a group of projects underneath
  • Better project management and schedule tracking which in turn improved employee's efficiency.
  • Licensing aspect is complex. Issues with onboarding new users to system from licensing perspective.
  • Positively, financial review process can be tailor-made which may not require further customization of the tool.
One of the key advantages of Microsoft Project Server (MSPS) is its ecosystem. It gels very well with SharePoint, Office, Office 365. The support from Microsoft is also a key driver and they are very experienced and many ways to resolve issues. Also, Microsoft has bridged the gap of cloud offering from other competitors by providing Project Online. It is an offering through Office 365 which is very lean and low maintenance.
Considering what new versions of project server (especially project online) provides out of the box and its smoother integration with Office 365, I would highly recommend exploring option of project server 2013 (or online). End of the day, whatever complex tools you use; you will end up doing something in office applications :). And project online being in the same office ecosystem (Office 365, Office applications, SharePoint) helps. Microsoft is aligned with mobile first and cloud first approach and this will ensure that your project online system remains up-to-date without any additional cost.