Microsoft Project Reviews

When I was still in the pre-sales team, I used MS Project to manage the projects that we engage with the client. We use it and are not selling it. 

The solution is stable. 

We can scale the solution as needed. 

Technical support needs improvement. It's hard to reach technical people to get the help you need.

I've used the solution for two to three years. 

The stability is good. there are no bugs or glitches, and it doesn't crash or freeze. It is reliable, and I find the performance to be good.

I was able to scale on my project and never had any issues with scaling. 

We had four people on the sales and pre-sales team using it. 

I've dealt with Microsoft's technical support a lot. Often, there were delays. It was very hard to get someone technical involved when we had issues. I have to say that I was not particularly satisfied with the level of service they provided to us. 

I did not previously use a different product. This was the only solution provided to me by my company. I had no other choice for using other products. 

I'm not sure how the setup was. I just used it. It was already on my laptop, and I just started using it for my work, so I can't speak to how it was implemented or how long it took to do so. My understanding is that you don't need a lot of people to handle the installation process.

I'm not sure what the licensing costs were. I never handled that aspect of the solution. 

I was an end-user of the product.

Overall, I would recommend the solution to others to use. 

I'd rate the solution eight out of ten. 

It's my day-to-day software.

I use it for my projects. I handle the portfolio. I have multiple projects and I need to monitor those projects and generate reports and consolidate everything.

The functionality is great. 

Microsoft Project is good overall. However, I especially like the reporting tools, which are visual tools and offer visual reports. The visual reports is what I like about Microsoft Projects.

The initial setup is straightforward. 

The Gantt set needs to be improved. The grid lines needs to be more interactive.

The Cloud version has far more advanced features in it. I haven't hands on it yet, however, I have seen the product, and it has all the enhancements that are required.

I've been using the solution for 15 years now. 

It is a stable, reliable solution. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. 

We have about 100 people on the solution. 

The company is now starting to use the cloud version. They stopped implementing any other versions. Once we migrate to the Cloud version, then we have to see how it's going to compliment us in terms of scaling.

I've not contacted the call center or the support center for any support. I go on the community website and try to find it to see if I can find any kind of troubleshooting steps there, and I manage issues on my own.

I used Primavera previously. 

Primavera is not user friendly, and has no support on the database types. It requires certain a format to be implemented. There are many differences between these two solutions. For a billing or for operational use, Primavera definitely doesn't really suffice.

The setup was straightforward and not as complex as Primavera or any other project management tool.

When it comes to the on-prem deployment of the older versions, you don't usually get the results, you don't find it online. They are not readily available. We need to get into the third party applications and download the third party results. From there on, it's a marathon to install. The cloud version is easier. 

There's not really any maintenance needed. 

I used my administrator during the implementation. I asked him to assist me.

I don't have very much information in terms of pricing. However, it is a necessary tool for us and therefore whether it's cheap or expensive for us.

I'm not sure as to if we need to pay for any extras or deal with ancillary fees. 

We are partners with Microsoft. 

I'm working with the 2019 version at this point. 

I'd advise users to go for the cloud version. It's easier to deploy and share. 

I would rate the solution seven out of ten. 

We use Microsoft Project to plan our projects, including some tasks that we need to accomplish. We use JIRA as well. We use a lot of tools to plan our jobs.

The user interface is simple and it helps me in planning what needs to be accomplished.

I am a regular user and for me, it is perfect. I would love to see a mind map feature where you can draw some diagrams of the project. Then you can connect ideas and watch them on a map.

I have been using Microsoft Project for more than five years.

We use a cloud solution and it is transparent for us. We have the perfect client and it saves the data.

I have no idea about the cost because it is a corporate decision. 

I would rate Microsoft Project a nine out of ten.

We use Microsoft Project for application lifecycle management (ALM), use case definition, follow-up, and project management activity.

The most valuable feature of Microsoft Project is status reporting. Microsoft Project is easy to use and has a user-friendly UI.

Microsoft Project should include more visualization, queries to filter out data, and more reporting structures.

I have been using Microsoft Project for two years.

Microsoft Project is a stable solution.

I rate Microsoft Project a nine out of ten for stability.

Microsoft Project is a scalable solution. Around 50 to 60 users use the solution extensively in our organization.

We implemented the solution through an in-house team.

Microsoft Project is an expensive solution.

Microsoft Project is deployed on the cloud in our organization. I would recommend Microsoft Project to other users.

Overall, I rate Microsoft Project a nine out of ten.

We primarily use the solution for managing projects. 

The ability to create tasks and structure them and give them hierarchy. 

They now have MS project Online and they have two levels, so it's easier to access what you need and to choose specifically what you'll use. You can start at a lower level, for example, and be more cost-effective and move up if it suits you.

It's easy to set up.

I don't have any comments on where it can be improved. 

The full suite would be pretty expensive.

I've used the solution for many years. 

The stability is good. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze.

The solution scales well. It's not an issue. 

We're a small organization with a few people using it. 

The solution is simple to set up. It's not overly complex. Especially now, after working with it for so many years, it's very easy.

It's an online tool. From that perspective, there is no maintenance needed.

The pricing is good. You can start at a lower tier and move up as needed. It's reasonably priced to start.

I cannot recall the exact costs. It's comparable to other similar products. 

It would be more expensive all in all as some of the competitors will have more features and other bells and whistles that would not be available with the basic tool of Microsoft, which would be cheaper. If you want a full suite, it will be more expensive.

I'm just a customer and end user.

It would be a straightforward option for people who are already using the Microsoft suite, including Office 365. If you're not a Microsoft shop, it's probably not your tool.

I'd rate the solution seven out of ten based on the cost and features on offer. 

Microsoft Project helps to manage our projects.

We can't say that there has been an improvement. We are trying to get to that point, but we are only into it with the new version for a month.

It comes with our Office 365. 

We started using it and we stopped using LiquidPlanner. 

I am most comfortable using Microsoft Project just because I have used it for so long, but we are still trying to figure out the new version at the moment.

The new version has made it a bit more complicated. We are trying to synchronize Project Online and Planner.

In Team Planner, there is supposed to be a way that you can sync your tasks in the Project Plan with Planner so that the project team doesn't necessarily need to use Microsoft Project. They can see what tasks are assigned to them, do them and update the status.

But, we haven't been able to figure that out yet.

They can make it easier to streamline the product. 

When using Microsoft Project, the desktop and Planner don't seem to talk to each other as seamlessly as I would hope. It is possible that it is a user error and we have not configured it correctly. My IT team is new to it as well.

I have had approximately 20 years of experience with Microsoft Project.

I just started using the latest version a little over a month ago.

I have the desktop app and on the cloud.

At the moment we have an issue with synchronization with the planner. We are trying to get it to work by watching YouTube videos and the IT director has been working with the vendor to see how to get the functionality to work.

It's unknown if we need a plug-in or not. It is difficult to decipher whether or not it's us or them because we are so green with the product.

From what I can tell, there is a lot that you can do with it. Power BI, reporting, SharePoint, and Teams are all supposed to connect in some way, but, it's not as intuitive as I thought it would have been.

There isn't a lot that is available that tells you how to do this. You have to figure it out which is what we are trying to do. I wish that it was a bit more straightforward.

Currently, there are two of us who use Microsoft Project because we are trying to get it configured in a way that makes sense for our organization before we can bring in the rest of the team that may need to use it.

We have not used technical support.

Previously, we were using LiquidPlanner.

LiquidPlanner is a tool that you would use in an ideal situation for project management, which almost never happens. I can't get my organization to punch a time clock, and that is what LiquidPlanner is.

The initial setup is a bit more complex than I would have hoped for or that I am used to. Again, it is possible that it's a lack of know-how and education with this product.

It gets expensive when having to add all of the plugins and everything that you need.

I would suggest using an expert. Get an implementation vendor to set it up for you.

This solution probably does everything that I need it to do, but I just don't know how to do it yet.

I like Microsoft Project and it does everything that I need it to do, but it doesn't do everything. That's Microsoft; they always get you to about 80% there, and then you need some type of plugin or API. It never quite does everything.

I would rate Microsoft Project an eight out of ten.

Whenever we have a client with a complicated situation, we create a project plan. And we use Microsoft Project (MS Project) for administrating, monitoring, and tracking the project.  For most small projects, MS Project is satisfactory.

We can input information, and we can then share it with the project team and stakeholders. That helps a little bit, but again, if somebody changes their mind, it could change how we manage the project. There are some new features in MS Project 2019. However, more features aren't necessarily useful because now you must train people to use them. They may say, "Why do I need this new feature?" Newer versions of MS Project display a warning when a task runs behind schedule. However, it is necessary to input a date change for that warning manually, and administrative action takes precious time.

It's possible to have inputs from other programs, such as Outlook, but we don't use Outlook for anything other than email, even though it could do other things. Time is a critical resource. We don't have time to learn about these features and use them productively, making them of no value to us.

MS Project's resource leveling capability is beneficial. We like this feature. We want to be able to expand tasks and look at different resources and task usage. It is good at assigning tasks to teams.

It's generally compliant with the Project Management Institute approach to project management, which means MS Project helps us be more uniform and consistent in conducting each project.

MS Project can insert objects, like a drawing or an Excel worksheet, but cannot handle business rules. Also, I would like to see better integration with graphics applications such as MS Visio. The graphics are primitive and need some major work. I would like to have the ability to insert some small macros within the project for Monte Carlo risk analysis. For example, if you're unsure how much time a task may require, you can generate a reasonable guess.

MS Project is very time and labor-intensive to keep current. You need to update it continually. You may find that you are spending more time maintaining the MS Project file than working on your project. I don't want to devote a person to do that.

MS Project should have the capability to link it to other applications to make the program dynamic when a real-time resource or schedule changes, but it is not dynamic. It would be helpful to insert real-time input data for each project, subproject, or task. If something is going on, I want to see the impact in real-time, if possible.

I want to be able to specify globally what weekend we want or what we want to call a weekend. Also, we might have a project underway seven days a week.

External data sources, like third-party manufacturing processes, impact some tasks. Embedding external processes within MS Project is almost impossible because we don't have programming resources here in a practical sense. Also, the interface of Microsoft Project is proprietary. We want to link different tasks to external sources of inputs and outputs and integrate them automatically with our master project plan, e.g., specific third-party CNC machine data. The supplier's system does not interface with ours'. We have to get the outputs from their system serially and manually update the MS Project file to determine the schedule impact. That takes time. There is a risk of data entry errors at both ends. On tight projects, every minute counts.

I would like to see a control system interface with Microsoft Project. Real-time system data helps predict cost and schedule variances. For example, if you had to finish a day ahead of schedule, you could "talk" to the systems' software and determine if a given machine works for another four hours, then you could meet the accelerated schedule. MS Project requires manual data entry with a risk of mistakes. Presently, there is no automated data entry capability in MS Project. It just doesn't exist. That's why I say it is only suitable for small-sized to medium-sized companies and small projects. Most companies don't have the same problems we have with MS Project.

When you're working on a project that has to get done, you will spend most of the time wrestling with Microsoft Project, whereas you should be using these hours to manage the project.

Thinking on a slightly bigger scale, I would like better integration with Office, Visio, and Access. If you make a change in one application, it should cascade to others and vice versa. It doesn't do that, at least not easily. It is not a dynamic program. I would like to see an active program or at least the capability to be dynamic, even if it is close to real-time where it outputs to a module, and the module then talks to real-time systems. The real-time data goes back into the module, and the module updates the project plan. Such dynamic capability would be superior to what exists now. It may not be genuinely real-time, but it is at least closer to it.

I want to link directly to the data in an Excel spreadsheet so that I don't have to keep going back and forth updating it. I don't want to have to create a dynamic link library or write a macro. Whenever I change the data in an Excel file for a given project or task, it should update the corresponding Visio or PowerPoint file. If I'm doing a pie chart or any graphic, I don't want to manually update my graphics. I want to link them together, and I want them updated automatically. I know it is a wishful thing. Microsoft doesn't make significant changes every time they come out with a new version. However, they don't appear to fix the issue. Instead, they add a few features.

I have been using Microsoft Project since it came out in the mid-1980s.

It's relatively stable. I've never had a crash. I can't remember it ever crashing. If I  entered some information that it can't resolve, it usually comes up with an error message.

I think it is limited to around 400,000 tasks. I am not sure. I never had to go that far. We have five consultants who are remote users.

I've never really needed any support. When Microsoft has a seminar or a meeting locally, I might go to it and give my feedback.

Neutral

Installation is automatic and simple, we had no issues.

The implementation was done in-house.

MS Project pays for itself by helping me keep my thinking straight.  The purchase price of the application is insignificant when compared with the time involved in trying to do project management manually on paper attached to large poster boards. We did it that way before the advent of PCs.

Make sure you have a good business reason for purchasing MS Project. It isn't cheap and there are free alternatives, with simple capabilities, available.

MS Project was sufficient for our requirements, so we did not evaluate any other options.

Make sure you understand what MS Project can do and what it cannot do. It cannot read your mind. Just like any other program, it only does what you tell it to do. If you give it the wrong information, it will provide you with incorrect output. It is very labor-intensive. There are minimal capabilities to help you write routines. So, you have to change dates and task names. If you don't understand project management concepts well, you're just going to delude yourself into thinking MS Project helps you. You have to understand the process of project management to use the application effectively. Otherwise, you are wasting your time. It will not teach you how to do project management.

I would rate MS Project a five out of ten because it hasn't evolved that much. Microsoft added lots of bells and whistles, but they don't add much new value. They don't save me much time. I want MS Project to be a dynamic program, but it remains a passive program after more than 30 years. I've made comments about it at some seminars hosted by Microsoft. We've told them to make it a dynamic program or at least have an option to make it active. We would be willing to pay more for this capability. It's worth it, but they don't do it. I guess they don't see enough business potential in doing it that way, and I don't have the resources to create an internal application to make it that way. I am not in that business.

The most valuable feature of Microsoft Project is scheduling. The solution is useful on a daily basis.

Microsoft Project could improve the dates. Sometimes the dates are not aligned. This occurs even when you auto-schedule the dates. We have to go and define the schedule daily this should more easily accessible.

I have been using Microsoft Project for approximately 10 years.

Microsoft Project is stable.

The scalabiltiy of Microsoft Project is good.

We have three or four people using this solution in my department.

I have not used the support from Microsoft Project.

I have not used another solution prior to Microsoft Project.

I rate Microsoft Project a nine out of ten.