Microsoft Project Reviews

The solution allows users to manage projects and project portfolios. 

The solution makes it very easy to plan and has great customization capabilities. 

The setup is very simple and straightforward. 

It is stable.

It's a scalable product, especially the online version. 

There's a lot of great documentation available online. Users can teach themselves to use the product.

It would be ideal if the solution integrated more with  Azure DevOps and other work management platforms like Jira.

I've used the desktop and cloud version for about three or four years.

The solution is quite stable and reliable. There are no bugs or glitches, and it doesn't crash or freeze. It offers good performance. 

The online version of the solution is quite scalable. The desktop version is just for one user.

The number of users varies according to the project. On one, we had maybe 40 users, on another, we had 500.

It is being used quite extensively at this time. We do plan to increase usage.

We've never reached out to technical support in the past. I can't speak to how helpful they are. 

It's easy to set up the solution. It's not a complex process. 

We only need one person to deploy and maintain the product. They are an admin.

We did the setup in-house in one day. We did not need outside assistance. 

The solution is part of Office 365, and it is an annual subscription.

We can use the solution on-premises and on the cloud. 

I'd rate the solution nine out of ten.

I'd recommend potential new users seek out videos and documentation to help learn the solution. There's a lot of good content that is very helpful to new users, and a lot of it is free. 

I mostly use it for big projects and rolling out solutions. I have used it for rolling out a new POS system, clientele programs, and clientele loyalty. I have also used it for process changes that impact multiple departments, and there are key players in it to keep everybody on track. Once we move forward with a new forecasting tool, I would use it for that.

Over the last couple of years, it has been more of the newer version with it. I'm really basic with it because of the end-users. It means that I use it for all the pieces on certain things, but when it comes to the output, it is pretty basic for the end-users. It is an easy read for the end-users.

It did keep everybody organized. Everything was outlined, and everyone knew the expectations. It was a good check and balance for everyone to make sure that we weren't missing anything. When the project ends and you do the takeaway, it is like, "Okay. Next time, we got to make sure that we add XYZ to the plan for the scope of the plan." We make sure it is a good takeaway lesson in terms of what we missed.

It can auto-connect based on the dates, which makes it easy. It auto-assigns people, and when you're starting to type in, it auto-fills and populates for you, which is great. It provides little time savers when you're typing everything out. It is just like, "Oh, I can just click from a dropdown." Those types of features are really great, and this is where it kind of gets a little bit intuitive. At the same time, if you don't like what it is doing, it is easy to change it.

I like using it just because it is easy to use. It is pretty user-friendly and easy to figure out. It is definitely one of the better ones out there. 

It should be easier to break things. Breaking up the visualization from the task is sometimes a little bit tricky to do. You can do it, but it takes a minute. It's not an easy function to do. The way you have to format it and stuff like that takes a minute.

I have been using this solution on and off for the last five years. 

It is good.

Its scalability is good and up there. It is not extensively used in our organization. We're a small organization, and currently, only two people are using it. We don't have any plans to increase its usage.

At my past organizations, there were multiple people who used it. There were different types of users who used it, but it was always in the IT world. The IT users had different backgrounds. So, it was leveraged within each department, but with an IT-focused person as a relationship manager.

I have not had any encounters, but overall, my interaction with Microsoft has been great. Whenever I've talked to anybody or inquired about something further, it has always been positive.

I've used Gantt Chart before, but I don't like it. I'd rather do it in Excel. I just don't like the format and layout of it. It comes down to personal preference on some of that stuff. With my background and how I came about to even become a project manager, it makes more sense to do it in Excel than in some of the other ways.

I wasn't around, but it would have been pretty straightforward for the person who did it.

It probably would have been an in-house job. I know that's how it was with the old one. They might have had someone to help, but it mostly would have been done in-house.

You have to find the right tool that helps make it easy and streamlined for you to manage. You just need to find the right platform. I would advise others to get out there and play with all of them and then find the right one. Do tests with them, and then figure it out. That works best.

I would rate Microsoft Project an eight out of 10.

I use the solution for scheduling and planning.

The solution helps us stay on track with our project and insures we meet our deliverables and requirements.

The reporting and national resource capacity planning are the most valuable features.

The collaboration has room for improvement.

I would like to request the addition of risk management and financial management to the solution.

The cost has room for improvement.

The initial setup has room for improvement.

I have been using the solution for ten years.

I give the scalability an eight.

The initial setup is complex.

The solution is expensive.

I give the solution an eight out of ten.

I recommend the solution.

Our company has a project department that is responsible for project deployment. When a new client comes up, they will have a lot of PMPS packs which have a list of activities. We use the tool to plan projects.

The tool has a simple and excellent approach.

The solution is a basic tool that does not give you analytical insights. It does not have any AI capabilities which can also help to plan.

The solution is stable. I would rate the solution’s stability a seven out of ten.

The tool is scalable. You just need to send a requirement for more licenses. There are around five users for the solution in our company.

We do not use any paid support services from Microsoft since our requirements are not high.

The solution’s setup is very easy.

I would rate the solution a seven out of ten.

I primarily use the solution on my desktop for my personal needs.

It is very easy to deploy. 

The solution is stable. 

Microsoft offers good support.

I'd like the solution to be less expensive. 

It's a Microsoft product and therefore it is stable. The performance is good. There are no bugs or glitches, and it doesn't crash or freeze. 

I cannot say that it's scalable. It's on MS sources, so it's on the desktop. We don't really scale the product.

I haven't really relied too much on technical support, however, they are good.

Positive

I did not previously use a different solution.

The solution is very straightforward and simple. It's not as complex. You can connect the license in less than 30 minutes on a desktop.

I handled the initial setup by myself. I did not need the help of outside resources such as consultants or integrators. 

The licensing costs vary. It's largely very expensive. 

I'd recommend the solution to other users and companies. 

I would rate the solution nine out of ten.

We use Microsoft Project for its timeline and task management capabilities. The primary advantage is the easy application of tasks in sequence, confirming dependencies, and establishing relationships between tasks. It simplifies handling conditions, significant dates, and dependencies between various tasks.

The tool's most valuable feature is scheduling. 

Microsoft Project's reporting is very complex and not user-friendly. 

I have been working with the product for ten years. 

I rate the tool's stability a nine out of ten. 

The tool's deployment is very straightforward. 

I rate Microsoft Project's pricing a five out of ten. 

I rate the solution a nine out of ten. 

We are in presales, and when the planning is very complex, we use Microsoft Project. That is, when we receive an RFP, we propose our solution and plan and build the different processes in Microsoft Project.

I like that I can change the task and include different resources related to the task.

It would be better if Microsoft Project were included in the DevOps stack. That is, I'd like to see this tool integrated to a different stack of the applications that we normally use in DevOps, such as in Jira, for example, to deploy a different version related to the different tasks that are included in Microsoft Project.

I've been using this solution for more than 10 years.

My impression is that it is stable.

It's very easy to install and use. It doesn't take a long time to deploy.

We have about 1000 people using it in our operations department.

I recommend using this solution if you working on a complex project or complex system.

We actually help and assist organizations in implementing their processes, and workflows to this particular product. Suppose you want to go on the enterprise environment, then you have your own process flows, your own workflows, your own forms and configurations, your user set and your resourcing. With this solution, we can help you configure the system.

We have implemented four domains like telecom, construction, banking, insurance, health sector and pharmaceuticals. We have worked, to some extent, in each of these domains. Of course the customization, configuration and implementation varies from user to user requirements as to how they want to, and to what extent they want to do it. For example, currently I'm working for a manufacturing domain. They wanted to implement this particular thing because they want me to monitor their projects, which is running into multiple verticals within the organization and we're unable to gauge as to exactly where we are with the project status, and how we are aligned with the resourcing and the costing part.

They have their own set of workflows and processes. We help them create that within the Project Online environment, configure their process, their workflows, their information, and all the project related documentation. It's based on the SharePoint environment.  Everything that you can do within the SharePoint environment is available here as well. So content management can be configured, as per the needs and configurations and workflows.

Of course, the reporting part is a key essential for any organization. You can build your dashboards, your reports, you have a support of actual reports. You have support for PowerPoint reports, power builder. I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but all of this is supported by the environment. So you can have all the dynamic reporting and dashboards as per your requirements.

Most importantly, there are three aspects that I have seen most beneficial:

• Project tracking: This really helps the users as to where they are with each of the projects, and what are the satatus details within those projects. 

• Resource utilization: Most of the time you do not know how your resources are aligned. You cannot take up projects because you do not know whether this set of resources are available to you within that particular time frame. If you have all your resources within the enterprise environment, just one click and you are able to see that this resource is available during a specific time. So, I can pick up this project and assign this resource.

• Cost: Most of the time, we're unable to note exactly how much cost has gone into the project, because some of the numbers go into the documents that we put in, but the real numbers are really not captured all the time. Here, you will be able to capture your manpower cost, your material costs, your travel costs, and any other costs that's associated with your project and see that as direct impact on your project progress. Half of the time you might have a certain budget for it, but because of mismanagement within the project, the increase of scope and other such reasons, you end up spending more than what the budget really was approved for you. You are able to capture and see: financial status, usual status and project status.

So far I haven't faced any issues with scalability because everything that we have wanted to achieve, we've been able to. It is a scalable product. I've worked in multiple domains, and each domain has its own set of requirements.

We have close to like 5,000 all users. That was a really huge implementation, and we had to get into a firm deployment and that went on to like 14 servers also, because there were so many services and so many other things that you needed to put in place, and of course give it to high availability and high performance also.

Usually we have this onsite and offshore supports in place. At the onset we prefer an onsite support because that's more like filling in the knowledge gaps that the users will face, because they do not know the environment, they do not know the working of that environment. Then with the stability as the time moves, like a month or two months down the line, we turn it into an onsite offshore support with reduction of resources. That's totally based on your other kind of user base you have. Like for example, currently I am catering to a user base of approximately 1,000 up people and we are doing an onsite offshore support. A few people are placed on site to help the user immediately take care of their concerns, and some people are working at the offshore to take care of whatever comes into the hill test environment and then manage that. This depends on the organization's requirements, but you have both the models available. The response has been really wonderful.

It's a straightforward deployment. If you're going into a Project Online, you don't have to do any setup. It's just the basic configuration, which I will be connecting to your active directory to pick up your resources, and I will be configuring the environment for role security permission and stuff. Then of course, the custom information like your verticals, your divisions and stuff that you want to align your projects with. So the configuration is very easy. Of course, only if you want to bring your own workflows and customization into the environment. That's the development rule, but even those development periods are not very long. Like four months, five months is max that we get into. After that, just mostly support and enhancement.

There has been a lot of improvement in terms of the return on investment for ordinary resources, as well as the costing. We were able to see that the same project which they completed earlier in six months, now they could timeline and complete within like three and a half months time, or four months time with the better utilization of resources. Along with that, they were able to have their projections also in place, that pipeline also in place. Like you don't just have the projects in here, you also have the concept of proposals in here. So automatically, you know that these products are in the pipeline in form of proposals, and they will be executed within the timeline. 

The standard diversion of Project Online or Microsoft Project, is that it automatically has so many built in features that you really do not need to invest much in terms of trying to configure it to suit your requirements. It has all the standard practices, built in practices, all the pin book concepts already aligned within the product.

There are some serious competitors in this sector. For instance, there is Clarity from CA, Planview and  HP PPM. These are some of the other competitors that you have on the market. I think the Microsoft products are very user friendly, the ease-of-use is an asset.

The only drawbacks are the customization. Generally what happens is everybody wants it to be an automation tool, and this is not the use case for this solution. It is a platform for project management. You don't want an automation to be in place.  The system does not do it automatically because you as a project manager are expected to see that the input received, the status received from your team members is correct and accurate. Then that information is available for the rest of the team. You don't want that to be automated. So when the user comes back from this kind of mindset that everything should get automated, then no. I will not suggest that because this is management, this is project management.

This is not an automation tool, although to a very large extent, a lot of things can be automated to workflows in other ways. If that is your requirement, might as well go and build a custom tool yourself if that's what you're looking for. Then even that won't help you because project management is so related to so many other things that you'll not be able to encompass that all within the environment. You won't be able to think of that. I have been working with Microsoft for 18 years now. Obviously, their experience and understanding of project management would any day be more than any other solution.