Is Project right for us?

[FtlGuy]

My organization is looking for a project management solution. I'm TOTALLY
new to this area of software, and I can't figure out how much flexibility
programs like MS Project really provide to the very basic setup of projects,
etc. The main concern is that we have very specific attribute requirements
for our projects and specific capability requirements from the tool. For
example:

* Every project has a set of descriptive fields like Purpose, Method, and
End-State.
* Every project has up to four different named lead positions (e.g., Project
Lead, Technical Lead, etc) that should be chosen from a pre-defined list of
people on staff.
* Every project needs to be tied to our organization's top-level objectives
(preferably, the project manager would estimate what percentage of the
project's effort/resources support each of our stated objectives).
* We need to note a few other attributes for any given project, and setting
some attributes demands that the project have certain milestones and
deliverables.
* We often need to tie tasks within a project to travel costs (projected and
actual) for each individual assigned on a task that involves travel.
* We want most of the project management capabilities to be accessible
through secure web connections using CAC-based security.
* Finally, we may need to have access to the database on which the project
info is stored so we can write our own software that at least reads the data
and then can use it to create other products we might require.

I can't imagine a project tool really providing most of this functionality.
Am I wrong? Can MS Project provide a possible solution?

Thank you very much for any info!!!


-Jason

 

[Jim Aksel]

Project can do most of this. It is good you are starting with requirements
since you can then examine how various products will score against them.
More comments in line below.

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Jim

Visit http://project.mvps.org/ for FAQs and more information
about Microsoft Project

My organization is looking for a project management solution. I'm TOTALLY
new to this area of software, and I can't figure out how much flexibility
programs like MS Project really provide to the very basic setup of projects,
etc. The main concern is that we have very specific attribute requirements
for our projects and specific capability requirements from the tool. For
example:

* Every project has a set of descriptive fields like Purpose, Method, and
End-State.

Project contains fields for tasks. If you are looking at things like
Method101, Method518, then project has additional fields that can be used for
that purpose.

* Every project has up to four different named lead positions (e.g., Project
Lead, Technical Lead, etc) that should be chosen from a pre-defined list of
people on staff.

Project contains a resource sheet (or pool). Resources can be selected from
a drop down. Multiple resources per task is fine.

* Every project needs to be tied to our organization's top-level objectives
(preferably, the project manager would estimate what percentage of the
project's effort/resources support each of our stated objectives).

Spare fields are available for this purpose.

* We need to note a few other attributes for any given project, and setting
some attributes demands that the project have certain milestones and
deliverables.

Project allows creation of milestones and deliverables.

* We often need to tie tasks within a project to travel costs (projected and
actual) for each individual assigned on a task that involves travel.

No problem.

* We want most of the project management capabilities to be accessible
through secure web connections using CAC-based security.

You would need something like Project Server for this purpose.

* Finally, we may need to have access to the database on which the project
info is stored so we can write our own software that at least reads the data
and then can use it to create other products we might require.

Project data is accessible via ODBC connections, and SQL.
Project works well with Visual Basic for Applications (VBA). It contains
its own object library which supports the .NET environment (ASP, C#, VB.NET)

I can't imagine a project tool really providing most of this functionality.
Am I wrong? Can MS Project provide a possible solution?

There is a 30 day free trial available.

 

[FtlGuy]

Jim, thanks for this helpful reply!

Project is sounding more enticing. I especially like the ASP/C# support and
I can do VBA when I have to

A couple of questions before I check out the trial version:

Does the "VBA support" mean that, for example, you can execute a macro when
a user sets a specific field in some project that will make other changes to
the project?

Also, I'm not familiar with the terms Method101 or Method518. Could you
point me to more info?

Finally, you mention the resource pool... Can you have a standard project
"template" that includes resource fields named as you see fit? Do resources
themselves have attribute fields you can set up (e.g., can I create an
employee-type of resource that has a first/last name, a position, etc)?

Thanks again for your help.


-Jason

 

[Savoy55]

Jason, We use VBA macros all the time. One that we use actually generates a
sign-off sheet. We have macros that not only update projects, in one instance
we back fill task dates based on a projected end date for a key milestone.

As for the resource pool, you can add as many columns as you want. We for
instance can group by Department, Cost Center, Skills (which goes 3 deep)
Contractor, Employee etc... We even break the names down. For instance if a
guy name John likes to be called Jack, we put him in as Jack, but we have
another field called "Network Name" that contains his name as it appears in
the company list.

 

[judy]

For some reason I cannot creat a new thread, but I have sort of the same issue.
I work for an engineering firm. We design and manufacture conveyor systems.
We use Micro. Projects for our Matrixes. Matrixes are the spread sheets where
all the data is entered for the conveyor project. We use a template in Word
in order to create work orders. I have to re-type all the data from Projects,
into the macro in order to generate the work order. Is there a way to take
the data from one source and automatically create the work order?

judy

 

[FtlGuy]

I went ahead and downloaded the trial version. I'm starting to imagine that
we could get close to what we need and could use VBA to develop custom
interfaces, etc.

Here's my biggest issue: We have projects and tasks, but _projects_ (not
tasks) have certain necessary attributes (like purpose, end-state, supported
objectives, etc). Tasks have other attributes. We need to be able to manage
projects (see a list of projects, assign attributes to projects, sort/filter
by certain attributes, etc). Can that be done with the Enterprise Project
Management Solution or Project Sever?

Finally, does anyone know about the web capabilities in Project Server?
Specifically, we'd want to have a web interface for listing/finding/filtering
the projects, selecting a project to edit it and get reports, etc. Again,
the focus is on a list of projects, from which you can select one to get to
the tasks, etc.

Thanks!


-Jason

 

[Mike Glen]

Hi Jason,

In the future, Jason, your questions about vba would best be addressed in
the developer newsgroup and your web questions in the server newsgroup.
That is where the experts in those fields hang out. Please see FAQ Item: 24.
Project Newsgroups. FAQs, companion products and other useful Project
information can be seen at this web address:
http://project.mvps.org/faqs.htm

Mike Glen
Project MVP