I am often asked what makes Project Insight or a web based project management software solution different from Microsoft Project desktop. There are many, many differences. At the foundation, a web based project system is a centralized portfolio and project solution that is much better suited to the inherently collaborative nature of managing projects. Why manage a team effort in a single user, desktop application? Here are just some of the high level differences:
Collaboration
MS Project desktop is great for project scheduling, but what do you do if you want to share project information with others? Some project managers email the file to the other team members. Others may post the file on the network. The problem with emailing a file around is that team members are often left wondering which MSP file is the latest and greatest. Team members lose valuable time trying to figure out which version of the file they need to be reviewing.
In the new, web-based paradigm, team members are empowered to view project status via a web browser. They can access project information from any Internet connected computer. With Project Insight, team members can have a login and view project progress in real-time, anytime, anywhere.
Delegation
The old project management paradigm asks the project manager to update the project schedule. This puts the project manager in a glorified administrative role. Time is wasted on gathering information on task progress, as opposed to truly managing projects.
With a web solution, the responsibility of updating tasks is delegated to the team members themselves. Now, team members are empowered to update percentage complete, and enter in the time spent on tasks. This leaves the project manager with more free time to manage projects better, instead of spending valuable time administering projects.
Project Insight makes updating tasks simple and straight forward. Team members are presented with a list of tasks on their portal pages and can make updates directly from that page.
Visibility
In order to give executives visibility, project managers either post the MS Project file on the network or spend valuable time gathering information and assembling into status reports. With a web-based system, information on all portfolios, programs, projects and tasks is available in real-time. What's more, executives may run their own reports. Project information can be shared with team members with appropriate permissions settings. This gives the entire team visibility of project progress. Visibility exposes the problem areas and helps get them resolved faster.
In Project Insight, executives can view all projects across the organization in one simple Project Dashboard view. This frees project managers up from the time consuming process of gathering and distributing this same information. It's already there in real-time!
Document Sharing
In the old paradigm, documents were stored on a network somewhere. The most frequent complaint from folks using shared networks is that it is difficult to find documents, however well organized.
With Project Insight, project documents can be linked directly with the task and/or project they belong to. Even task and project communication can be posted. All project assets are accessible and easy to find. This allows new team members or replaced resources to get up to speed on a project in a day, instead of weeks.
Resource Management
How do you manage resources' time with multiple schedules in separated files? Well, if you are an experienced project manager, you may have figured out how to tie individual MSP files together with a combined resource pool. However, that requires a more advanced knowledge of MSP and its mysterious underpinnings. A centralized project management solution does away with the need for esoteric MSP knowledge. As all resources and projects are centralized, then a view of all team members' workloads becomes a straightforward exercise.
In Project Insight, cross project resource allocation reports display all resources' workloads, and the exact projects and tasks they are assigned to. Graphical displays show the resource manager and/or project manager who is under booked, or over booked on a given day, week or month. Unique to Project Insight is the ability to balance the work from the same report.
Client, Vendor, Subcontractor Access
In the old paradigm, clients, vendors, subcontractors and other third parties are not permitted access to the internal network. This leaves many project participants out of the loop on tasks and project progress. A web-based solution permits access to third parties without giving them access to your internal network.
Another common compliant about working with third parties is that they often call to get updates on project progress. Again, this is very time consuming for many project managers. Now, you can enable them by giving them a login to their project information, or even assign them tasks!
Project Insight permits you to give team members that are not employees access to projects. Now they can view, update and change project status. You can assign them the right level of permissions and they can now collaborate too.
Cynthia West
Vice President, Project Insight