Why should you use MS Project Sever?
A role-based solution with multiple options
Unlike MS Project Standard 2010, which is a standalone solution, MS Project Server 2010 (Enterprise Project Management - EPM) is a role-based tool that is not only useful for project managers, but for everyone involved in a project, including decision makers.
Depending on the project requirements, the system provides out-of-the-box solutions that can be used for individual process steps as well as for a project’s entire lifecycle. These standard solutions can easily be tailored to each company’s specific requirements.
Typical customers of the MS Project Server Solution
The MS Project Sever solution is suited to companies that place a lot of importance on centralized project planning and management across multiple projects. They are likely to need functions such as centralized resource management, capacity planning, portfolio management, partially automated approval processes, flexible and attractively-presented reports using dashboards and cockpits, among many others.
Gathering project ideas
Using workflows, ideas for a project can be gathered from members of the team. The process starts with the collection of rudimentary data and these suggestions are then enriched with structured data (such as a business plan), making it easier to prioritize one project over another.
Integrated portfolio management
The new portfolio management functions in MS Project Server 2010 help companies compile their project portfolio and select the projects to be executed. These functions used to be included in a separate Portfolio Server product. Selection criteria can be purely financial (budget, resource availability etc.) or include “soft” factors as well (such as customer satisfaction).
The new MS Project Standard / Professional Client 2010
Project managers with experience in MS Project 2010 Standard will quickly get to grips with the interface of the Professional version. The main difference is communication with the server, which is only possible with the Professional version.
Working on projects in the browser with the Project Web App
The new EPM Version 2010 also provides a comprehensive range of options that allow users to create and work on simple projects in the Internet Explorer-based Web App. One way of creating a project is by importing task lists from SharePoint 2010. As with other Microsoft Office products, all the functions are accessible via ribbons.
While the MS Project 2010 Professional client software is exclusively used by people involved in detailed project planning and management processes, all other participants and decision-makers only work with the Internet Explorer-based Web App. The advantage of solely using the Web App is that license costs are significantly lower.
Project participants can use it to access an overview of all the projects they have been assigned to, view their work packages, and fill in their timesheets.
Managers can access the Web App anytime to see current reports as well as analyses of the project portfolio. The centralized resource pool gives them a clear overview of the workload of resources that have been assigned to several different projects.
Central + standardized document storage in SharePoint
To facilitate end-to-end project communication, project workspaces are available on the Windows SharePoint Server, which is the technology underpinning the new MS Project Server 2010. It provides a central and standardized way to store documents and update lists. Topics like risks and problems can be managed using these lists, which can be assigned to individual projects and/or tasks.
Project data on the server can also be stored offline if required, making it easier to carry them around and work on them without a server connection. Once the user connects to the server again, the updated information on the local device is synchronized to the server.
Multiple advantages from centralized project data storage
The ability to centrally store structured information about all projects is one of the biggest advantages of MS Project Server 2010 compared to standalone solutions. Along with the assistance provided for project selection, authorized users have a range of other options available to them, including reporting and analyses which are easy to access via SQL Reporting Services. There are also extensive Excel Services and Performance Point Services, both of which are already integrated into SharePoint Server 2010 (Enterprise Version).
