I am looking for some alternatives to MS project. The company I work for doesn't believe the investment in MS project is worthwhile (and I don't disagree). I am basically looking for something that can help with company wide resourcing along with scheduling. I don't need anything that deals with timesheet input or reporting (as we have another project that does this). Any suggestions are appreciated.
Don KimPROJECT-TO-PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT EXPERT| Seeking opportunitiesSacramento, CA, United States
My company uses Planview and I'm quite impressed with its features both for the tactical PPM module and its EPM (Enterprise Portfolio Management) module which allows an organization to do trend analysis, strategic planning and demand capacity planning.
I'm a bit confused by your desire to have a tool that manages resources along with scheduling, but w/out the need for timesheets, because the way our organization tracks the actual effort on project work is by the timesheets entered by resources.
And on another similar note, my opinion is that resource management and capacity planning and visibility is as important if not possibly more than the scheduling part, because your resource capacity constraints will determine the viability of your project schedule.
For example, almost all the major PPM tools such as Planview, Primavera, Clarity, etc. have the feature of allowing a project manager to create predecessor and successor tasks to determine your critical path, and it is from here you would view the availability of your resources and substitute and shift them around from tasks you have free float to keep your schedule on time. You could also try to crash the schedule if you can reserve enough resources. These types of tools allow you to do this in an automated way.
Though I like the CPM scheduler in Planview and similar tools, one of the issues I have with CPM is that it assumes unlimited resources. Though having the software calculate the longest path allows you to know where you cannot slip in your schedule, it will not produce a valid schedule in a resource-constrained environment that we are all typically constrained by.
An alternative method created by Eliyahu M. Goldratt known as Critical Chain Method (CCM) utilizes resource buffers, and monitors project progress and health by monitoring the consumption rate of the buffers rather than individual task performance of the schedule.
This does not dispense with CPM, as if the assumption is that there are unlimited resources, CCM becomes perfectly aligned directly with CPM.
Though PPM tools are great, the technology and the features are only about 20% of the solution, whereas the business process and project management methodologies such as the one outlined above, are truly the 80% of the solution that needs to built out and implemented. You can then pick any of the major PPM tools out there and determine which would have the balance of features and functionality that your organization would need.
Hans RobbersSenior Director| SalesforceVlissingen, Netherlands
Drew
We use Clarity which allows us to manage resources between projects. It also hooks up nicely to the financial systems and has extensive reporting facilities. This might be a disqualifier for yo since timesheet capturing and reproting are outside your scope.
good luck. Saving Changes...
Vladimir LiberzonR&D Director| Spider Project TeamMoscow, Russian Federation
I suggest to try Spider Project. This software has most sophisticated resource management features. It calculates Resource Critical Path since 1993 (jn 1997 Goldratt called it Critical Chain), level project and portfolio resources optimizing the schedules, simulates risks, calculates project and portfolio schedules taking into account not only resource but also material and financial restrictions, works with physical quantities on project activities, and has many other useful functional features. It is most popular in Russia and Eastern Europe and has customers in 22 countries. Spider Project has Russian, English, Ukrainian, Belarus, and Portugues versions.
Its English Demo may be downloaded from http://www.spiderproject.ru/demo_e.php Best Regards,
Vladimir Saving Changes...
Judy DegutisIT Project Manager| Constellation Brands IncChicago, Il, United States
I also recommend Clarity. Clarity has the ability to manage your entire portfolio of projects. It includes resource management, financials, reporting and of course project management. They are all integrated and can include time tracking and reporting, if you so desire. The are sequel databases so the information is relatively easy to extract or import.
I second Vladimir's vote for Spider project. If you want to model complex projects, it is a great tool.
For a simpler, web-based tool, take a look at Daptiv and Bijingo. Both are great web-based tools. I usually recommend getting something web based because it makes collaborating with others much easier. It is easy to set up an outside vendor or partner with a user ID and have them gather and input status information on-line.
I have never used Clarity because of the cost. Be aware that it is a very expensive tool. Saving Changes...
Alistair MillerAlistair Miller| TEA ConsultingMelbourne, Vic, Australia
I agree Clarity, Planview, Primavera, etc. are all great ... but the original post said the company did not want to spend money on MS Project (and how much more expensive than desktop MSP is an ePM solution)? For a free, open source project planning / tracking tool on the desktop, I recommend Open Workbench (www.openworkbench.org). Saving Changes...
Hans RobbersSenior Director| SalesforceVlissingen, Netherlands
THanks for pointing out the original question. Open Work bench is the cornerstone for Clarity. Disadvantage of Open Workbench is that it is a stand alone solution on a pc and when you need to have an integrated plannign and resource sharing over projects Open Workbench needs to be kept aligned manually with the other stand alone versions. Saving Changes...
Alistair MillerAlistair Miller| TEA ConsultingMelbourne, Vic, Australia
You're right it does (need to be integrated)...so does MS Project or any other desktop scheduling tool. I would suggest MS Project handles resource "pools" better than Open Workbench, but OWB handles things such as sub-projects and dependencies between projects ("external dependencies") better than MSP. If you're looking for a free, viable alternative to desktop MSP, then Open Workbench is about your best bet.
Alternatively, if you want to do serious portfolio management, resource planning & management, demand management or any of the myriad other functions performed by EPM solutions, you won't be looking at a desktop solution (and you will be looking at serious cash!) Saving Changes...
Anonymous
I’ve used several of the solutions offered to you so far. A lot of times, there are many good solutions, but none of them may be the solution for your situation. One thing that has helped me in a similar situation is to do what’s known as
Eating One’s Own Dog Food By that, I mean that we as project managers always like to have some requirements before we have a solution even if it is just a small iteration. It may be necessary to really dig into the specific requirements before the correct solution can be identified. You listed a few assumed requirements, and I’m guessing that there are more. Also, it helps to take the surface requirements and ask why, i.e. why do you really need a company-wide resourcing and scheduling tool? And then ask why again to that answer. The answer to the surface question is seemingly obvious to everyone until you ask why a few times. Asking “why” enough times gets you down to the real requirement, and then you are in a better position to identify a solution.
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Vladimir LiberzonR&D Director| Spider Project TeamMoscow, Russian Federation
In the original question it was stated that “The company I work for doesn't believe the investment in MS project is worthwhile (and I don't disagree)”…
It means that they do not consider MS Project good enough (and I agree) but there was nothing about seeking free software.
Regards,
Vladimir
Saving Changes...
