Vendors are offering a range of product management tools, from traditional critical-path schedulers to tool suites with arrays of features and functions. SPEX (www.checkspex.com), a Reston, Va.-based IT market research company, recently evaluated eight of the top project mangement applications. The following is an excerpt.
Artemis Views, Artemis Management Systems Boulder, Colo., www.artemispm.com
Pros
Successful integration of Microsoft Project 98.
Good, desktop-level planning functions and resource management.
Administration console that enables automatic deployment of the configurations of client workstations at installation.
Data synchronization with a remote workstation.
Cons
Lack of calculated fields in the standard version.
Although the system offers 100 custom fields, the auto-incrementing codes cannot always be defined from a code editor.
Does not manage consumable resources.
In ProjectView, the PERT can only be viewed as a print preview.
The euro not included as an alternative currency (but can be defined as a project currency).
Conclusions
A complete and functionally rich solution. The integration of MS Project indicates a new orientation for Artemis, which offers its own desktop PM solution. The recent acquisition of SPR enables Artemis to offer a unique feature for software development estimation.
Nevertheless, adoption of this type of functionality in the market is still low. V. 4.0 has some important product announcements, critical for keeping competitive. And next year, Improved planning process capabilities and expanded Web-based communication and collaboration features are expected. Still, user interfaces need to be refreshed with Web-based technology, and reporting capabilities need to be expanded for users.
Advanced ergonomics, including 3D dialog boxes, tabs, bubble help, and configurable tool bar.
Comprehensive and detailed planning functions.
Calculates "efficiency factor" (coefficient to weight the effort required, based on the skill of the resource).
Graphical WBS and OBS editor, and an editor of auto-incrementing codes (WBS and account codes).
Multiproject management.
Functions available for resolving overallocations.
Report generator offers attractive possibilities for manipulating and extracting project data.
Net option to create and modify project data from personalized Web page.
Cons
No pre-built interfacing capabilities with ERM software.
Although it is multi-user, the product locks project data at the project file level, not at a table or record level.
Levels are limited to 11 in plan mode and 32 in the structures.
No skill management, no discrete workloads, and few profiles for distributing effort for a task.
Only three project baselines can be saved.
Technical progress not managed in the standard package.
Time entry is based on a messaging system and offers little possibility for customization.
Only one level of approval allowed.
Conclusions
Despite the enhancements received with Version 5.0, CA-SuperProject remains an average project management tool. The lack of marketing effort by the vendor impedes on the product's growth prospects. The vendor is slowly evolving CA-SuperProject from a desktop to an enterprise package with improved scalability, also leveraging Process Continuum (from CA's recent acquisition of Platinum Technology) as a new platform integrating enterprise process management, which will eventually increase its functionality and positioning (2000-2001).
Microsoft Project 98, Microsoft Corp. Redmond, Wash., www.microsoft.com
Pros
Same interface as Office family—the best feature.
Support for Office folders, bubble help, drag and drop, advisors, IntelliSense technology, filters, sorting, and configurable views.
Support for OLE2 and OLE Automation.
Rich, detailed desktop planning functions.
Includes "optimistic," "pessimistic," and expected durations that are consolidated at the upper levels.
Includes resource contouring.
Dynamic tables for use in Excel.
Cons
Desktop orientation is its main technical limitation.
Weak management of multiple users, multiple projects (recently increased to 1,000).
Estimation functions are not covered.
Weak structure, management of project repository, cost management.
Gaps in resource management.
Only 32 baseline fields are managed for comparison and only 10 project baselines can be saved.
Inflexible time entry.
Conclusions
The standard for desktop project management software. It will continue to gain prominence as the desktop planning tool on which many products will be based. The product is fairly inexpensive and easily implemented. Microsoft has plans to enter the enterprise project management market with Microsoft Project 2000, a move that could prove to be troublesome to its closer competitors. However, Microsoft's enterprise edition is likely to lag behind the market leaders for some time (2001-2002).
Open Plan Professional, Welcom Houston, Texas, www.welcom.com
Pros
Good ergonomics (wizards, view management, display filters).
Complete tutorial.
Includes a tree editor for creating WBS and OBS (90 structures per project).
Impressive crosstab view, sort, and multilevel filter functions.
Manages human, financial, consumable, or perishable (not available after a given date) resources, as well as skills.
Smoothing/leveling uses the techniques of delaying/subdividing tasks, and constant or nonconstant effort reduction.
Monte Carlo method included in standard version.
Spider enables a browser to access the time-entry functions.
Interface with ERMs achieved via Open Plan Enterprise.
Cons
PC-based architecture limits the package from a scalability standpoint.
No code editor, so the automatic incrementing of codes is limited to prefix management.
In the proprietary file mode, the number of project baselines is limited to three (no limit in ODBC database mode).
No true project simulation function.
No estimation functions.
The Web-based time entry module (Spider) offers little flexibility.
No graphical report generator. Hard-copy reports are obtained by WYSIWYG printing of objects.
Web Publisher module (batch printing) does not enable direct conversion of views and graphs from Open Plan (Gantt, reports).
Conclusions
Open Plan Professional offers overall good project management software features for departmental user environments. Its PC-based architecture limits the product in its attempt to reach the higher-end market. In addition, the product suffers from a lack of brand awareness in this increasingly competitive market.
Ability to define a calendar on links between activities, management of fiscal calendar, and the function for grouping into two levels based on the fields, making it possible to do effort-based management; a Gantt chart of resources.
Unlimited number of custom fields.
In addition to calculated fields (mathematical calculation from other fields), there are formula fields with Boolean conditions and functions.
Supports discrete distribution of resource effort.
Manages group resources and skills.
Cons
No workload estimation functions prior to planning.
Lacks a graphical editor for the RBS structure.
Only 5 project baselines are saved, though there is no limit to the number of projects tracked in the ODBC database.
Weak time sheet customization.
Weak in cost control. No cost-rate tables in the standard version.
In spite of the easy report and view configuration, there are no advanced reporting and analysis functions.
Conclusions
Project Scheduler 7 offers average to good functionality. The product, following the general market trend, is slowly being transformed from a desktop application into an enterprise-level application, but basically remains a PC-based PM tool suited for departmental user environments, a market dominated by MS Project. The vendor is currently focusing on maintaining its customer base and allocating capital to aggressively grow its services business.
P3v3 and P3e, Primavera Systems Inc. Bala Cynwyd, Pa., www.primavera.com
Pros
User-friendly GUI for P3v3/P3e.
Includes RTF editor for annotations, plus sort, filter, and grouping functions in spreadsheet mode.
Provides numerous reports and graphs that can be customized. The report generator is standard.
PortFolio Analyst offers more reporting and multiproject analysis functions.
High level of Web access.
Allows users to publish all P3 objects (Gantt charts, tables, reports, etc.) via an HTML translator, or use a browser to modify project data created in P3v3 or P3e.
Monte Carlo option now infused into P3e.
Comprehensive detailed planning in P3v3.
Good resource management features. There are 16 profiles for distributing resource effort in P3v3, but none in P3e.
Solid overallocation resolution functions.
P3v3 offers integration with ERM software via Oberon.
Cons
Integration between P3v3 and P3e is import/export only.
Although P3e runs on 32-bit Windows platforms (95/98, NT), P3v3 is still a 16-bit application.
P3v3 can open only four projects simultaneously per client workstation; P3e has no limit.
P3e is English only.
P3v3 manages only a single WBS, editable in spreadsheet mode, limited to 20 sublevels; RBS is managed via eight levels of RBS codes. P3e manages a WBS and an RBS that can be edited from a graphical structure editor.
Absence of calculated fields in both P3v3 and P3e.
Consumable resources not managed by either.
No skills management.
P3v3 does not consider the fiscal calendar.
Weak cost management in P3v3.
Conclusions
While Primavera has a strong presence in the construction, engineering, and technology sectors, it is clearly still evolving to add more enterprise-level functionality by expanding summarizing functions and portfolio analysis features. For example, rollup functions will soon work at the business level instead of simply at the program level, to support a true enterprise breakdown structure. Also better integration between P3v3 and P3e and support for multiple languages are still needed.
Results Management, ABT Corp. New York, N.Y., www.abtcorp.com
Pros
The ABT Repository administration console and the automated deployment functions for installing workstations are key strengths.
Project databases located at remote sites can be referenced and consolidated in the system repository (meta-repository).
Remote data synchronization.
Improved ABT Workbench interface, including an Outlook-style look and feel.
ABT Planner provides a planning and estimation tool for software projects, based on estimation by analogy and function points.
Microsoft Project 98 can be used for the detailed planning of projects in ABT Workbench, and the data is consolidated in the ABT Repository.
Excellent resource and allocations management.
ABT Team (client/server mode) and ABT Connect (intranet mode) can be used to manage and enter the time spent on any activity assigned to a resource, as well as tasks that are not part of the project.
Cons
Main weakness: cost management. In the standard version, no management of overtime costs, no consideration of allocated budgets or commitments, and it is not possible to allocate costs to the structures (though costs are consolidated).
The Gantt could be improved: e.g., probabilistic workloads or durations are not taken into account.
Import/export of Excel formats is not always supported, although it is possible to cut and paste.
WBS and OBS can be edited in plan mode, but they cannot be created from a graphical tree editor, and self-incrementing codes are not managed.
Conclusions
One of the most complete project management solutions on the market, including robust resource management features. Version 5 strengthens ABT's competitive position in the top-tier market. The product has seen successful growth beyond its traditional IT market segment and has a strong international presence.
Some functional limitations in areas such as financial management, cost management (limited cost estimation function, no bid estimate functionality, and no work unit inventory management), and time-constraints management (relies on MS Project 98 for sophisticated time constraint requirements).
Compared with larger competitors such as ABT or Primavera, the product offers limited international presence.
Conclusions
A good, scalable project management package with resource management focus, best suited for IT organizations and evolving toward the needs of non-IT, project-oriented firms with simple cost management requirements. Version 6.0, released in August 1999, includes major enhancements: a new role-based, Web GUI (HomeView), addition of a risk maturity index, and critical path management (CPM) functionality. Finally, vendor-specific interfaces with SAP and Oracle (+ Computron) are now provided.
