Microsoft Project Reviews

The most useful feature is to link sub-tasks to the main group.

The setup is pretty simple. 

It is stable, and the performance is good.

It can scale well. 

What could have been better is the integration with Office 365 so that if you're discussing a project on Teams or there's an email related to the project, it can be tagged to the project in Microsoft Project. That functionality is currently not there.

The solution is pretty expensive. However, you pay for what you get, and it is worth the cost.

I've been working with the solution for more than ten years now. 

It is stable and reliable. There are no bugs or glitches. The performance is good. It doesn't crash or freeze. 

The solution is absolutely scalable. It's not a problem to expand the product. 

We are a small consulting firm. We have only four users at the moment.

I've had no issues with the level of service provided by support. They are helpful and responsive. We always get an immediate response. 

Positive

We have worked with Jira.

We always knew that Microsoft Project is the most comprehensive option. Although our clients are using multiple different platforms, we tend to integrate all those outputs into our Microsoft Project installation.

The product has a simple, straightforward implementation process. It's not overly complex. 

The pricing is pretty high. I'd rate it two out of five in terms of affordability. 

We are customers and end-users. 

I'd rate the solution seven out of ten. 

I would recommend it for companies that have a large number of projects and diversified teams. When I say diversified teams, I mean geographically spread and working on multiple projects. Those are the kind of people who could make use of Microsoft Project very well.

We primarily use the solution to enter our status and our time. For each task that we're doing, we have to enter a monthly status. It's for project management.

Overall, the solution has been so much better than the previous project management tool we had been using.

It's very easy to select the projects. It's so easy to save the project, task, and hours that I want. You don't have to think about it. 

The user interface is so clean. The previous EPM product was so hard to understand in terms of the user interface.

Once we commit our status, changing it is hard. Sometimes, I may make a mistake about a holiday or something. I may not remember that there was a particular day that was a holiday and I may enter time on that day as if I worked. Sometimes I want to fix it. It would be ideal if the holidays were pre-installed so that we wouldn't make that mistake, that would be ideal. It should allow us to set it so that we cant enter time on holidays. 

I have only explored maybe 5% of Microsoft Project as we're only using it to log things. I haven't seen a lack of features.

I've been using the solution for about one year at this point.

I haven't had any issues with stability. There aren't bugs or glitches, at least, none that I have witnessed. It doesn't crash or freeze. Overall, it's quite good.

Every employee has to use this solution, and we are a sizable organization. Likely, we have thousands of users on this product.

The solution is on the cloud, and therefore it can scale so well. We have our own internal cloud, and Microsoft has a cloud as well. If a company wants to expand it, it should be able to do so with relative ease.

I can't speak to the quality of Microsoft's technical support. I've never contacted them, so I can't say how knowledgeable or responsive they are. We have our own internal support. We are a very big organization, so we have an internal support team that assists us if we need help. They may reach out to Microsoft directly, however, I have no knowledge of their interactions.

We did previously use a different project management solution. I've only seen the user interface. It's my understanding that it is called EPM, or something to that effect. I like Microsoft's solution much more. It's a better product.

I only use the solution. I did not have to set it up. I can't speak to how easy or difficult it is to do this as I am just an end-user in the company.

I'm an end-user and customer. My organization is a large company and we're a big customer of Microsoft.

I don't know which version of the solution I'm currently using.

My life has improved so much with Microsoft Project. It works extraordinarily well.

Overall, I would rate it at a nine out of ten.

Microsoft Project helps to manage our projects.

We can't say that there has been an improvement. We are trying to get to that point, but we are only into it with the new version for a month.

It comes with our Office 365. 

We started using it and we stopped using LiquidPlanner. 

I am most comfortable using Microsoft Project just because I have used it for so long, but we are still trying to figure out the new version at the moment.

The new version has made it a bit more complicated. We are trying to synchronize Project Online and Planner.

In Team Planner, there is supposed to be a way that you can sync your tasks in the Project Plan with Planner so that the project team doesn't necessarily need to use Microsoft Project. They can see what tasks are assigned to them, do them and update the status.

But, we haven't been able to figure that out yet.

They can make it easier to streamline the product. 

When using Microsoft Project, the desktop and Planner don't seem to talk to each other as seamlessly as I would hope. It is possible that it is a user error and we have not configured it correctly. My IT team is new to it as well.

I have had approximately 20 years of experience with Microsoft Project.

I just started using the latest version a little over a month ago.

I have the desktop app and on the cloud.

At the moment we have an issue with synchronization with the planner. We are trying to get it to work by watching YouTube videos and the IT director has been working with the vendor to see how to get the functionality to work.

It's unknown if we need a plug-in or not. It is difficult to decipher whether or not it's us or them because we are so green with the product.

From what I can tell, there is a lot that you can do with it. Power BI, reporting, SharePoint, and Teams are all supposed to connect in some way, but, it's not as intuitive as I thought it would have been.

There isn't a lot that is available that tells you how to do this. You have to figure it out which is what we are trying to do. I wish that it was a bit more straightforward.

Currently, there are two of us who use Microsoft Project because we are trying to get it configured in a way that makes sense for our organization before we can bring in the rest of the team that may need to use it.

We have not used technical support.

Previously, we were using LiquidPlanner.

LiquidPlanner is a tool that you would use in an ideal situation for project management, which almost never happens. I can't get my organization to punch a time clock, and that is what LiquidPlanner is.

The initial setup is a bit more complex than I would have hoped for or that I am used to. Again, it is possible that it's a lack of know-how and education with this product.

It gets expensive when having to add all of the plugins and everything that you need.

I would suggest using an expert. Get an implementation vendor to set it up for you.

This solution probably does everything that I need it to do, but I just don't know how to do it yet.

I like Microsoft Project and it does everything that I need it to do, but it doesn't do everything. That's Microsoft; they always get you to about 80% there, and then you need some type of plugin or API. It never quite does everything.

I would rate Microsoft Project an eight out of ten.

Whenever we have a client with a complicated situation, we create a project plan. And we use Microsoft Project (MS Project) for administrating, monitoring, and tracking the project.  For most small projects, MS Project is satisfactory.

We can input information and then share it with the project team and stakeholders. That helps a little, but if somebody changes their mind, it could change how we manage the project. There are some new features in MS Project 2021. However, more features aren't necessarily useful because now you must train people to use them. They may say, "Why do I need this new feature?" Newer versions of MS Project display a warning when a task runs behind schedule. However, it is necessary to input a date change for that warning manually, and administrative action takes precious time.

It's possible to get input from other programs, such as Outlook, but we don't use Outlook for anything other than email, even though it could do other things. Time is a critical resource. We don't have time to learn about these features and use them productively, so they are of no value to us.

MS Project's resource leveling capability is beneficial. We like this feature. We want to be able to expand tasks and look at different resources and task usage. It is good at assigning tasks to teams.

It's generally compliant with the Project Management Institute approach to project management, which means MS Project helps us be more uniform and consistent in conducting each project.

MS Project can insert objects, like a drawing or an Excel worksheet, but cannot handle business rules. Also, I would like to see better integration with graphics applications such as MS Visio. The graphics are primitive and need some major work. I would like to have the ability to insert some small macros within the project for Monte Carlo risk analysis. For example, if you're unsure how much time a task may require, you can generate a reasonable guess.

MS Project is very time and labor-intensive to keep current. You need to update it continually. You may find that you are spending more time maintaining the MS Project file than working on your project. I don't want to devote a person to do that.

MS Project should have the capability to link it to other applications to make the program dynamic when a real-time resource or schedule changes, but it is not dynamic. It would be helpful to insert real-time input data for each project, subproject, or task. If something is going on, I want to see the impact in real-time, if possible.

I want to be able to specify globally what weekend we want or what we want to call a weekend. Also, we might have a project underway seven days a week.

External data sources, like third-party manufacturing processes, impact some tasks. Embedding external processes within MS Project is almost impossible because we don't have programming resources here in a practical sense. Also, the interface of Microsoft Project is proprietary. We want to link different tasks to external sources of inputs and outputs and integrate them automatically with our master project plan, e.g., specific third-party CNC machine data. The supplier's system does not interface with ours'. We have to get the outputs from their system serially and manually update the MS Project file to determine the schedule impact. That takes time. There is a risk of data entry errors at both ends. On tight projects, every minute counts.

I would like to see a control system interface with Microsoft Project. Real-time system data helps predict cost and schedule variances. For example, if you had to finish a day ahead of schedule, you could "talk" to the systems' software and determine if a given machine works for another four hours, then you could meet the accelerated schedule. MS Project requires manual data entry with a risk of mistakes. Presently, there is no automated data entry capability in MS Project. It just doesn't exist. That's why I say it is only suitable for small-sized to medium-sized companies and small projects. Most companies don't have the same problems we have with MS Project.

When you're working on a project that has to get done, you will spend most of the time wrestling with Microsoft Project, whereas you should be using these hours to manage the project.

Thinking on a slightly bigger scale, I would like better integration with Office, Visio, and Access. If you make a change in one application, it should cascade to others and vice versa. It doesn't do that, at least not easily. It is not a dynamic program. I would like to see an active program or at least the capability to be dynamic, even if it is close to real-time where it outputs to a module, and the module then talks to real-time systems. The real-time data goes back into the module, and the module updates the project plan. Such dynamic capability would be superior to what exists now. It may not be genuinely real-time, but it is at least closer to it.

I want to link directly to the data in an Excel spreadsheet so that I don't have to keep going back and forth updating it. I don't want to have to create a dynamic link library or write a macro. Whenever I change the data in an Excel file for a given project or task, it should update the corresponding Visio or PowerPoint file. If I'm doing a pie chart or any graphic, I don't want to manually update my graphics. I want to link them together, and I want them updated automatically. I know it is a wishful thing. Microsoft doesn't make significant changes every time they come out with a new version. However, they don't appear to fix the issue. Instead, they add a few features.

I have been using Microsoft Project since it was released in the mid-1980s. Although MS Project can be helpful, it does not teach project management.

It's relatively stable. I've never had a crash. I can't remember it ever crashing. If I  entered some information that it can't resolve, it usually comes up with an error message.

I think it is limited to around 400,000 tasks. I am not sure. I never had to go that far. We have five consultants who are remote users.

I've never really needed any support. When Microsoft has a seminar or a meeting locally, I might go to it and give my feedback.

Neutral

Installation is automatic and simple, we had no issues.

The implementation was done in-house.

MS Project pays for itself by helping me keep my thinking straight.  The purchase price of the application is insignificant when compared with the time involved in trying to do project management manually on paper attached to large poster boards. We did it that way before the advent of PCs.  There is some benefit to seeing an entire project plan on paper to provide a visual idea of project scope and progress, but intelligent use of MS Project can generate the same information.  It takes a lot of time to become so proficient with MS Project that these key bits of information are generated automatically through accurate and complete task definitions, WBS, and project schedule updates.

Make sure you have a good business reason for purchasing MS Project. It isn't cheap and there are free alternatives, with simple capabilities, available.

MS Project was sufficient for our requirements, so we did not evaluate any other options.

Make sure you understand what MS Project can do and what it cannot do. It cannot read your mind. Just like any other program, it only does what you tell it to do. If you give it the wrong information, it will provide you with incorrect output. It is very labor-intensive. There are minimal capabilities to help you write routines. So, you have to change dates and task names. If you don't understand project management concepts well, you're just going to delude yourself into thinking MS Project helps you. You have to understand the process of project management to use the application effectively. Otherwise, you are wasting your time. It will not teach you how to do project management.

I would rate MS Project a five out of ten because it hasn't evolved that much. Microsoft added lots of bells and whistles, but they don't add much new value. They don't save me much time. I want MS Project to be a dynamic program, but it remains a passive program after more than 30 years. I've made comments about it at some seminars hosted by Microsoft. We've told them to make it a dynamic program or at least have an option to make it active. We would be willing to pay more for this capability. It's worth it, but they don't do it. I guess they don't see enough business potential in doing it that way, and I don't have the resources to create an internal application to make it that way. I am not in that business.

I mostly use it for big projects and rolling out solutions. I have used it for rolling out a new POS system, clientele programs, and clientele loyalty. I have also used it for process changes that impact multiple departments, and there are key players in it to keep everybody on track. Once we move forward with a new forecasting tool, I would use it for that.

Over the last couple of years, it has been more of the newer version with it. I'm really basic with it because of the end-users. It means that I use it for all the pieces on certain things, but when it comes to the output, it is pretty basic for the end-users. It is an easy read for the end-users.

It did keep everybody organized. Everything was outlined, and everyone knew the expectations. It was a good check and balance for everyone to make sure that we weren't missing anything. When the project ends and you do the takeaway, it is like, "Okay. Next time, we got to make sure that we add XYZ to the plan for the scope of the plan." We make sure it is a good takeaway lesson in terms of what we missed.

It can auto-connect based on the dates, which makes it easy. It auto-assigns people, and when you're starting to type in, it auto-fills and populates for you, which is great. It provides little time savers when you're typing everything out. It is just like, "Oh, I can just click from a dropdown." Those types of features are really great, and this is where it kind of gets a little bit intuitive. At the same time, if you don't like what it is doing, it is easy to change it.

I like using it just because it is easy to use. It is pretty user-friendly and easy to figure out. It is definitely one of the better ones out there. 

It should be easier to break things. Breaking up the visualization from the task is sometimes a little bit tricky to do. You can do it, but it takes a minute. It's not an easy function to do. The way you have to format it and stuff like that takes a minute.

I have been using this solution on and off for the last five years. 

It is good.

Its scalability is good and up there. It is not extensively used in our organization. We're a small organization, and currently, only two people are using it. We don't have any plans to increase its usage.

At my past organizations, there were multiple people who used it. There were different types of users who used it, but it was always in the IT world. The IT users had different backgrounds. So, it was leveraged within each department, but with an IT-focused person as a relationship manager.

I have not had any encounters, but overall, my interaction with Microsoft has been great. Whenever I've talked to anybody or inquired about something further, it has always been positive.

I've used Gantt Chart before, but I don't like it. I'd rather do it in Excel. I just don't like the format and layout of it. It comes down to personal preference on some of that stuff. With my background and how I came about to even become a project manager, it makes more sense to do it in Excel than in some of the other ways.

I wasn't around, but it would have been pretty straightforward for the person who did it.

It probably would have been an in-house job. I know that's how it was with the old one. They might have had someone to help, but it mostly would have been done in-house.

You have to find the right tool that helps make it easy and streamlined for you to manage. You just need to find the right platform. I would advise others to get out there and play with all of them and then find the right one. Do tests with them, and then figure it out. That works best.

I would rate Microsoft Project an eight out of 10.

Our company uses Microsoft Project primarily for project planning and milestone tracking.

The tool helps us to check milestones. After doing tasks, our team updates them. Regarding functionalities in Microsoft Project, the number one feature is reminders. With so many projects, sometimes you forget; some projects might slip up or disappear. This feature is very useful.

Additionally, we can track the tasks we can do within a particular project, which is another feature we use. Lastly, we use the tracking function to set deadlines and see what is being accomplished and what remains. The design team uses these features. 

The tool's integration was easy and seamless. We also use it to get a summary of the entire business.

I would like to see a direct integration of Microsoft Project with AutoCAD. It will make client presentations easy. 

I have been working with the product since 2015. 

I rate the tool's stability a nine out of ten. 

I rate the solution's scalability a six out of ten. It's a bit complex to ask some new users. In terms of scalability, for example, if you have two projects or departments you want to merge, you might face challenges. You might have to type them in manually and do manual merging. So, if something could be done to simplify this, it would be great. My company has around 15 users. 

The tool's deployment is easy. 

I rate the solution's pricing a three out of ten.                        

I rate the overall product a seven out of ten.

I use Microsoft Project to manage project timelines.

Microsoft Project should provide better documentation regarding the usage of the solution.

I have been using Microsoft Project for the past five years.

Microsoft Project is a pretty stable solution.

I rate Microsoft Project an eight out of ten for stability.

It depends on your system's RAM, but Microsoft Project is scalable. Three users use the solution in our organization.

I rate Microsoft Project an eight out of ten for scalability.

I previously used the solution called Trello.

Microsoft Project's initial setup is straightforward.

Microsoft Project was deployed by the IT team and my office administrator within thirty minutes. You can just install the solution and start using it.

The ROI with Microsoft Project is good as there's a real need for the solution.

We have to pay for a yearly license for Microsoft Project.

I would recommend Microsoft Project to other users and ask them to get trained to use the solution.

Overall, I rate Microsoft Project an eight out of ten.

Our company has a project department that is responsible for project deployment. When a new client comes up, they will have a lot of PMPS packs which have a list of activities. We use the tool to plan projects.

The tool has a simple and excellent approach.

The solution is a basic tool that does not give you analytical insights. It does not have any AI capabilities which can also help to plan.

The solution is stable. I would rate the solution’s stability a seven out of ten.

The tool is scalable. You just need to send a requirement for more licenses. There are around five users for the solution in our company.

We do not use any paid support services from Microsoft since our requirements are not high.

The solution’s setup is very easy.

I would rate the solution a seven out of ten.