Microsoft Project Reviews

We primarily use the solution for managing projects. 

The ability to create tasks and structure them and give them hierarchy. 

They now have MS project Online and they have two levels, so it's easier to access what you need and to choose specifically what you'll use. You can start at a lower level, for example, and be more cost-effective and move up if it suits you.

It's easy to set up.

I don't have any comments on where it can be improved. 

The full suite would be pretty expensive.

I've used the solution for many years. 

The stability is good. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze.

The solution scales well. It's not an issue. 

We're a small organization with a few people using it. 

The solution is simple to set up. It's not overly complex. Especially now, after working with it for so many years, it's very easy.

It's an online tool. From that perspective, there is no maintenance needed.

The pricing is good. You can start at a lower tier and move up as needed. It's reasonably priced to start.

I cannot recall the exact costs. It's comparable to other similar products. 

It would be more expensive all in all as some of the competitors will have more features and other bells and whistles that would not be available with the basic tool of Microsoft, which would be cheaper. If you want a full suite, it will be more expensive.

I'm just a customer and end user.

It would be a straightforward option for people who are already using the Microsoft suite, including Office 365. If you're not a Microsoft shop, it's probably not your tool.

I'd rate the solution seven out of ten based on the cost and features on offer. 

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 use cases are all related to project management and I've actually developed project schedule templates that support both the standard waterfall and all different aspects of project lifecycle management including Agile and Scrum.

Microsoft Project is used as the basis for all the tracking and monitoring that we do for the projects. Everything from staffing resource plan to estimates for work completion and estimates for the project completion. It's all integrated in that way. We also have developed a capability to have interlock tasks that work across schedules. We can look at one schedule and determine whether or not we're being impacted by another project. From those standpoints, integration coordination is key.

The reporting features are quite strong. Being able to do team reports and find out what work is pending, what work needs to be done are key in my day-to-day management of the team. The earned value analysis capabilities and critical path capabilities inside the tool help me make sure that I'm keeping the projects on track.

When you start getting into the more advanced features, it can become unstable. The more you use the advanced features, the more exposure you have to an unanticipated result. I think we need to add the Kanban Board capability to the product that would help them advance that board into the project management methodology that's being used in the industry today. Being able to depend on Scrum management is key. I actually developed a template that allows me to do that, but if they actually productized that, that would help.

I have been using Microsoft Project for 20 years. 

When using the standard features, it's fairly innocuous at that point, it works as intended.

We used shared resource pools and we have multiple project schedules linked into the shared resource pool using Project Server. At that point, if you have a project schedule that is open and you are using a resource pool but you haven't properly baselined that that project schedule, the cascade of change can span across multiple project schedules. That's actually dangerous. What Microsoft may want to do is put an alert in the application that tells you that you're linked to an active, shared resource pool. You are making a change inside your schedule that could impact other project schedules. Similarly, they need to do that based on updates. Then if you were linking into that same resource pool with a schedule, it should come up with an alert that says that changes have taken place. It doesn't do that.

Scalability is like anything. If you're doing fine tasks inside the tool, you can get into a multi-thousand line schedule. When you start dealing with schedules at that level, it's inherently complex. 

Mostly project managers use it. We also have business analysts and other team members who in several instances may be able to go in. I don't do this with my teams because I want to be accountable to the team and make sure that the schedule is up to date and that it's accurately representing the work that's being performed. I use a timesheet entry approach and actually collect data from the team and enter that data into the project schedule. I've got one point of entry and one point of failure. I do know there are other project managers that are out there that allow their teams to go in and update their time in their tasks. I've seen that both work successfully and I've seen it cause significant issues so I prefer to hold onto the control myself that way.

They used to have a very robust help capability and I found that to be quite useful. They cut back on that now. I find that some of the support that was in the product before has not been kept up to the same level. Then we find ourselves having to reach out to the internet and looking for help texts out there from other users. That becomes then less professional. I'd recommend that they continue to upgrade and maintain the in-product help capabilities.

I've had very good support and I've had the support that's been frustrating. I would rate them a seven out of ten. 

I've had exposure to Clarity and several of the other products that are out there. TFS itself as a squiggle management tool.

In terms of the initial setup, if you're using it as a fairly basic tool, it's fairly straightforward. When you start getting into the more complex tools and the features of the product, it becomes harder to use. That's to be expected. You have to have knowledge of the tool to be able to use it properly.

It is a mainstay product. A lot of people use that as their first introduction and it's not meant to be a project management ERP solution, like Life Clarity or the others but it is a capable product that establishes a framework and a basis that can be used across the industry.

I would rate Microsoft Project a seven out of ten because you'd have to have in-depth knowledge of the tool for it to really be beneficial to you. It also allows the new developers and new project managers to come in and be proficient and be able to develop schedules fairly readily. From that standpoint, it's fairly strong. From the overall usability of the product, it can be cumbersome.

The most valuable feature of Microsoft Project is scheduling. The solution is useful on a daily basis.

Microsoft Project could improve the dates. Sometimes the dates are not aligned. This occurs even when you auto-schedule the dates. We have to go and define the schedule daily this should more easily accessible.

I have been using Microsoft Project for approximately 10 years.

Microsoft Project is stable.

The scalabiltiy of Microsoft Project is good.

We have three or four people using this solution in my department.

I have not used the support from Microsoft Project.

I have not used another solution prior to Microsoft Project.

I rate Microsoft Project a nine out of ten.

I am a project manager, so my primary use cases for Microsoft Project are the creation of a work breakdown structure – the time and schedule of the project – and following up on it. I also create reports. We're not using the enterprise solution and are not connected to a PMO. 

The features I find the most valuable are scheduling and reporting. I mostly do short projects that last three to six months. These are simple projects with a limited team of three to five members. We do not even do updates through the application. We do updates through meetings. 

The tool currently has a limited number of tutorials now. Those could improve, which would be helpful. 

They could also work on integrations with solutions like Teams. We have all of our project files in Teams and it is much easier to use for communication than MS Project, but there is no integration of the two solutions. 

I have been using Microsoft Project for about three years.

I would rate the stability of this solution a nine, on a scale from one to 10, with one being the worst and 10 being the best.

My impression is that scalability is quite good for more complex projects.

We are in a good partnership with their support team. We have an account manager and we have a support team. They're very supportive.

Positive

I tried to use Primavera, but I didn't find it as easy to operate in as MS Project. However, that was an older version. I don't know if they have updated or simplified the application.

I would rate the initial setup of this solution an eight, on a scale from one to 10, with one being the worst and 10 being the best. It's not very complicated. Even if you download and use the application for the first time, you can easily find your way.

Overall, I would rate this solution an eight, on a scale from one to 10, with one being the worst and 10 being the best.

The solution allows users to manage projects and project portfolios. 

The solution makes it very easy to plan and has great customization capabilities. 

The setup is very simple and straightforward. 

It is stable.

It's a scalable product, especially the online version. 

There's a lot of great documentation available online. Users can teach themselves to use the product.

It would be ideal if the solution integrated more with  Azure DevOps and other work management platforms like Jira.

I've used the desktop and cloud version for about three or four years.

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

The online version of the solution is quite scalable. The desktop version is just for one user.

The number of users varies according to the project. On one, we had maybe 40 users, on another, we had 500.

It is being used quite extensively at this time. We do plan to increase usage.

We've never reached out to technical support in the past. I can't speak to how helpful they are. 

It's easy to set up the solution. It's not a complex process. 

We only need one person to deploy and maintain the product. They are an admin.

We did the setup in-house in one day. We did not need outside assistance. 

The solution is part of Office 365, and it is an annual subscription.

We can use the solution on-premises and on the cloud. 

I'd rate the solution nine out of ten.

I'd recommend potential new users seek out videos and documentation to help learn the solution. There's a lot of good content that is very helpful to new users, and a lot of it is free. 

I primarily use the solution on my desktop for my personal needs.

It is very easy to deploy. 

The solution is stable. 

Microsoft offers good support.

I'd like the solution to be less expensive. 

It's a Microsoft product and therefore it is stable. The performance is good. There are no bugs or glitches, and it doesn't crash or freeze. 

I cannot say that it's scalable. It's on MS sources, so it's on the desktop. We don't really scale the product.

I haven't really relied too much on technical support, however, they are good.

Positive

I did not previously use a different solution.

The solution is very straightforward and simple. It's not as complex. You can connect the license in less than 30 minutes on a desktop.

I handled the initial setup by myself. I did not need the help of outside resources such as consultants or integrators. 

The licensing costs vary. It's largely very expensive. 

I'd recommend the solution to other users and companies. 

I would rate the solution nine out of ten.

We are in presales, and when the planning is very complex, we use Microsoft Project. That is, when we receive an RFP, we propose our solution and plan and build the different processes in Microsoft Project.

I like that I can change the task and include different resources related to the task.

It would be better if Microsoft Project were included in the DevOps stack. That is, I'd like to see this tool integrated to a different stack of the applications that we normally use in DevOps, such as in Jira, for example, to deploy a different version related to the different tasks that are included in Microsoft Project.

I've been using this solution for more than 10 years.

My impression is that it is stable.

It's very easy to install and use. It doesn't take a long time to deploy.

We have about 1000 people using it in our operations department.

I recommend using this solution if you working on a complex project or complex system.