Microsoft Project Online - Big Benefits are now not just for the big players.

Microsoft Project Online - Big Benefits are now not just for the big players.

I was recently asked by a client to provide them with my view on the benefits of Microsoft Project Online. Having put together my own assessment of its benefits for them I am sharing my assessment with the LinkedIn community.

If in the past you have considered the Project Server Enterprise Project Management solution from Microsoft but were put off by the cost of ownership Project Online now offers you all the benefits of the Server solution at a fraction of the cost.

Project Online is Microsoft’s cloud based Project collaboration platform that delivers significant benefit to project oriented organisations for a manageable monthly subscription. Their try before you buy trial option gives you the opportunity to determine whether or not it ticks the boxes before having to make any kind of significant commitment.

For any organisation looking to make the next step in their project management capabilities Project Online can really help in making the leap forward.

Key benefits of the solution can be summarised as follows:

  • Visibility over all projects whatever their status allows an organisation to appreciate what is happening and to make informed decisions with regards to priorities and strategy.
  • Incorporating objective measures and displaying them as RAG indicators in project dashboards can shine a light on poor performing projects in a way that may not have been available before.
  • Project prioritisation and selection - strategic alignment has been an emerging hot topic in the Project Management arena in recent times, Project Online has the facility to accommodate strategic alignment and selection allowing you to select portfolios of projects that deliver optimum benefit.
  • If required and appropriate “Demand Management” can be employed that introduces a more disciplined and structured approach to the project lifecycle from initiation to closure. This can ensure that not only are the right projects done but that they are compliant with any in-house standards you may employ or wish to apply.
  • Resource Management, always a concern for Project Oriented organisations, is elegantly supported by Project Online giving you insights into the deployment of valuable resource, understanding where there may be overloads and being able to pro-actively manage such situations as well as ensuring effective utilisation of resources.
  • Reporting is perhaps the stand out feature of the Project Online offering as it has been significantly enhanced with this latest offering. Not only does it come with a suite of pre-configured reports that provide powerful insights but it also offers phenomenal potential for reporting through O-Data and Power BI Microsoft’s Business Intelligence solution that is evolving and improving all the time.
  • Collaboration on Risks, Issues, Documents and more besides can all be achieved through the facility of Project Sites, SharePoint sites associated with Projects managed in Project Online.

There are plenty more benefits that can be realised from the Project Online offering but to my mind those described above are the stand out features and the majority of them are easily achieved and attainable for organisations that are keen to improve on their Project Management capabilities.

If you are considering adopting Project Online, I would recommend trialling the product and gradually exploiting the features available building on your own competencies whilst at the same time slowly but surely raising the bar in terms of your organisations Project Management performance and compliance.

If you are going to conduct a trial you would also benefit from the assistance of someone with prior experience in order to get maximum value from your trial - after all having a free trial but not knowing what to do with what you have got will likely mean that key features are not understood and as a result the true benefit and potential is not realised.

Thank you for reading my post. I regularly write about topics related to Project Management and the use of the Microsoft Project ecosystem. If you would like to read my future posts then simply click 'Follow'. Also feel free to connect with me on Twitter or here on LinkedIn.

#projectonline #microsoftproject #projectmanagement #powerbi #collaboration

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