What is Microsoft Project and what is it used for?

What can it really do and how good is it? The product has evolved since its launch and today we tell you all about it.

This programme has long been a standard. But like a dark secret, Microsoft Project is both fascinating and opaque. Let's spend some time exploring it, and on this journey we will determine if it is the right project management software for you and your business.

What is MSP?

Microsoft Project (MSP) is project management software designed for project managers to control their projects.... yes, you guessed it! Your projects. Depending on your plan, Microsoft Project allows you to plan and assign tasks, manage resources, create reports and much more. It offers a comprehensive range of features and quickly dominated the project management software space when it was first introduced.

Microsoft Project is part of the broader Microsoft Office suite, but is not bundled with other Office programmes such as Word, Excel and Outlook. Two editions are available, the Standard Edition and the widely used Professional Edition. Both have a common file format, the MPP. They also have different years: 2016, 2019 and 2021.

It was first launched in 1984, but the first Windows version was released in 1990. The following year, Microsoft developed a version of Project for Mac, but it was quickly discontinued and was no longer sold after 1994. Microsoft Project is not currently compatible with Mac computers, but there is a workaround if you need to run MS

Microsoft Project functions

Project managers and their teams need many features to better manage their work, and Microsoft Project offers several of them. However, to get a complete overview, here is a list of all available features:

1. Grid view: A project view used to plan and manage projects with a list of tasks.
2. Dashboard view: A "Visual Kanban" dashboard view that helps manage workflow and status.
3. Timeline view: The traditional "Gantt chart" used to plan tasks along a project timeline.
4. Communication and collaboration: Different teams can work together on projects.
5. Co-authoring: Stakeholders and team members work together to edit and update task lists and calendars.
6. Reports: Pre-built reports to track progress, resources, programmes and portfolios.
7. Schedule: Monitoring of programmes and project portfolios.
8. Timesheet: Record project and non-project time for payroll and invoicing.
9. Resource management: Managing resources by requesting and assigning tasks.

Advantages and disadvantages of Microsoft Project

Nothing is perfect. Even Microsoft Project has its pitfalls. If you want to try it out, take a moment to look at the pros and cons:

Advantages:

• One of the biggest advantages is that it is a Microsoft product that can be integrated with the company's other products, especially Office 365, but also Skype and Sharepoint.
• It has a similar interface to other MS products.
• It has been on the market for a long time and its functions have evolved over time.
• It is part of Microsoft and has the reliability and support of such an established company.
• There are financial management tools that help project managers estimate budgets.
• A desktop application, like the one we offer, can be licensed. Some companies will choose this solution rather than a cloud solution.
• It has templates to help users get started, saving time.

Disadvantages:

• Although Microsoft Project is a cloud-based solution, it has some disadvantages. Even with Sharepoint, which is designed to be used in the cloud, Project in the Cloud encounters significant limitations.
• It is difficult to learn and use. A lot of time and effort, sometimes even intensive training, has to be invested before the project managers and their teams feel comfortable with the software. This stretches out the project in the implementation phase.
• Documents cannot be shared. As already mentioned, the files are saved in MPP format, a proprietary format. So if you do not work with Microsoft Project, you cannot read these files. This creates many unnecessary hurdles when sharing project files.

Conclusion

Microsoft Project is a tool that will help you improve productivity in your company's work teams by reducing the time normally spent on planning and organising tasks.

You can also combine it with Microsoft Teams to improve communication between team members. There is no excuse anymore if you don't finish your projects on time .

Get the latest version of Microsoft Project (2021) at Licendi, at the best price on the market.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.