Question

Compare and contrast MS Project to any online project management program

Answer 1

Answer:-

A Comparison of Project Management Software Tools (PMST):

Using automated software tools is essential for successful planning and managing of projects. Many automated software tools have been developed in the industry. The literature on how to select the appropiate project management software tools is quite limited. This paper provides a comparison of a set of project management software tools (PMST). In this study, first, we developed criteria to determine which PMSTs would be subject to our analysis. Then, we developed criteria to compare and evaluate these PMSTs. Finally, we present our findings in a tabular format. Our findings will help project managers to assess the strengths and weaknesses of these tools.

The number of automated project management tools available in the market is increasing rapidly. With significant evolution of these tools, many project managers have started using various software project management tools to manage and support their project activities. These tools are mainly used in planning, monitoring and controlling projects. The features provided with these tools vary. The project managers must choose an appropiate set of tools with necessary features among many tools found in the market. According to Capers Jones [18], in complex software projects, successful project planning highly utilizes automated project planning tools. Hence, it becomes important for project owners or managers to choose the most appropriate tool or set of tools for their project management needs. In this study, we analyzed a set of project management software tools (PMST). Then, we compared these tools using a set of criteria. In addition to the criteria we developed, we used the criteria listed in [12]. At the end, we present our findings in a tabular form. Our goal in this study is to help project managers in choosing project management software tools.

To evaluate these tools, we define basic functions and core features that provide the basis for the evaluation process. In [12], twelve criteria (1-12) were selected and defined to compare and evaluate software project management tools. We added five more criteria. The final list includes 17 criteria. 1. Task Scheduling 2. Resource Management 3. Collaboration 4. Time Tracking 5. Estimation 6. Risk Assessment 7. Change Management 8. Project Analysis/Reporting 9. Document Management 10. Communication Tools 11. Process Development Method 12. Portfolio Management 13. Access Control 14. Quality Management 15. Web Based 16. License 17. Issue Tracking Task Scheduling: Task scheduling is the activity of defining the start and end times for each activity. The result of task scheduling is a feasible project schedule. Most project management tools have features to support task scheduling. The project schedule helps project managers to monitor project milestones, and activities. Furthermore, project schedule often changes in projects. Therefore, it is helpful when PMSTs provide ease of modifications in the project schedule. Resource Management: With this feature, project managers allocate proper resources to activities and tasks to meet project requirements. Such resources may include financial resources, inventory, human skills, production resources, etc. Collaboration: Collaboration awareness is important for managing inter-team development activities. These activities often lead to shared artifacts that requires careful handling. Successful collaboration provides the opportunity to detect potential integration problems in time. Furthermore, it helps to take proactive steps to avoid conflicts [15] and enables sharing of knowledge and best practices. Collaboration can be implemented by integrated e-mail, web pages or wiki pages. Time Tracking: Time tracking enables recording, analyzing, estimating, and reporting the time spent on project activities. With the help of time tracking employers' timesheets and expenses is managed. A significant cost item, personnel salaries, are calculated. In addition, time tracking leads to a detailed breakdown of project tasks. Estimation: It is the activity leading to estimates on project effort, cost and schedule. Project managers can generate, manage and validate estimates of effort on projects. Risk Assessment: A successful risk analysis reduces longterm expenses and prevents project failures [17]. Risk assessment enables the project manager to recognize and schedule risk countermeasures during project execution. Change Management: It is the controlling of project plans, resources, products and cost of project development process. By change management, the effects of changes on requirements and above issues can be easily observed and managed. Project Analysis/Reporting: It is an analysis of product, process, person or organization related project development effectiveness by Gantt, PERT, CERT or other custom formats. Document Management: It enables managers or necessary project members to customize, share, distribute, recover,

Communication Tools: They are used for informing stakeholders and project members about the status of the project and published documents. Communication tools may use e-mail notifications and other means. These tools constitute the foundation for collaborative activities [16]. Process Development Method: With this feature standardized scheduling of tasks can be implemented. Project manager can manage various tasks or activities during product development process using these methods. Portfolio Management: Project portfolio management (PPM) methods are used for choosing the right projects for producing the deliverables beneficial to the organization [21]. It enables managing multiple related projects and hence resource allocation among them. Access Control: It is controlling access to the resources of the software tool to authorized users and restricting access to unathorized users. Quality Management: Managing all activities, tasks, documents etc. related to ensuring a certain level of quality such as quality policy description, quality planning, quality assurance, quality control, and quality improvement. Web Based: Some tools are accessable via a network such as the Internet or a LAN.

Issue Tracking: Creating, maintaining and managing lists of issues related to the project.

conclusion:-While the number of Project Management Software Tools (PMSTs) is increasing, managers must choose a suitable tool for their projects. In this study, we chose a set of PMSTs and investigated them. We further identified criteria that can be used to compare these and other tools in the market. Finally, This study enables project managers and team members to get a quick understanding of the tools subject to our study and to assess the strengths and weaknesses of them. Furthermore, we aim to help project managers in choosing appropriate PMSTs by providing a set of criteria.