2 Key Features of Enterprise Project Management Software

Project management built for an enterprise is generally more robust than mass market project management software.  Almost by definition, enterprise project management software includes two aspects that separate it from general project management software.

• The first is the robustness of feature set.
• The second is the number of users that touch the system.

Features that you’ll generally find in enterprise project management software include resource allocation, project portfolio view, cross project gantt charts, budgeting and potentially a host of advance project management performance metrics.

In terms of users, this type of project management software is touched by a large number of users who’s data differ and who’s background in using project management software is varied. This can range from the project managers who use the enterprise tool every day to executives or upper management who touch the software only occasionally to get updates on particular projects or specific project porfolios.

Historically, most enterprise solutions have had a hard time reconcilling robust functionality and the needs of a varied user group.  Applications like Primavera, Artemis, Planview and MS Project Enterprise Server have long been the domain of specialists.  Companies that tried integrating this kind of software throughout the organization have encounterd  long and costly training sessions with signficant interuption in people’s workflow. More often than not, the software ends up only being used by a small group of project management specialists and a burden on everyone else.

The next generation of web-based, enterprise project management software avoids this problem and increase the use of effective project management in an organization. If you want to see the differences in approaches to solving this problem compare Vertabase Pro and eProject.

Two avenues Vertabase Pro has used for solving this problem have been:

• Making the robust features easier to use and
• Not forcing people to learn the whole software -if someone doesn’t need to use a specific feature, they don’t even see it.

Overall, this has made software which is far less intimidating to implement and more likely to make a positive impact on a company’s workflow. 

          

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 9th, 2007 at 11:16 am and is filed under Project Management Software, Software and Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.