| Project management software exists in many | | | | change accordingly. At this level project |
| different levels of sofistication and variety | | | | management software must be able to work not |
| of prices. This article aims to help project | | | | only with the static representation of start |
| managers realize what kind of project | | | | and finish dates for each project |
| management software tools they need and find | | | | subroutines, but it needs to be powerful |
| out how computers can help them in everyday | | | | enough to simulate the project and reschedule |
| routine. | | | | it every time something changes in project |
| | | | flow. |
| Before choosing some particular tool you | | | | |
| should have a look at the different kinds of | | | | Project management software for huge |
| projects to manage and corresponding PM | | | | multi-project environment |
| skills. It is very important to pick a | | | | |
| project management software tool appropriate | | | | At this high-end level we need project |
| for you and your organization. The following | | | | management software that meets a lot of |
| types of projects and project management | | | | additional requirements. Now we need to |
| software should cover the field broadly, | | | | roll-up multiple projects and require |
| though any categorization is very relative. | | | | consistent information for decision-makers. |
| | | | Among the features they need are: |
| Project management software for small | | | | |
| projects, usually in single functional area | | | | * material resources allocating (including |
| | | | finances) |
| At this level project managers usually plan | | | | |
| and schedule only durations of project | | | | * scheduling and tracking a pool of human |
| subtasks rather than resource capacity or | | | | resources |
| work estimates. They do not need to track a | | | | |
| project budget and their project status | | | | * sharing resources between multiple projects |
| reports contain only completion date | | | | |
| tracking. | | | | * sophisticated risk assessment tools |
| | | | |
| Project management software in this situation | | | | * detailed project performance tracking |
| helps project managers to automate such basic | | | | |
| routines like | | | | * creating a detailed project budget. This |
| | | | brings project management software closer to |
| * planning project flow | | | | the company's accounting system |
| | | | |
| * occasional status reports preparing | | | | If you need a lot, you have to spend a lot. |
| | | | Project management software for this purpose |
| * producing Gantt charts | | | | costs from $400 up to $3000 and even more. |
| | | | Such packages usually have network versions |
| If your project management tasks are not | | | | and team communication capabilities. |
| intended to grow and such functionality is | | | | |
| enough, you should not spend a lot of money | | | | Categorization above was rather comprehensive |
| nor waste your time on long learning curve | | | | over the last years. But modern project |
| about features you'll never use. | | | | management reality changes constantly, |
| | | | therefore we can talk about one more project |
| Project management software for managing | | | | management software category. |
| larger projects | | | | |
| | | | Project management software for managing |
| Project budget is very important now, | | | | multiple projects in small and mid-size |
| therefore we need a project management tool | | | | businesses |
| to give us the capability to estimate | | | | |
| resources and money at every stage of the | | | | It often happens that project managers face |
| project. As more people are getting involved | | | | the need to manage multiple projects |
| in the project, software should provide the | | | | simultaneously, using resources that can be |
| ability to create numerous status reports | | | | shared between them. But they do not need a |
| – from simple total project cost to | | | | huge and extremely expensive project |
| more sophisticated ones. | | | | management software tool with thousands of |
| | | | not really needed features. What should they |
| As the size of the project grows, the number | | | | choose? ConceptDraw Project can be the |
| of project management techniques increases. | | | | answer. |
| Requirements for project management software | | | | |