Negativity Towards MS Project
- Created
- 54
- 11
I read many blog entries that are very derogatory about MS Project, but struggle to understand why there seems to be such negativity about this product. It may not be as feature dense as products such Primavera P6 but it is a powerful, effective, planning tool that can be used for monitoring and controlling both large and small projects. I regularly come across criticisms such as:
- It isn't a CPM tool
- You can't track progress or costs
- You can't calculate and report earned value
- The float calculations are inaccurate
- You can't store multiple baselines
- Its grouping and sorting capabilities are poor
- Progress sometimes ends up in the future (beyond the status date) after updates
- Unstarted work remains in the past (behind the status date) after updates
- You can't use it for large complex projects
All of these criticisms are in fact falsehoods and stem from the fact that the users in question do not understand the capabilities of the software, haven't configured it correctly or haven't entered data into it properly in the first place.
In fact it is perfectly possible to create MS Project schedules that accurately determine the critical path and calculate free and total float. All the normal cost control and earned value features that any project would need are catered for and can be reported; in many cases this requirement is irrelevant as cost and earned value calculations are often calculated outside of the scheduling software using Deltek Cobra or similar. Updating progress against tasks can be accurately and efficiently accomplished providing the appropriate calculation settings are selected and proper care is taken when updating the schedule; The key is understanding how the software works and then using it properly. Up to 10 baselines are available, more than enough for most people's needs in my opinion. Projects can be planned with up to 99,999 tasks per file; I don't believe too many people are managing scopes larger than that and schedules become very unwieldy when the file gets that big. If more than 99,999 tasks are needed then multiple files can be linked together. The grouping and sorting activities are now very flexible; using Outline Codes a myriad of different views and summary reports can be created.
I'd be interested in hearing what others think?
54 replies
Oldest first- 0Rafael Davila ·
Arend,I no longer have any
Arend,
I no longer have any access to P6 or MSP even when around here most Contractors have switched to Microsoft Project.
It would be senseless to have a discussion about P6 if I no longer have access to it and this is why lately I limit mostly to ask about how any software does it for the case I must transfer their files into Spider Project, to understand the differences and figure out how to make the Spider model mimic what the other software does to validate the conversion that once validated I usually modify to include expanded functionality of Spider Project.
Here it is considered of bad taste reviving old topics, perhaps because it is of no interest to those who years ago posted something, perhaps because new software upgrades makes the presentation obsolete, particularly on those software notorious for thousands of bugs.
http://www.planningplanet.com/forums/project-management-issues-discussion/497951/topics-locked
I only disable a thread if it is an old topic that some new member has resurrected or if it is developing into a "me too" feeding frenzy for copies of files.
Quite often it is both.
As you can see at times they are even locked by moderators who do not like this.
I no longer have interest in this topic at this time. The following issues presented long ago by Paul Harris might already been solved, it would be unfair to bring it now, a year latter.
As a matter of fact my perception about MSP has changed a lot, especially after looking at their latest version, I cannot say the same about P6.
Suggest you stop reviving old topics, especially on those I was involved, same as some moderators consider it inappropriate reviving old topics I do.
We do not limit our discussions to a single software, we discuss software and compare functionalities, but avoid personal attacks. Blog entries might be derogatory about MS Project as well as about any other software but there shall be no derogatory comments against any member of this community. I consider your comments offensive and in the future will avoid any conversation with you.
Best regards,
Rafael
- 0Bernard Ertl ·
I realize this thread is just
I realize this thread is just over a year old, but it's the first time I've seen it. If Donald is still around, I suggest reviewing this even older discussion here on the PP:
I found very strange results with critical path calculations from various software packages without even complicating the issue with resource leveling. It's been a few years, so I don't know if the software I tested at the time still calculates the same, but it may give you some ideas about the potential quirks that can be found in CPM scheduling software.
- 0Rafael Davila ·
Bernard,Why not start a new
Bernard,
Why not start a new discussion thread under your terms, starting with the issues of most interest to you. It does not matter if the same issues it will be easier to follow.
As an advance, on the initial issue presented on the old thread I found that using my software I get results as I expected though they might not be the expected by others. I got the following.
Phase 1 is in agreement with what I expect of CPM computations. Note that the aparent time gap between the finish of Task 2 at the end of the day and the continuation on next day in the activity calendar is zero or non existent on Task 2 work hours. Task 2 ended on 07/02/2012 at 4pm which is for purpose of the calendar equal to 8am next day. Because the link is a FF link you get the same start hour by subtracting the eight hours to 4pm on 07/02/2012 or by subtracting the eight hours to 8am next day. 100% of Task 2 minus an infinitesimal of % whose limit is zero can be performed before end of Task 1 and by this time after an infinitesimal of time Task 3 shall be able to start. This is something that can confuse some schedulers. If you need Task 3 to start after Task 1 then an additional link between Task 1 and Task 3 is needed as shown in Phase 3, even though some believe it would be a redundant link.
In this case it is more about understanding the math than an error; think of it as 8:60AM = 9:00AM .Best regards,
Rafael
Log in or join to reply
ProjectControls.com is free to join. Members can post questions, reply, vote and follow discussions.
Existing members: your original username and password still work. Forgot password?