by admin on September 18, 2012
Many organisations looking at the iPlanWare PPM solution ask us to compare it to Microsoft Project Server. Let’s start with a little background on the products. iPlanWare PPM has been available since 2000, MS Project Server since 2002. iPlanWare was built as a PPM tool from the ground up, MS Project Server is a product that extends the capabilities of MS Project, Microsoft’s desktop scheduling solution.
When comparing solutions, we will consider criteria such as the technology, implementation, support and licensing costs. In addition, we will also look at things like the evaluation process and user adoption. What we are not going to cover here is a detailed feature analysis.
Installation
MS Project Server consists of several Microsoft products which need to be installed on a server and then integrated together. While iPlanWare is also built around Microsoft technologies it is simple to install and keep up-to-date. A typical installation of iPlanWare takes around 30 minutes to perform if you want to install it on your own servers. We also offer a SaaS / cloud version of iPlanWare.
Set up and configuration time
MS Project Server implementation time-scales can often be counted in months. Contrast this with iPlanWare where a typical implementation is counted in days. Why is this? We think the key factor is that with MS Project Server, Microsoft have tried to cover all the bases in terms of features. More features means more complexity, longer learning curves and roll outs. MS Project Server (as you will see in the next point) also has a very strong dependency on MS Project which further compounds this complexity. With iPlanWare we focus on delivering the core PPM features an organisation needs wrapped up in simple to use PPM software.
Dependency on MS Project
With MS Project Server, MS Project (the desktop application) is used to build schedules. This has a couple of major implications. First you have to install and maintain copies of MS Project for each person who wants to build a schedule. Secondly, the cost implication is quite significant as MS Project Professional edition must be used which is the most expensive version.
With iPlanWare you don’t have to use MS Project to build schedules, instead users can use the inbuilt iPlanWare scheduler direct in their browser. We also integrate with MS Project if you want to use that in conjunction with iPlanWare – and we even operate with MS Project Standard edition (the lowest cost version).
Self paced evaluation
iPlanWare and MS Project Server have very different go-to-market approaches. With the growth of web-delivered software and SaaS “sign up and go”, the selection process for software is increasingly driven by individuals in an organisation who have an “itch they need to scratch” and go out and seek a solution to their problem.
With iPlanWare, they can quickly evaluate its capabilities and a bottom up buying process emerges. This means organisations can be confident in the investment they make and they are not going to struggle with user adoption. At iPlanWare we don’t consider we have a sales cycle, rather we have an evaluation cycle. We want our customers to be confident they have selected the right software.
Cloud solution
Are you looking for a cloud solution and the benefits it provides. If so then MS Project Server is not for you – it is not a true cloud solution. You will see “hosted “version of MS Project Server available but in reality these are just per customer installations of MS Project Server in a datacentre. Each needing managing, upgrading and looking after. Which means you miss out on the inherent benefits of a cloud based solution like iPlanWare – scalability, quick deployment and simple management. Note, you can also deploy iPlanWare on-premises.
Support and upgrades
With MS Project Server, support is additionally chargeable and provided by a network of partners, often on a per incident basis. With iPlanWare we like to keep things simple. With our SaaS solution, support and product upgrades are included in our subscription fee. For our on-premises model, we charge an annual fee that provides support and product upgrades. With MS Project Server upgrades are shipped approximately every 2-3 years, with iPlanWare every 3-4 months.
Total cost of ownership
iPlanWare will cost you less than a like for like MS Project Server implementation. Period. Whether you compare iPlanWare SaaS to MS Project Server hosted, iPlanWare on-premises to MS Project Server on-premises the iPlanWare solution will cost less. Go ahead, run the slide rule over the numbers.
by admin on June 18, 2012
iPlanWare now includes an online training and education centre which people can access directly within their browser. This gives organisations a flexible, low cost and easy to manage training solution when implementing iPlanWare. People can learn at their own pace at a time and place that suits them. There are no additional service fees for the training centre.
The training and education centre includes a range of demonstrations, tutorials and how to guides which leads people though the basics of iPlanWare through to more advanced topics such as portfolio management. iPlanWare administrators can target training content to specific groups of users based on training needs.
Access the iPlanWare training
iPlanWare PPM Training Content
Currently available content includes courses covering:
- Fundamentals
- Creating a project
- Project binder overview
- Issue and risk management
- Tracking the project life cycle
- Tracking project milestones
- Creating a status report
- Using the Gantt chart
- Using the Gantt chart – advanced concepts
- Using the Gantt chart – updating progress and % complete
- Tracking project costs
- Tracking project revenue
- Advanced revenue tracking concepts
- Introduction to portfolio management
- Creating a portfolio structure
- Requesting a project
- Portfolio area overview
- Project scorecards and using the investment map
- Approving a project request
- Understanding project types and states
- Understanding scenarios
- Project allocations
- Capacity planning
- Setting resource labour costs
- Setting resource labour rates
- Using the time sheet
by admin on June 10, 2012
The iPlanWare Reporting Universe is an add on product for iPlanWare which lets organisations use the power of 3rd party reporting and business intelligence (BI) products for analysis and reporting over their iPlanWare data.
Like most PPM solutions, iPlanWare includes a range of standard reports and dashboards which meet the majority of reporting needs. But what happens when you need something a little different – your CEO is pushing you for some statistics on current projects and you just can’t find a report that gives you the information you need in the format you need. This is why you need the iPlanWare Reporting Universe.
Ok, tell me more
Using a 3rd party reporting tool gives you the most power, flexibility and ease of use when it comes to creating ad-hoc reports and analysis. However they cannot connect up to SaaS systems due to security controls. So you have to extract and format the data in Excel. Which is maybe ok one time, but a non-starter as a reporting solution.
With the iPlanWare Reporting Universe you can access your iPlanWare data, in a format you will understand and which any reporting tool can connect to. It means you will never be locked out of your data, have complete flexibility over reporting and will be able to create whatever reports and analysis you need.
How does it work
Ok, so first decide which reporting product you want to use. There are hundreds available which range from free to a couple of hundred pounds. Some more sophisticated than others, some easier to use than others. So make a choice based on budget and needs. You can also use tools you may already have available like MS Excel, MS Access, Crystal Reports or Business Objects. Then simply install the iPlanWare Reporting Universe and set it up to start creating your reporting data. You are then done and can start creating your reports.
Reporting Universe On-Premises
Reporting Universe SaaS
by admin on January 16, 2012
Unsure as to what portfolio management is? If so then read on. (If you want to dive into the detail and learn about some of the techniques used in portfolio management take a look here instead).
First off, let’s clarify a quick point. You will often hear people referring to portfolio management, project portfolio management and even PPM. In reality they are all the same discipline. So to keep things simple, we will use the term portfolio management in this post!
When trying to get a handle on portfolio management, it may help by thinking about something you are probably a little more familiar with – project management.
Project management – “doing projects right”
Project management is concerned with “doing projects right”. Project management is all about the tools and techniques to run projects to achieve a desired end result.
Portfolio management – “doing the right projects”
Whereas portfolio management is concerned with ensuring we do the right projects. This implies a couple of things:
- Portfolio management helps us select the right projects to do.
- Portfolio management also helps us decide if we are still running the right projects.
This last point is often overlooked. A portfolio management approach to running projects means you periodically assess the projects you have already approved and check you should still be running them. Furthermore, a portfolio management approach is always trying to balance the projects in the portfolio to maximise return and reduce risk. Which means looking collectively across the projects and not just looking at projects in isolation.
Portfolio management is not merely running multiple projects!
The need for portfolio management
Firstly, many organisations don’t have any process in place for reviewing project proposals or requests. Often the decision for which projects to proceed with is based on “who shouts loudest”. Combined with poor knowledge of what other projects they are already doing, it is then easy for organisations to take on more projects than they can handle. Inevitably scarce resources get diluted and good projects get squeezed out for bad projects.
A portfolio management approach seeks to address these issues by providing a framework within which projects can be requested and fairly evaluated. It seeks to balance the mix of projects across different levels of risk, focus and spend and tie project selection back to the organisation’s fundamental strategy. Finally a portfolio management approach means that projects are constantly re-evaluated to check they are are on track and either close down or help projects that are failing.
What is project portfolio management?
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