Many organizations are wrestling with which Project Management tool to use to take them to the next level of Project Management maturity. Microsoft’s two most popular enterprise offerings are usually at the top of the list of contenders. Project Online, also known as Project Web App or simply PWA, and the most recent offering of Project Operations, a component of Dynamics 365.

Let’s take a look at these two offerings and examine how they might fit in your organization’s overall strategy.

First, let’s examine Microsoft Project Online

Microsoft Project for Windows was launched commercially in 1990. Which in Computer timelines makes it a dinosaur to some and a rock of stability to others. Over the years Microsoft continued to invest in the tool. As a leader in innovative changes and updates, Project is the “go-to choice” of serious Project and Portfolio managers worldwide; (as of the latest rankings in the Project Management Systems – Popularity Ranking list, Microsoft Project is still the number one ranked Project management system by popularity).

This software engine drives Project Online and works hand in hand with Project Online to give you a fully capable Project and Portfolio management system. However, the major drawback with Project Online is that it is burdened by the legacy system it is built on. The main complaint being that it does not have a modern look and feel. It lacks native interoperability with other business function software.

Overall Project Online is a more powerful and complete Project Management platform, giving you more control over resource scheduling and task management.

Now let us look at MS Dynamics 365 Project Operations

Project operations, widely released in October 2020, is the latest Project Management tool in the Microsoft arsenal and is part of the Microsoft Dynamics 365 toolset. This means that the project data and resource capacity data are natively available to and amongst all modules that comprise the Dynamics 365 product line.

To use the financial data from the Dynamics Finance module within your Projects (to report on the Project Cost Performance, for example), you will not need to double enter the data or write special code to transfer and load the data from your finance system. Instead, you will have access to this data natively.

Project Operations is the future of Project Management tools from Microsoft. It is integrated with the other Dynamics and outlook 365 tools and feature updates. Deeper integrations are released from the Microsoft Development team regularly per their cloud deployment timeline.  The user interface is modern and consistent with the suite of 365 products. Plus it can be used effectively on mobile devices.

Project Operations will help you:

• Win more bids with better contract management and more accurate project quotes, forecasting, estimation, and scope.
• Flexibly manage projects with easy-to-use embedded Microsoft Project capabilities, including Kanban boards and Gantt charts.
• Ensure that you have the right people on the right projects through resourcing insights, scheduling, governance, and skills matching
• Submit, approve, process, and reconcile time and expense entries on the go for faster reimbursement and client billing.
• Manage your project accounting more accurately and recognize revenue compliant with International Financial Reporting Standards
• Rapidly adapt to market demands using actionable insights from a consolidated view of your project sales and financial data.

Project Operations is a powerful tool, and Microsoft continues to develop and upgrade it. However, it may not be the perfect solution for your organization. The drawback with Project Operations is that it is not currently at full functionality of Project Management capabilities that Microsoft Project possesses. Plus, the price you pay in licensing the software can be prohibitive.

If you have projects that involve more than 50 tasks and hundreds of resources, or your projects span multiple months or years, then Project Operations may not be up to the task. Other issues, such as Project Operations having a simplified work breakdown structure and limited project financials and cost management capabilities, could also cause frustrations.

Help me decide

Of course, each case is different. So, it’s comforting to know that you have a team like Advisicon ready to help you compare and ultimately implement and train you on the right PM technology for your organization. But here are some thoughts on the decision process.

Is your organization already in the Microsoft Dynamics Eco-System? Are you using the Enterprise Resource Planning capabilities of Dynamics? Do you already rely on the Microsoft Dynamics Customer Relationship Management modules and the Finance modules of Dynamics? Are your projects short and straightforward in duration? If your answer is yes, then the logical solution for your Project and Portfolio Management would be to use Project Operations.

The addition of Project Operations will tie all your systems together. This allows the data to be easily be tracked and passed from one function to the next. And back again if needed. The synergies gained by having all the major tools of your organization rolled under one roof are incredibly beneficial.

However, if your company is already heavily entrenched in non-Microsoft Dynamics products and the integration to those at the project level is unnecessary or not worth the effort, perhaps Microsoft Project is the perfect path for your organization.

Many factors are at play when looking to transform your organization into a culture of Project Management and resource planning. What does my organization look like now? How fast can we move towards transforming? What organizational tools do we already have in place that are key to our business?

Are you already looking to implement Dynamics 365? Is the organization ready for such a change? How much configuration would need to be done to make the out-of-the-box Dynamics suite fit our needs? Does the benefit of tight integration between sales, CRM, Finance, and Operations outweigh the cost of disruption and change?

Bottom line

Change can be hard on an organization. An organization can find itself over committing to an ambitious change that disrupts its daily operations. And spending money towards a transformational shift that ends up being wasted if the transformation is abandoned.

I see Microsoft Project as a transformational bridge between a non-project methodology disciplined organization and one that is fully project methodology immersed across all functions of the organization.

Overall Project Operations will cost you more. But if you follow a best practice approach and integrate it into the full-service lifecycle, the benefits you get from it could outweigh that cost.

Licensing and pricing

Keep in mind that the licensing and pricing of the Microsoft offerings can be confusing for both tools, with many caveats along the way that affect your pricing. It can take quite a bit of administrative effort to set up the licenses and maintain them along the way. Licensing and pricing is per user. And in some cases per workstation and is usually a minimum of a year commitment.

A great blog post explaining the Licensing of Microsoft Project can be found here.

And to explore the pricing of Project Operations, visit this Microsoft site.

Whatever the answer, Advisicon stands ready to help you compare, implement, and teach you how to leverage the Project Management Technology that will best meet your needs. Fill out this form to let us know you’re ready to get started. We will help you identify exactly what’s right for you.

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