Microsoft Project

The client desktop application - Microsoft Project - is the tool traditionally used to build and maintain project work breakdown structures and schedules.  Microsoft Project enables project managers to develop plans, assign resources, track project progress, manage budgets and analysis resource workloads.  It is available in two versions: Standard and Professional.  To use the enterprise features offered by the EPM solution, Project Professional edition is required.

Project Server 2010 includes the ability to create and edit schedules through the Project Web Access  browser interface. Online scheduling provides access to many of the frequently used scheduling options resulting in a potentially smaller number of users needing to use MS Project.

MS Project 2010 introduces some exciting new features to those users who do use the desktop client including:

• User-controlled scheduling (supports top-down estimation and manually-scheduled tasks)
• Timeline view (a great alternative to the Gantt chart to communicate project information)
• Team Planner (a new way to manage the allocation of resources to tasks without causing over-allocation)
• Fluent User Interface (frequently-used options are just a click away)
• Enhanced Collaboration (SharePoint Integration)