Chapter 21
Ten Project Management Software Products to Explore
In This Chapter
Looking at add-on software
Discovering software that integrates with Project-generated plans
Reviewing separate software products that help project managers with project-related tasks
If you’ve followed this book to this point, you’ve probably figured out by now that project management software — just like a project manager — wears a lot of hats. Microsoft Office Project does everything from allowing you to create tasks and assign resources to tracking progress, analyzing cost overruns, and analyzing scheduling conflicts. It handles graphics, complex calculations, and interactions with the Web.
Software designers always have to make trade-offs among features, deciding which ones to include and how much functionality to give each feature. Most Project features do everything you need, but others are less complete. Some features may not quite get the job done as well as a more specialized tool that you can use in conjunction with Project. Third-party software partners work with Microsoft to create add-on software to provide Project with greater functionality: for example, generating a greater variety of graphic reports. In other cases, software handles specialized functions that Project doesn’t incorporate, such as managing the hundreds of drawings involved in construction projects.
Consider this the when-two-heads-are-better-than-one chapter. This chapter describes ten interesting software tools that ...
