Topical Info Center for Microsoft Project for Construction Management and Scheduling
Helpful Guides and Articles
User Reviews
The decision about which construction scheduling or project management software program to use often comes down to the client's preference.
That was the case for Jim Berg of CH2MHILL, a $5 billion construction management and design firm, which was asked to use Microsoft Project to manage a power plant project currently underway. Personally, Berg prefers Primavera's suite of competing products, but he found it easy to get up to speed on Microsoft Project and familiarize himself with the feature set.
"It identifies tasks, the relationship between tasks and helps identify the plan. It also lets you assign resources, identifies man hours and overload situations, critical path activities and earned value," Berg said. "This software is not as intuitive as others on the market, and the schedule calculations and results are not typical of other software, but the basics are the same."
Berg gave Microsoft Project a 6.5 out of 10 rating. "While Microsoft Project didn't give me many benefits, it could be a good product for people who are used to Microsoft products but new to construction project management," he said.
Simpler can be better, especially for organizations with routine projects that do not require the sophistication of expensive construction project management software. That was the case for the Public Service Co. of New Mexico, which uses Microsoft Project management software to monitor its electric and gas transmission and distribution projects.
"We did look at utilizing Primavera products, but, for electric and gas transmission and distribution (T&D) projects, we could not justify the cost of going with its software when considering the low complexity of our T&D projects," said Armando Cordova, manager of construction project management at the utility company. "However, the generation side of our business does use Primavera for outage scheduling."
"Our projects are typically not that complex. Therefore we needed a simple [construction] scheduling tool vs. a high-powered one," Cordova said, adding that even people new to the world of scheduling can learn Microsoft Project management software in two days of training. Meanwhile, those who are proficient in this technique can generally pick up on the software through usage and trial and error.
In addition, Cordova said, Project's integration with other Microsoft solutions makes it both user friendly and efficient.
Cordova gave Microsoft Project management software a rating of 8 out of 10.
When it comes to creating presentations of its complex scheduling information, Suncor Energy often turns to Microsoft Project, an easy-to-use application that enables quick and simple changes without the loss of formatting.
Suncor, a multi-billion dollar oil and gas energy corporation, has invested in many programs to support its initiatives. Since Microsoft's products are mainstays in most organizations, Microsoft Project management software easily integrated with Suncor’s menu of applications, said Salvador Carlos Hernandez Ramirez, who has worked at Suncor for two years and used Project for about three years. "We picked it for the simplicity it offered to create and change baselines in projects, as well as its seamless integration with other Microsoft products such as PowerPoint and Excel," he said.
Due to Project's user-friendliness, Hernandez Ramirez has never needed to call Microsoft's support lines or open the documentation or online help, he said. Likewise, users require little, if any, formal training to use the software, Hernandez Ramirez noted.
While Suncor uses Primavera Project Planner to create most construction schedules, Microsoft Project is a good solution for simpler or smaller projects, he said. The software reduced the time Suncor spends creating presentations for clients and partners, Hernandez Ramirez said.
"On a monthly basis, for reporting requirements only, we used this tool on a company that was running 116 projects at one point," he said. "In these environments, reporting tasks at the end of the month had become very time consuming. Microsoft Project gave us the flexibility to do changes back-and-forth, without losing any formatting."
Hernandez Ramirez rated Microsoft Project management software an 8 out of 10.
It may not have the horsepower of Primavera, but Microsoft project management software gets the job done for small and midsize project-management applications. Its performance however, is not due to the program's complexity. Its ease of use and familiar interface make learning the solution simple for most basic computer users.
That, at least, is the experience of Darren Cyr, who is involved in process-related projects at Suncor Energy, a Calgary, Alberta-based oil and gas company. "It is a user-friendly, popular scheduling tool that is very useful on small to midsize projects that have less sophisticated requirements than larger projects," he said. "Primavera is usually selected instead of Microsoft Project on major projects that I have worked on, but Microsoft Project is easier for more novice users and for simpler project scheduling."
Cyr further explained that Microsoft Project's seamless integration with other Microsoft applications, such as Word and Excel, facilitates the software training and the vendor's product documentation is helpful for even the most novice computer user.
Cyr gave Microsoft Project management software a 7 out of 10 rating.
When it comes to scheduling construction projects, Faithful+Gould opted to go with the flow and use Microsoft project management software, which so many of its clients and subcontractors have already implemented.
"The primary reason we selected Project was because most of our clients are using the Microsoft product, so it made it easier to communicate and schedule customers' projects if we all used the same scheduling software," said Paul Lakin, director of operations at the Minneapolis office.
Another reason why the firm was attracted to MS Project was due to its intuitiveness. Since it was developed as part of Microsoft's suite of office products, Project is easy to learn and use. In fact, anyone with an average amount of computer experience can quickly get up-to-speed on the program, Lakin said.
Lakin gave Microsoft Project a 9 out of 10 rating.
Blog Entries
Book Excerpts
Find Software Tips
Company Overview
BuildIT Systems was founded in 2000 by "stressed-out contractors" who sought a better way to organize and share key construction scheduling information. The company's Web-based system, called BuildIT, is now used by contractors throughout North America, as well as their subcontractors, suppliers and clients.
Toll Free: 866-585-5050
Web: builditsystems.com
Knowledge Base for BuildIT Systems
There are no Knowledge Base items in this area.