A recent article on Projects@Work describes the new features of Microsoft Project 2007.
What’s New in Project 2007? by John Carroll http://www.projectsatwork.com/content/articles/234377.cfm
(Requires registration, but it’s easy and free.)
Microsoft Project is a great tool for scheduling and managing projects; but for users of Project Server 2003 who plan to standardize on the Microsoft solution platform, the new version does not offer a compelling reason to upgrade. Overall, Microsoft Project is one component of a great solution platform for Microsoft’s partners to build on:
- Microsoft Project for project planning and management
- Microsoft CRM for customer management
- GreatPlains and AXAPTA for accounting and financial management
- SharePoint for dashboarding, portals, and document management
- Visio for designing processes (but not controls)
- BizTalk Server for enterprise application integration
- Reporting Services for reporting and analysis
The challenge is to integrate all of these applications with each other, and with the company’s workforce management and financial systems. Companies have the choice of either buying all these products and hiring consultants to put it all together, or working with an independent software vendor who offers a prepackaged application that leverages these platforms to provide a turnkey solution.
