New Microsoft Project: a race to the top

Is a more simplified product, geared towards less sophisticated (some say ‘citizen’) project managers, a race to the bottom?  On the surface, one might think so.  Some will say the new, easier to use, Project doesn’t cater to the enterprise customers who will always require robust PPM solutions.  They are wrong.  The key to understanding the vision for the new Microsoft Project is in the subtle, but critical distinction Microsoft makes that Project isn’t a PPM platform, it’s a platform for PPM.   

The incredible potential of “The world’s computer”

Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella, has stated that we can consider the entire world as one big computer.  The crux of this statement is that digital technology is pervasive everywhere and that cloud computing and AI have become the norm. Project for the web is built on the Power Platform, the same platform as Flow, PowerApps and PowerBI for the best integration yet! For IT and security professionals, the new Project offers an opportunity to provide users with a more lightweight project management tool in Office365, which is safe, private and compliant.

All-up work management Nirvana visualized

Microsoft has made the distinction that Project isn’t a PPM platform – it’s a platform for PPM. Project for the web offers powerful scheduling, task, resource and dependency management to everyone, including team members who are not formal project managers but who need robust project management capability. But Microsoft’s aim is to expand to improve not just project management, but work management. Project for the web isn’t a PPM platform – it’s a platform for PPM for overall better work management for your entire team and organization.

While the new Project makes it much easier for all team members to collaborate and manage their work, thus ensuring that project and portfolio data is more complete and actionable for the organization as a whole, the new Project is more robust than ever and continues to enable all-up project and portfolio management for mature PMOs staffed with experienced project managers. The reimagined Project enables all teams within an organization to work together effectively to provide Project and Portfolio Managers and their executives visibility, agility and control, which supports the achieving the organization’s objectives and missions.

Innovative-e has been a key player in early adoption of the new Project, including providing direct feedback to the Microsoft product team.  We’re invested in making sure that you are both prepared and informed about the new Project service.  See what Mike Taylor, CEO and President of Innovative-e, thinks of Project for the web.

 

Innovative-e wants to help you leverage the new Project platform to rapidly innovate and be able to solve collaboration, work and project management problems in ways that allow people to work the way they want it give organizations the results they need.

We’d love to show you around Project for the web so you can see what’s new and what’s better than ever before! Send us an email at info@innovative-e.com and we’ll schedule a one-on-one demo for you to see what it’s all about.