Project Planning Software

Project planning requirements vary widely and are dependent on the types of projects being planned and their complexity. Very different project planning tools are required for major projects, such as London’s Olympic Games, compared with a typical services department handling a large number of relatively simple projects.

For service departments, the complexity is not in the planning of individual projects, but with the unexpected introduction of new ones, delays to existing projects and changes in scope and priority.

Microsoft Project is more than a match for the most complex projects that arise and the problem is managing the overall workload within fixed resource and budget constraints, whilst ensuring that individual client commitments remain visible.

Project Planning - Innate Spreadsheet or Microsoft Project?

Within Innate, project planning can use the most appropriate tools.

• The Innate browser based spreadsheets handle simple, operational type tasks such as support, maintenance work etc, without the need for Microsoft Project. Work breakdown structures of project, phase & task can readily be accommodated, but task logic constraints are not provided
• Plans requiring more complex task structures or logical dependencies can be scheduled in Microsoft Project and kept fully synchronized with the Innate database
• High level estimates of major projects, where they need to be scheduled around the existing commitments, can be entered and positioned initially within Innate.  Subsequently, they can be copied into Microsoft Project for more detailed planning
  
  Views, such as the one shown below, then help the project manager to keep the detailed planning within the agreed date and budget parameters.The Design task from Innate is being broken down into greater detail within Microsoft Project and time and budget overruns are clearly identified

• Once resources have been assigned to tasks within Innate, the names are synchronized back to the Microsoft Project plan, and the tasks automatically appear on that resource’s timesheet.

For services departments, simple project planning tools are required, with Microsoft Project able to handle the most complex of projects. Innate provides the appropriate project planning options.