Project 07
So if you have not had a chance to check out some of the newer features of the latest version of Project, I'ld say head to it.
Off the top, I will announce my distain for the fact that Microsoft Partner Program seems to have left off the Project Server 07 from the Microsoft Action Pack Subscription. This is a bit of a disappointment, as we used Project 03 with Project Server 03 and really enjoyed the integration points with SharePoint Portal Server 2003. Apparently Project 2007 is not designed to work at all with Project Server 2003, and so we are out of luck for now. Having gotten that off my chest, I am very excited about Project 2007. It is the same as it was back in the day, but better.
The first thing that is better is the Visual Reports. To find these, from the toolbar (not a Ribbon) simply click on Reports->Visual Reports… This is refreshing as in the past we have spent long hours trying to reproduce this functionality for various projects. Basically it creates a variety of reports for Visio and Excel Pivot Tables/Charts. Additionally it adds the ability to create additional reporting formats and templates. This is very kool!
Another part is the ability to collaborate on projects. The easiest way to do this is by uploading a project file up to a SharePoint Document Library or workspace. After uploading the Project, and re-openning the project from the document workspace, it offers a variety of Collaboration tools in the Document Workspace toolbar…The 'collaboration' menu is still de-activated because the project is not in Project Server 2007. That's ok for us for now though.
Finally another highlight is in the ability to link between projects and import tasks from outlook. This is a big plus, and it really relates to all the interoperability that makes office such a compelling tool for information workers. It really helps to bring them in on projects and project management. So often important knowledge is not captured whether during a project or around a project because the management of that project was difficult to document. This will help bring additional users into the project management fold, and integrate important company or industry knowledge into the planning and execution of projects.
Check out Project 2007 for some of these and more reasons, and if you have any sway with MAPS, find out why there is no Office Project Server 2007 with the Action Pack…
-bill