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Project Management Software - for the small business/home user ?

-alan-

pfm Member
Not sure if this is the right place but..

I need to get the hold of a Project management package which will let me create a plan comprising approx 100 tasks/subtasks with the usual mix of required start dates / finish dates / dependencies and resource constraints. One other important feature is I need to be able to share it with a chap based overseas - who also needs full edit capability. The ability to produce a Gantt chart view of the data is a prerequisite.

It would also be handy - though not an absolute requirement - if it could import/export data from and to excel/other spreadsheet packages.

Google throws up a proliferation of options - many of them nominally with free 'trial versions'. The free ones invariably have limited functionality, and you have to create an account and start using them before you discover what functionality has been omitted. I've been through three already this morning and life's too short.. :)

Back in the day I used the full featured version of MS Project in the big Corporate environment, and know my way round most of the major functionality. Not sure whether to fork out for the full blown MS Project up front here, or whether there are other alternatives that would suffice to get things up and running, with a view to possibly exporting everything to the MS platform later.

Anybody come across or using something that might be suitable ?

Thanks,
Alan
 
I use Primavera P6 as it allows you to build risk into a project plan (so more like MS Project Workbench) but it is f**king expensive.

Here's a list of free alternatives but can't vouch for any of them. Personally, I would avoid anything that is web-based as I am always nervous about uploading business-related stuff - I like to keep control of it and who accesses it.

https://thedigitalprojectmanager.com/microsoft-project-alternatives/
 
Other than Primavera (which I've only experienced for very large construction and/or engineering projects) MS Projects is still better than anything else I've tried by a considerable margin.
 
Libreproject
MS Project is expensive, but not in the same league as the specialists. I haven't seen MS Project used on a big project since the Eurotunnel, when it crashed all the time
 
I use MS project (costly for a legit license), but also a free cross platform application called Trello - this is a sort of shareable planner/to do board (think a board with a lot of postit notes!) with a load of add ons (power-ups) - you can get three for free, and one is a gant chart app (BigPicture), which is simple but effective and very easy to use.

https://trello.com/en
 
Trello is great for keeping tracking of to-do lists and capturing details on tasks, but I don't remember any way in which it helps to predict a project completion date, or includes dependencies / constraints.
 
Trello is effectively just a KanBan tool but good for small team stuff and agile work. Nowadays JIRA is the goto for big transformation projects and allows users to effectively hide and avoid responsibility on a very agile basis.

I'd just howk out for a cloud version of MS project for as long as you need it. You know the software so less learning curve, it does great GANTT charts :confused: and allows everyone to see the project drag on until hell freezes over.

Other than that, excel can be used for such a small project, plenty of templates out there.
 


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