A crash course in

Project Online
Critical paths for project management
As a project manager, you know a solid plan is key to
staying on track.
But the best-laid plan is only a starting point. A good project management solution helps you pass the finish line. It enables you to
deliver on time and within budget, identify risks, set milestones and assess the value of progress for your organisation.

For many organisations, there are obstacles to accomplishing this successfully. Only 21% of projects are consistently delivering on
their promised benefits. Meanwhile, only 31% deliver projects on time and only 29% are on budget.¹ On top of that, strategies change,
budgets are tight and personnel present their own set of challenges.

What’s the best way to stay on track and get ahead? For starters, choosing the right project management solution. And to make that
choice, you need to think about your critical path. Maybe you need the essentials – the tools that will allow your team to work flexibly,
collaborate easily and always be aware of current tasks. Or perhaps you require more advanced functionality for managing resources
and portfolios, especially as your organisation continues to grow.

No matter which critical path you’re on, Project Online has the capabilities to help you ensure your projects are successful.

¹ KPMG. Driving business performance: Project Management Survey 2017. https://home.kpmg.com/nz/en/home/insights/2017/04/project-management-survey-2017.html

Project management

Get started quickly

Project Online helps make project

management easier. You can dive right
in with built-in, customisable templates
for functions such as manufacturing,
healthcare, professional services and IT.
Once you kick off a project plan, you have
recognisable tools on hand like Gantt
charts and calendar views – plus, the
familiar Office interface. So, getting up to
speed isn’t an issue.
 Use familiar tools like Gantt charts

Project Online also provides out-of-the-

box reports, which are useful in keeping
everyone in your organisation informed.
Your team can view project tasks and
milestones for multiple projects at a time.
Team members can update these tasks
from the web, the desktop app or their
favourite Windows, iOS and Android
devices.

Project Online provides other advantages,

too. It lets you:

Choose your own work style

Project Online gives you the flexibility to choose the project management style that
matches your critical path. With new templates, reports and metadata, you can manage
projects using Agile methodologies like Scrum and Kanban. Alternatively, you can use a
traditional Waterfall approach or employ a hybrid approach.

Collaborate with your team

Project Online streamlines team collaboration. It allows you to create a dedicated
project site, so you can share documents, schedules and project status with other group
members. Along with the familiar Office interface, you’re able to easily copy and paste
content into other Office applications, saving you a step. If you don’t need a full project
site, you can still share those documents through OneDrive for Business. Project Online
also integrates with Skype for Business,² so your team can chat or have a voice/video call
from within Project Online. Plus, your team members can use their favourite devices to
access project, portfolio and everyday work from virtually anywhere, anytime.

² Available with separate purchase.

Start reporting immediately

 Make smart decisions
With built-in reports and analysis tools, Project Online enables you
to provide actions and insights for everyone on your team. From
Upcoming tasks to Cost overruns, Project Online has the reports
that let you and your team members make great decisions about
their projects.

Use your favourite device

Resource management

Request and lock in resource

Effective and efficient management of

resources – the money, people, equipment
and other assets needed to complete your
project – is one of the most important
tasks you perform as a project manager.
It’s also one of the most difficult. Anyone
can successfully deliver a project when the
resources are unlimited, but that’s rarely
available. You often need to be able to
optimise the resources you already have.

Fortunately, Project Online offers powerful

tools for managing project resources,
helping to get the most out of your team.
 Optimise resources
With Project Online, you can make sure you have the proper
staffing by using resource engagements. This enables you to
request and lock in the resources you need. Project Online also
allows line managers to view utilisation of their team, without
needing the full Project client.

You can also gain central control of resources across your

organisation using resource pools. You can manage availability,
roles and utilisation targets. And reports such as capacity heat
maps help you make sure you’re fully utilising your resources,
Monitor current and projected usage without overworking them.

Portfolio management
Optimise your portfolio

As your organisation grows, two of the

greatest challenges it will face is choosing
between potential projects and managing
its portfolio of projects. Project Online
gives you tools to model different project
and portfolio scenarios. Through these
tools, you’re able to determine which
projects meet the strategic goals of your
organisation. You can also gather project
proposals from across your organisation
and evaluate them using a standardised
process.

Project Online also offers tools that can

help you use time-phased cost data
to manage project and portfolio costs,
benefits and forecasts.
Align execution and
strategy
Project Online has built-in reports for virtually everything from
product backlogs to project financials. These reports can help
you compare projects. And you can share them with everyone in
your organisation through virtually any device.

Project Online also integrates with Power BI Pro and Excel to

provide even more in-depth business intelligence to help you
manage your projects and decide which projects to prioritise.

Integrate with Power BI Pro and Excel

Conclusion
As a project manager, you face a lot of challenges like balancing
schedules, budgets and project scope. Project Online helps you
not only meet these challenges head on, but get ahead of them.

Whatever your critical path, Project Online helps enable you to

put your projects – and your organisation – in a prime position to
succeed.

Learn more about using Project Online.

Buy Project Online today!

BUY NOW >

 CLOUD-BASED SOLUTIONS CLOUD-BASED SOLUTIONS

Project Online Project Online

Professional Premium
Project management in the cloud through Complete cloud-based project and
desktop client and web browser. portfolio management solution.

▪▪ Fully installed, up-to-date Project desktop application
▪▪ One licence covers up to 5 PCs per user
▪▪ Team members can update tasks from any device
▪▪ Submit timesheets to capture project and non-project
time spent for payroll, invoicing and other business
purposes
▪▪ Team members can share documents and
communicate on projects
▪▪ Plan projects with familiar scheduling tools like Gantt
charts and built-in customisable templates to get you
started
▪▪ Track and monitor project health including everything
from burndown charts to financials
▪▪ Save your projects to the cloud for ease of access
across devices and seamless collaboration with your
team
▪▪ Assign resources to project tasks and request and lock
in resources
▪▪ Fully installed, up-to-date Project desktop application
▪▪ One licence covers up to 5 PCs per user
▪▪ Team members can update tasks from any device
▪▪ Submit timesheets to capture project and non-project
time spent for payroll, invoicing and other business
purposes
▪▪ Team members can share documents and
communicate on projects
▪▪ Plan projects with familiar scheduling tools like Gantt
charts and built-in customisable templates to get you
started
▪▪ Track and monitor project health including everything
from burndown charts to financials
▪▪ Save your projects to the cloud for ease of access
across devices and seamless collaboration with your
team
▪▪ Assign resources to project tasks and request and lock
in resources
▪▪ Manage demand by capturing and evaluating project
ideas from anywhere in the organisation through a
standardised process
▪▪ Use advanced analytics to choose project proposals
that best align with strategic goals and honour
constraints
▪▪ Ensure optimal allocation of resources across projects
Use out-of-the-box portfolio reports to gain portfolio
performance insights

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informational purposes only and represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation as of the date of this
document. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to
be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information
provided after the date of this document.