Primavera P6 Enterprise Project Portfolio Management

I have used MS Project in my College days and we use to work on extracts of the Big Commercial and Private Project and it explained us the little and major differences between the MS Project and Primavera. Primavera is overall the best detailed software for Project Management Professionals out there.

Puntos a favor

The main thing WBS is seperated from the activties. You can add sub-activities and even the minor expenses like travelling and training costs. You can put in the percentage of completion in the sub-activities. Since it is EPPM software you can work on multiple projects. It's user defined controls and access makes it more easier to set roles and responsibilities to each and every OBS and activities and only allows multiple users to work at the set EPS & WBS level as per pemissions allowed.

I was once working on a Villa project and we had the option to set more than one relationship between two activities. You can also create resources as per composition based on the Schedule of Rates(SOR) from whichever region you are working from. It makes it more easier to assign for a particular project.

One another big benefit is that you can create 'n' number of Baselines as compared to other project management softwares. You can add risk and issues as well. Overall I feel Primavera P6 EPPM is a detailed project management software and you can work it at any verticals and horizontals.

Puntos en contra

What i don't like about this software is that it doesnt allow multiple entries on it's own based on the formulae set. Again you need to check out your project and schedule with correct date and time, well that is plus point definitely but in case you missed the proper date and time as per your working calender then it will affect the project at a minor level initially and major differences will be made if that remains ignored. Another drawback for it is that if you are working on a single project then it will require lot of detailing for WBS, OBS, EPS, Roles and responsibilities which can be unnecessary in some cases. You have to remember each and every detail wherever you are putting it.

Puntos a favor

Oracle Primavera provides the flexibility to integrate different schedules while maintaining each on as a stand-alone schedule when needed. The ability to create different layouts, filters and baselines is a great feature to satisfy different requirements from our stakeholders. We use Springboard platform to access the software through a web connection adding additional flexibility and real time access. We had use the software with a peak of seven planners including two CM companies in a Green Field project with great success.
In addition, we are currently planning a shutdown and the ability to schedule using different calendars and resources has been very useful in identifying gaps and peaks in our plan.
The option to have multiple baselines is also useful to compare current schedule through different phases of the project.

Puntos en contra

Resources/progress graph and histograms are not as good as I am used to get from other application like Excel. Data export is not always as expected and some data manipulation is required in the other application (like Excel) to get the appropriate formats.