Project management software

Project management software is a term covering many types of software, including scheduling, resource allocation, collaboration software, communication and documentation systems, which are used to deal with the complexity of large projects.

Tasks of project management software

Scheduling

One of the most common tasks is to schedule a series of events, and the complexity of this task can vary considerably depending on how the tool is used. Some common challenges include:

Events which depend on one another in different ways
Scheduling people to work on, and resources required by, the various tasks
Dealing with uncertainties in the estimates of the duration of each task
Arranging tasks to meet a plethora of deadlines
Juggling multiple projects simultaneously to meet a variety of requirements

Calculating critical path

In many complex schedules, there will be a critical path, or series of events which depend on each other, and whose duration directly affect the length of the whole project. Some software can highlight these tasks, which are often a good candidate for any optimisation effort.

Providing information

Project planning software needs to provide a lot of information to various people, to justify the time spent using it. Typical requirements might include:

Tasks lists for people, and allocation schedules for resources
Overview information on how long tasks will take to complete
Early warning of any risks to the project
Information on workload, for planning holidays
Evidence
Historical information on how projects have progressed, and in particular, how actual and planned performance are related.

Approaches to project management software

Desktop

Web based

Personal

Collaborative

Integrated

Non-specialised tools

While specialised software may be common, and heavily promoted by each vendor, there are a vast range of other software (and non-software) tools used to plan and schedule projects.

Calendaring software can often handle scheduling as easily as dedicated software
Spreadsheets are very versatile, and can be used to calculate things not anticipated by the designers

Implementations

See main article, List of project management software

Directories listing project planning software

Project Management Software Directory	[1]
Infogoal	[2]
DMOZ	[3]
Linux.org	[4]
SourceForge	[5]
Gartner (Link to PDF file)	[6]

Critisisms of project management software

Some software may not be derived from a sound project management method. For example, displaying the Gantt chart view by default encourages users to focus on task scheduling too early, rather than identifying objectives and deliverables.
Some people may achieve better results using simpler technique, (e.g. pen and paper), yet feel pressured into using project management software by company policy discussion
Similarly to PowerPoint, project management software might shield the manager from important interpersonal contact

External links

Project Portfolio Managment increases profitability [7]
Two Models for Project Portfolio Management [8]

Books

Eric Uyttewaal. Dynamic Scheduling With Microsoft(r) Project 2000: The Book By and For Professionals. ISBN 0970827601
George Suhanic. Computer-Aided Project Management. ISBN 0195115910
Richard E. Westney. Computerized Management of Multiple Small Projects. ISBN 0824786459