The growing demand for powerful, cloud based, easy to use scheduling tools have been growing over the years and every industry has their own specific needs and requirements. I get a news post at least once a week declaring the growing “cloud” and “agile” project management market and it makes sense as the tools are getting better and the ease of entry (into these tools) for many companies has been lowered.
Microsoft, for example has made it very easy with Office 365 and specifically Project Online for organizations to take advantage of these powerful tools and are particularly useful for companies that provide a wide range of construction services and products. Office 365 has shown Microsoft and its partners that companies welcome offloading many of the tools and services that were once managed internally. The days of managing multiple servers, applications and licenses inhouse are gone for many companies and Project Online is one example of that.
Historically, in order to get these capabilities and functionality organizations needed “heavy lifting” environments such as Project Server. This implied a significant investment in hardware and software and trained resources to maintain it. Today, within the world of Office 365 any organization can get that same functionality with simply a subscription. (Learn more about Project Online licensing in this video). Project Online provides construction management with some powerful and critical components such as project and resource centralization, cost and financial management, collaboration internally and externally, task management, workflow and document management and much more.
Let’s examine the top ten reasons construction companies in particular should consider Microsoft Project Online (MSPO):
1.Project & Resource Centralization: The ability to quickly and easily get access to Project information is critical for any construction company especially as they move and shift resources and equipment around to different locations and being utilized by specific projects. This centralized visibility is paramount to the MSPO solution. Project Online allows construction companies to capture as little as much information necessary to both projects and resources which makes it east and useful to find group and filter as necessary to get to the critical information that Project Managers and stakeholders need.
2. Resource Management: One of the additional benefits of resource centralization and management is the ability to represent people and equipment along with construction crews and other general and subcontractors. MSPO can track and report on this valuable information including cost and availability information. These resources are designed to be used across multiple projects so visibility for Project Managers and Resource Managers is always there and can help prepare for existing and future projects.
3. Collaboration: Storing, securing and sharing important construction documentation and information is part of every construction project and allowing internal and external access to this information is critical to keep the project on schedule and on budget. If there is a change in the project, certain information must be communicated, approved and then the change applied. Agreements, contracts, construction specifications can be stored and secured in a way that provides the right information to the person or group.
4. Work and Task Management: Broadcasting who needs to do what and when is how project tasks get done and this is part of the MSPO solution. Project Managers can identify resources, load them onto projects and publish those assignments easily accessible on desktop and mobile devices. Team members while they are out on the field can update tasks they have completed, raise or respond to an issue and even upload images from the construction site.
5. AI Enhanced Processes: Artificial Intelligence is such a hot topic right now, but at its foundation the value of AI is in automating processes that help you get work done quickly and efficiently with the least amount of errors, so if we can automate these processes that occur with any level of frequency we are entering into the capabilities of what AI offers and that’s part of the capabilities of MSPO .
6. Financial Management: Tackling financial data is not just reserved at the project level, but can be managed in all aspects of the project whether you are tracking equipment costs, fixed costs, costs over time, budget costs and the ability to even create new custom “cost” fields to fit your specific needs around the financial aspects of your construction projects.
7. Security and Vendor Management: Security is always a concern as contracts, agreements, bids and proposals are being submitted, reviewed, revised and eventually approved. MSPO does a great job of providing file level security around every document uploaded and managed in the MSPO repository. Outside vendors, GC’s and sub-contractor can have special access to only the documents they need to see and have access to. For example, one user may be able to edit while the other user can only download and yet another user doesn’t see the document at all. External bid management pages and sites can also be constructed to support bid submissions and management.
8. Cloud Based & Mobile Friendly: Getting access to cost saving information is vital for the success of any project, but in particular with construction projects when one slipped day could be disastrous for getting the project done on time and within the planned budget. The beauty of the MSPO solution is that it’s always on and always available and accessible from multiple devices, whether you are a stakeholder on the project and looking for missing deadlines or specific deliverables or a sub-contractor and you want to submit your hours spent out on the site working through tasks.
9. Deep Analytics & Reporting: Reporting in MSPO has evolved over the years and with each new generation of reporting capabilities we get new insights and visualizations that would have taken many hours and a special skill set to produce. Today the modern reporting stack that supports MSPO has deep analytics and reporting abilities. Even the average Excel power user can start producing highly valuable reports with just a little training and exposure to the new set of Business Intelligence tools and services.
10. Abundance of features: That’s really just the beginning with MSPO as it is an “extensible” tool and platform that can grow as you grow and help you mature in your Project Management competencies. Additional apps such as Azure DevOps, Microsoft Planner. Flow and PowerApps can all come together to provide a customized solution that works for your unique construction business.
This list is designed to serve as an introduction of what Microsoft Project Online has to offer and how it can assist when it comes to your construction projects, but nobody can argue that with strict competition in this space and limited resources, having a cloud-based project management tool such as Project Online is good thing to have in your corner.