project management

SureTrak was designed with features that practicing project managers need, not glitzy fluff. Although the two previous reviewers have made strong cases for SureTrak there are a few details that I'd like to add.

(1) Multiple calendars - you can have up to 31 base calanders per project, giving you absolute control that is not possible with other PM applications in this price range. This feature allows you to model different resource baselines, which is powerful. Also, unlike MS Project, SureTrak does not assume it knows better than you and change the project in strange and mysterious ways after you've made an adjustment. This alone makes SureTrak worth using.

(2) Earned Value project management is built in and works correctly. If you're a PMP you'll not only appreciate the solid implementation of earned value, but should also know that the earned value portions of the PMBOK were developed by members of the Primavera team--Quentin Fleming and Joel Koppelman--who also authored Earned Value Project Management, second edition. This adds a high level of trust in the way SureTrak works.

(3) Project resource leveling works (it's somewhat 'challenged' in MS Project), and the ability to automatically forecast resource shortages, trace PERT logic, use precedence diagramming method if you so choose, and the ability to jump from WBS, resource, activity or PERT views with a mouse click shows your project from any perspective. Another nice feature is the 'cosmic' view of the PERT view that shows the entire network in one window and details in another.

(4) The reports, profiling and analysis options are too many to list. Suffice it to say that if there is a view or report that isn't shipped with SureTrak (and I cannot think of any), you can easily create one.

Although it has serious features, it also has glitz: publish in HTML, add graphics to your schedule and customize bar legends. It also has team features, such as email management, the ability to manage multiple related projects simultaneously, and the ability to exchange files with MS Project via MPX files. Note that there are some losses when you exchange MPX files because SureTrak has features that Project doesn't have and they will not import correctly into MS Project.

If you make the leap from MS Project to SureTrak I strongly recommend investing in Planning Using Primavera SureTrak Project Manager Version 3.0 by Paul E. Harris, which will get you quickly started.

If you are planning, scheduling and controlling projects in accordance with the process laid out by Project Management Institute's Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) then you will appreciate this program's power and features.

The features that align to the PMBOK are: easy planning using a work breakdown structure, correct computations for earned value and resource leveling that works properly.

Features that I particularly like are: direct import of data into an Excel pivot table (this feature has been in the program since version 1.0, and takes a mouse click to accomplish), wide array of reports, and the ability to switch among Gantt (schedule in bar graph format), organizational view, work breakdown structure view and PERT view, and the ability to export and import between Microsoft Project using the MPX file format. While MS Project is not my tool of choice I have to adapt to what clients are using and it is a common application.

How does SureTrak compare to Microsoft Project? It depends on your approach to project management. If you consider Gantt charts to be a project plan and you can get away with it, then stick with MS Project. However, if you begin your planning and estimating with a work breakdown structure, analyze dependencies and find your critical path using an activity diagram, and are managing to deliverables using earned value, then SureTrak is the way to go.

Here are a few other facts that commend SureTrak: Primavera is a widely respected brand for high end project management software, such as their P3 product. Nearly every major engineering and construction project on the planet is managed with P3. They also played a key role in defining the earned value project management portion of the PMBOK 2000, which is not an international standard for project management. The makers of MS Project, on the other hand, is known for missed product releases. To me this means that they either do not understand project management or the tools they use to manage their development projects are possibly flawed.

The latest version of Primavera Sure Trak, version 3.0 improves an already great project scheduling product. Primavera's lead as the premiere author of professional scheduling software is bumped up another notch with this latest version. Project managers in all fields, not just construction or technical fields will find the Project Kick Start Wizzard a breeze to set up a project. Updating the progress of a project has never been easier using the progress spotlight feature. The built in tutorial walks any new user through the many new and useful features for formating and for setting up project schedules. As a construction professional with 25 years of varied project experience, this scheduling software is easy for even a first time user to quickly learn. As an instructor of construction technology for the last 10 years at a junior college, this software is my number one recommendation to all my students in the construction management program.