NetPoint Software

Easy quick scheduling.
Easy to translate message to owners and executive management

Pros

Extremely User Friendly and visually pleasing.
Allows for scheduling flexibility and visualization
No Need to worry about scheduling explosions when making changes (MS Project)

Cons

The software does have a capacity for activities.
Somewhat bogs down the computer if your schedules are larger in size.

The best part about this software is that I can lay down schedules of multiple projects on one sheet and see if there are any overlaps between projects. In addition, it is great to make presentations to the board using this tool

Pros

The best part about the software is the ease of operability and the next best part is you can visualize the schedule which is great for presentations and gives you an overall view of the project

Cons

The things I like least about this software is that while being very user friendly and being great for presentations, it fails to solve the purpose a P6 might be able to solve. It does not allow me to have unique ID codes for activities, tasks etc. though being a great scheduling software it does not provide any cost control features provided by P6

Simplifies interactive planning. Easy to understand by stakeholders for their review and "buy-In" of the plan. Helps focus on critical and near critical path in addition to manage project floats. Great tool to simplify the complex and help upper management in decision making.
Great tool for on the spot "What-If" scenarios. Real time and visual aid on impact on project plan based on changes and progress.

Pros

Easy to use and very intuitively. Great for interactive planning. Prefer software for upper management to understand critical and near critical path. Help team members to focus on critical activities and manage project floats. Easy to export data to Excel including charts. Easy to update and track changes. I used this software on a daily basis with directors, plant managers and execution leads. I will highly recommend Netpoint to anyone who has to work with planning and scheduling. Customer Support is A+! Fast response and issue resolve within same business day.

Cons

Inserting standards "Clip Arts" like arrows, lines, geometric figures not very intuitive and with no options like in MS Office products. Most cases I use a print screen in PowerPoint/Word for better comments. Resource chart and over limit not always easy to convey and understand.

NetPoint is a vital tool being used to assist multiple offshore platforms in the Gulf of Mexico in planning projects and POB (Persons On Board). Asset stakeholders are especially drawn to the visual aspects of NetPoint and the ability to see the affects of moving activities on the fly. I have been using this program for over 4 years and I find that it is very user friendly. I was able to learn how to use the program during a 1 hour training session and a week later I presented it to a team that made the decision to use the tool for a 3+ year offshore program.

Pros

Ease of use & visual aspects

Cons

I don't like that you can't change the histogram. I'd like to be able toggle back and forth from # of hours to # of POB (persons on board). I'd also like to be able to overlap bars with the ability to bring forward and push back.

Netpoint has made the process of getting all the stakeholders in the same page easy. Iniatially some folks were asking for other tools, but after a couple of years using it now they ask for the netpoint schedule. Seeing is planning is a true statment in project management.

I have been using project management tools for many years mainly for nuclear power unit maintenance outages which contain tens of thousands of activities manpower intensive and finely timed windows, also the need to get the unit back up safely and back producing power and earning money. High end scheduling tools were used that were very complicated and manpower intensive. But my main issue was how to show the overall project at a high level from a very detailed schedule.
Well I found NetPoint, at last a program that could show an entire complicated project on one screen that was also a scheduling tool and could be resource and cost loaded. It was very intuitive to learn, but what I liked best was I was able to gather our entire project management team and executives in one room and review the schedule from one end to the other, in away that all in the room could follow and understand.
Another great feature was the ability to very quickly do what if's and scenarios if you have ever tried this with a 20,000 activity project with all it's relationships you know how time consuming it is, in my experience management want quick results to these situations.
This is a great companion tool when client specs call for high end software schedules but also for any applications that do not call for a high end software package.
This is a great scheduling tool, I had searched for many years for a package such as NetPoint. Down load the trial version and take a look that is what I did.

Pros

Ease of use, functionality and presentation in a form all the team can understand

Cons

Not much, for its cost and functionality it meets most of your project management needs.

Advice to Others

The support is extremely good, staff are helpful and quick to respond, try that with some of the big guys.

I've always enjoyed using NetPoint, especially for initial planning sessions prior to getting a job started.

I've found that it comes > < this close to meeting my needs in most cases. There's always one little thing that doesn't quite work out the way I need it. Mixing short duration tasks with longer ones takes a lot of fussing to get to the point where it's presentable.

Pros

Ability to summarize a complicated schedule on one page

Cons

Moving tasks back and forth doesn't work as expected (although it works as designed), so I'm never sure if dragging a task forward or backward will also move the successors/predecessors OR stop me with a logic violation message.

Their tech support is one of the best! I have contact them a few time for different issues. They always contact immediately with proper solutions.

Like the flexibility for planning and interactive planning session. Great to keep our Program schedule up to date.

I use NetPoint to sell projects and to set them up for turnover to a project execution team. The software is intuitive and learning comes quickly. I still have a lot to learn, but that hasn't been a problem with turning out professional work, which is important in selling and in getting projects started off right.
Customer support has been awesome! Though I have asked for help several times, the NetPoint Team has been there ,with the right people, to get me going again quickly.
Thanks for all of your excellent support! I now am an active NetPoint evangelist.
Ray Young
RE Mason Company

Pros

Easy to learn and intuitive
Excellent support when I need it
Renee is always willing to help

Cons

It is a little difficult to save a schedule, but I think I have it figured out now.

Advice to Others

Go ahead and get training early, so you can take advantage of all of the benefits sooner.

Netpoint has been my "go-to" tool of choice whenever a practical level of schedule insight is needed. From interactive planning and portfolio planning to project\program overviews Netpoint has proven to be valuable in conveying vital schedule-related data necessary to make well informed decisions.

All in all a great experience with a great team. Easy to get in touch with and an easy software to use. Our clients enjoy it