Project & Portfolio Management Software

I love this platform for projects that require intense tracking of deliverables and project accounting. Project Libra also has a paid cloud version. I would highly recommend this to new firms that are between 1-20 people managing projects.

Pros

Let me start by saying this is clearly the most robust project management platform on the market that falls under open source code.
This platform allows you to do project accounting, deliverable tracking, change management tracking, team allocations, time accounting, and crm functions.

Being a professional project manager I love the robustness of this platform.
All labels are customizable (be careful not to re label something unintentionally).
Project Libra does offer paid setup
Updates seem to be often even as open source

Cons

The paid setup is incredibly expensive
The user interface feels "clunky" and "old" the icons and labels feel like they are straight out of windows 3.1
Open source license prevents companies from charging to sell this software however a means to monetize could be in hosting or supporting on prem deployments (license loophole)
Security becomes an issue for the deployment team to handle

Basically users in the organisation are not as well-versed in PM terminology and for that reason, they tend to fall back on using other software.

Pros

Its an extremely instinctive tool to use and aligned very close to project management terminology.

Cons

Cant see any cons - as I feel the cost is reasonable

Pros

What I like about this product is that is very good when managing long projects. The follow up is easy and Reports are easy to analyze.

Cons

No cons. Maybe at the begging it is not so easy to use. You may need to look for some tutorials. For the rest very good tool

As a GovCon system's consultant, I've used/fixed/implemented/transitioned from this system numerous times. It was the accounting solution I recommended to all of my clients looking to be DCAA Compliant. I am sad it's no longer being sold/offered from Deltek.

Pros

I loved most things about this system. It was incredibly simple to implement. The interface was simplified so it became very easy to train new users. Projects and the JSR reports delivered enough information to manage programs/contracts. If setup correctly, it was the ultimate in getting your GovCon accounting system approved by the DCAA.

Cons

Unfortunately, the support for this product is supposedly going away. They're moving everyone to a lite/compartmentalized à la carte version of Costpoint now. This system was expensive but affordable in the sense that your average clerk/bookkeeper could be taught how to use it. Costpoint isn't for the faint at heart! :)

Pros

It can be used to track the project, Easy to handle, different projects can be managed at portfolio level.

Cons

Since we find few difficulties in updating each and everything and on pulling out a report for analysis purpose.

The information available for managing projects is great. There are a lot of new features coming on board that will make this much more user-friendly.

This software is truly an asset to any company who is willing to put the time, money and resources (human) behind utilizing it to its fullest potential. If you are not ready to completely switch over to this program (leave all other software behind), then do not make the jump!

Pros

If everyone is one board to learn this program, you are in for a real treat.

Cons

Very hard to become proficient at unless you read all online, free resources, and then pay a lot of money to learn the next layer of information at workshops, followed by paying more money for the private consultation to answer follow-up, in-depth questions pertaining to your firms' standard practice.

Advice to Others

Sit and visit with someone who uses it from an accounting, administrative, principal, AND project manager position

Deltek First is a great idea and platform whose time has come.

Pros

Reduced IT overhead cost and up to date patches.

Cons

You have no direct access to the raw data so interfaces for third party feeds are nixed.

Advice to Others

Lots and lots of due dillgence. Ask lots of questions.

Cobra is a good earned value system. Great for meeting the government reporting requirements and for managing cost/schedule on projects.

Pros

Easy to use, V8 looks like MS products latest versions, multiple ways a user can get to what they need. Excellent tool for earned value management.

Cons

Not a lot, upgrades sometimes create new issues and have to wait for a patch/fix to come out.

Advice to Others

Would recommend using this tool for a company's EV tool, especially with its integration with Open Plan and PM Compass.

I have been using open plan for about four years and PMC and Acumen more recently. I like how all of these tools (including Cobra) work with each and have found them to be user friendly.

Pros

Accuracy and integration with Cobra to calculate EV.

Cons

Unforgiving at times - greater use of undo function would be nice.

Advice to Others

PPM suite is a good collection of tools and I recommend it.

Likes Best

The updates get implemented automatically without the need to upgrade on-site servers, and the customer service is always very prompt.

Likes Least

Most times you have to start with the lowest level of help desk before getting bumped up to someone that actually knows what they are doing. It would be nice to have 1 or even a few experts that were assigned to you so you could build a relationship and skip on some of the frustration of having a novice send you something they copied and pasted out of a manual.

Recommendations

Use the online tools and discussion boards available to you. It helps you learn about new or un-used features as well as some little tricks to make things easier.

Likes Best

I like that updates are automatically applied and scheduled during non-business hours after our db is backed up and I don't need to ever lift a finger

Likes Least

There isn't anything I don't like at this point. Works well.

Recommendations

Consider the cost savings of on premise maintenance and license support

Likes Best

Visually appealing and easy to use. Software out of the box is always a plus.

Likes Least

Nothing specific I like least about the product or vendor.

Recommendations

Make sure to do your due diligence when evaluating any product.