5 Criteria For Selecting Project Management Software

Criteria for selecting project management software

The process of managing the most complex dependent, interrelated and connected projects by taking into account the current, past, and future projects. Further, it groups them together to maximize ROI by sequencing and optimal prioritization of projects. This is called Project Portfolio Management (PPM). Enrol for PMP online training at StarAgile to know what is PPM with real-time examples.

PPM is concerned with the central management of one or more projects to attain the planned objectives of the organization. It ensures that the plan and execution of the projects are best aligned to selection and execution successfully.

Let us discuss the project portfolio management process now

a.      Creating a list of projects - We need to find all the projects in the organization that is planned and make a list of all the projects.

b.     Making a strategy for PPM - Evaluate the strategies and business objectives for all the projects and then ensure they are aligned to the organizational objectives and strategy.

c.      Analyze - Analyze the current strengths and weaknesses of the project portfolio and evaluate the potential return of investments of projects, projects milestones, resource allocation, reporting schedule, etc

d.     Alignment - Ensure that all the projects are aligned to the organizational objectives. Some of the important considerations evaluate the strategic fit between the projects and the project portfolios. Ensure that different projects are aligned with a strategy that makes economic sense. Evaluate the probability that the end products will deliver the return of investments in some way. Evaluate the risks such as risks in the budget, schedule, technology, and resources risks of every project and have plans to mitigate or treat them.

e.      Management - Here in this processes the necessary decisions about reallocation of the budget and consider the evaluation of the risk management, resources management, and change management. Consider evaluating the risk alignment as per the strategy. It must contain healthy mixtures of rewards and meet internal requirements considering the risks.

f.      Finally, Test and adapt the PPM - Here all the above processes must be tested and strategies adapted to the real and best practices. This is not a one-time work but the above process may be iterative to get the final best strategy.

The benefits of the PPM are as follows

• This provides the organizations to evaluate the potential monetary returns. It helps the organizations to invest in new projects, evaluate and forecast risks in the projects, and make informed decisions.It enhances communication between the teams and team members.
• It helps the stakeholders to obtain buy-in from all the members. It enhances the governance, visibility, and liability of the team members.
• Removes inefficiency
• Informed decision making
• Enhances the success of the project
• Sequence and prioritize high-value projects
• Reduces and mitigates risks
• Reduces overspending
• Ability to manage change effectively
• Improves the success of the delivery.

Learn PPM at StarAgile by enrolling on PMP certification training and taking your career to new heights.

Also Read: Enterprise Environmental Factors in Project Management

Top 5 tips to select the right PPM

1.     Treat the PPM as a project - Manage the solution for PPM as you do it for a project. Apply the best project management techniques to finalize the PPM process. Choose the best PPM solution that comes out of the analysis.

2.     Business Justification - Ensure your problem statements are specified and then all the projects are aligned to the strategic specifications of the organization.

3.     Document - You need to document all the processes and steps of PPM and PPM tools selection projects. If the current PPM process is not working then re-adapt and try to do the root cause analysis and fix the PPM process

4.     Improvements Objectives - Next option is to set the improvement objectives for the PPM processes. Set measurable objectives to be achieved. This will ensure that the best PPM tools are selected.

5.     Integration - Integrate the PPM in all the projects and the project management process. Document the tips, techniques, inputs, and outputs that go into the PPM process.

Top 5 PPM software and its feature

1.     Asana

Suitability: - Suitable for small and large companies.

Price: -

• Basic-Free
• Premium - $9.99 per user per month
• Business - $19.99 per user per month
• Enterprise - Get a quote

Features: -

• It will provide the teamwork visibility
• Easy to reschedule and reassign the tasks
• Ability to manage the projects from start to end
• A variety of projects that includes engineering, sales, HR or marketing, etc can be used
• It has features to track all the team projects

2.     Jira

Suitability: - Suitable for small and large businesses

Price: -

• Free trial - 30 days
• Cloud-hosted - Costs at $10 per user per month
• Self-hosted - Costs at $10 one-time month
• Datacenter - Costs $910 per year.

Features: -

• Great visibility of the teams and projects
• Track work and deliver the project on time
• Best for different scenarios and implement them
• Track and communicate progress and plans

3.     Microsoft project

Suitability: - Suitable for small businesses, freelancers, and large businesses.

Price: -

• Project Online Essentials - $7 per user per month
• Project Online Professional - $30 per user per month
• Project Online Premium - $55 per user per month

Features: -

• Built-in templates such as reports, real-time reporting, project planning, and multiple timelines for project management.
• Portfolio optimization, seamless BI integration, reporting, and evaluating project proposals for portfolio management.
• Visual heat maps, integrated collaboration, systematic resources request, and resource analytics for resource management. 

Learn the role of the project management office in PPM and project management by taking up the PMP course online at StarAgile institute.

4.     Planview

Suitability: - Suitable for small and large businesses

Price: -

• Free trial for 30 days
• Planview project place - $29 per user per month

Features: -

• Planview PPM Pro - Strategic alignment, Project dashboards, Resource Management, NPD portfolio management, what-if scenario planning
• Planview Enterprise One - Investment Prioritization, Program Management, Strategic Planning, Financial Planning, and Road-mapping.
• Planview project place - Kanban Boards, Document collaboration, Gantt charts, Workspace overview, and collaborative workstreams. 

5.     Mavenlink

Suitability: - Suitable for small and large businesses.

Price: -

• Teams - $19 per month per 5 user
• Professional - $39 per month per user
• Premium - Get a quote
• Enterprise - Get a quote.

Features: -

• For project management - Gantt Charts, Project plan templates, Critical Path Analysis, Portfolio Management, and Task duration and assignments
• For project accounting - Invoicing and Online payments, Expense Tracking, Expense Reports, and Timecards.
• For Resource Planning - Real-time availability forecasting, Resource allocation, Resource shaping, and Resource scheduling.
• Mobile app facility
• Real-time analytics

Conclusion

You now have the basic information and tools required for the PPM and Project management. To know more and practice real-time projects and PPM register for the PMP certification online at StarAgile institute. StarAgile is a credible and industry-recognized training institute and training partner of Project Management Institute (PMI) for PMP training online.