Project Management has developed as a profession over the last 60 years. One of the earliest fathers of project management was Henry Gantt, famous for the creation of the Gantt chart. He became famous for his use of the Gantt chart in civil construction. Other fields that contributed to the science of project management include engineering and, of course, military operations.
Project management was not officially recognized as its own discipline until the 1950s. It was during this decade that the DuPont and Remington Rand Corporations developed the critical path method, while Booz Allen Hamilton and the US Navy jointly developed the “Program Evaluation and Review Technique,” also known as the PERT chart. With these new developments, project management exploded.
Project management continued to evolve as a discipline into the latter half of the last century. The need to manage software development in the late 1980s required the creation of new project management approaches, including Agile, Lean, and Extreme project management. In addition, new tools like Microsoft Project began to be utilized to ease the administrative burden of task tracking and critical path management.
Processes have their own momentum, and it is easy to get caught up. Don’t lose sight of what is important. Courtesy of www.someecards.com
Today, project management continues to evolve. Now, this growth is less in new approaches and more in advances in project management software. One of the biggest game changers recently is cloud-based project management software. Below are five advantages to placing project management software in the cloud:
- Anywhere Access – With Microsoft Project, task and critical path tracking was originally stored on the project manager’s desktop or laptop. Obviously, this limited the accessibility of the project plan from everyone except the project manager. However, with cloud-based project management software, the project plan is stored in the cloud. Access can be granted to the entire team, or controlled using role-based permission settings.
- Real-Time Collaboration – In the past, a single project manager would be responsible for entering tasks, setting delivery dates, and creating the project plan. Cloud-based project management software changes that with the addition of collaboration tools. Besides a shared project plan, most cloud vendors offer storage for project documents, shared calendars, and broadcast notifications to the entire project team.
- Track Project Budgets and Costs – Earlier project management software was built to perform simple tasks like tracking the project plan, budget, or actual costs. However, cloud-based project management software combines these different services into a single system. Now project teams can have instant access to all of the relevant information needed to manage a project.
- Dashboards and Reporting Tools – Standalone project management software does not offer many options around dashboards and reporting tools. On the other hand, cloud-based project management software leverages the power of real-time updates and a single database to provide management with a constant view into the health of a project.
- Project Forecasting – With standalone project management software, project forecasting was really just a guess. However, cloud-based project management software changes this by including revenue and cost estimates, resource management, and even “what if” scenarios to help managers determine the best project to pursue.
WIthout the right tools, he should stick to his day job. Image from ibiblio.org
Of course, not all cloud-based project management software is created equal. All of the new functionality mentioned above may be found in other cloud software, but it is perfected in NetSuite’s OpenAir project management software. If you would like to know more, contact us.