ConceptDraw PROJECT vs. Planview PPM Pro

For small and medium companies or independent departments of large companies where usually an individual plans the projects this is the best tool without all the overheads of complex software like Microsoft Project and without any privacy concerns of all online project management tools being used today. Not that convenient when you want your employees to update timesheets, etc., as everything needs to be fed into the tool by the project manager.

PPMPro is well suited for tracking new product introduction projects, as well as process changes. It serves to reliably track ongoing action items, issues, resource allocations for projects. Areas where PPMPro is less appropriate for use: Project to project dependencies, automating action item notifications on multiple platforms, integrations of PPMPro into other platforms PMO typically uses (like MS Projects, Teams, ppt, etc)

• PROJECT is tightly integrated with Diagram and MindMap, the two other tools in the CD Suite. This allows me to do initial scoping in MindMap and then switch to PROJECT and go back and forth as new requirements are exposed and tasks are developed.
• For projects that entail the development of mechanical or electro-mechanical systems it is necessary to develop a topology of the system. By using MindMap I can define the required elements of the system, switch to Diagram to develop an initial layout of the components of the system and then switch to PROJECT to start defining the task to develop the system. Once the system has been defined I use CD Solutions to generate presentations that incorporate the reports and dashboards generated by PROJECT.
• PROJECT is cross platform (Mac and Windows). We are a Mac shop, so the ability to import Microsoft project and Visio charts and export to those formats as well saves a lot of heartburn when so many of our partners and potential customers are Windows users.

• New request workflow/kanban board helps visualize where new requests are in the process of the quote to cash/request to completion
• The time tracking tool is tied directly to project tasks for seamless integration of time tracking, estimates, and actuals
• The reporting capabilities and ease of use has allowed us visibility to data that we never had before
• The tool is easily configurable by Administrators. We can add fields, change reports, add new dashboards within hours vs. days of trying to track things manually

Incentivized

• We had to spend a good amount of time to understand all the features so some interactive built-in tutorials would have made getting started easier.
• The UI does not look so good in macOS Catalina Dark Mode and I often switch to light mode when working on this software.
• Multiple people working on the same project at a time cannot update as there is no way to synchronize changes so we put the file in our code repo but manually co-ordinate to make sure only one of us is changing the plan at a time.

• The base API is not a REST based interface and is difficult to use for integration with other systems in the enterprise.
• The UI for the maintenance of the task schedule for projects can be a bit cumbersome , although the spreadsheet style editor helps somewhat. The Gantt view is not interactive.
• The workflow engine is designed only for initial project intake, and does not allow for an integration of the work flow with the project from start to end, so it can't be used for routing artifacts like change requests, ancillary project approvals, etc.

Incentivized

As I previously stated I am no longer in the role where I acted as Innotas admin, but because our license has been twice renewed since initial deployment and since I am in the business and have used the IT request process I created and have not heard anything to the contrary

PPM Pro has very effective process capabilities around Project, Demand, and Resource Management as well as Reporting/Dashboards. Very stable platform, never any downtime. We now also have PPM Pro Sandbox which we have leveraged for any new major developments such as Request Management.

Incentivized

Never any availability issues or outages. The few process issues we have ever encountered were addressed and resolved quickly.

Incentivized

No issues with overall response time and performance. There have been some occasions where a Report could take few minutes to render but this is vary rare. No integration issues...

Incentivized

Customer service from the ConceptDraw sales team is relatively quick and they do a good job of answering basic questions. However, the user base for ConceptDraw products is not huge so finding answers online for anything beyond basic help-file questions is difficult

Incentivized

Their ability to assist and answer questions when needed is incredible. They create innovative ways to share information and help customers trouble shoot. I didn't give it a ten because I believe they could do a better job of personally reaching out to customers and providing improvement guidance based on where the customer is at and their needs at the time

Tim Srjezter was an excellent trainer.

It's been since 2009. A lot has changed. We have not grown as much as we could have because of executive backing.

Incentivized

Microsoft Project is a typical Microsoft product - too much programming overhead, poor graphics, confusing and fussy interface. OmniGraffle is close to CD PROJECT but has its own fussy parts, plus it is a lot more expensive than CD PROJECT; it is in the middle between Microsoft and CD.

Microsoft Project does not integrate the data or provide meaningful dashboards. We needed a tool that could manage a portfolio of projects versus just a single project view. In addition we needed a tool to track financials and internal effort all integrated into one product. Planview PPM Pro addressed all of our needs

We have always used PPM Pro across multiple Business Units and Business Functions and have never encountered any scalability issues. PPM Pro offers flexibility in how the various Entities are configured across the Enterprise

Incentivized

• Inexpensive way to present a professional project plan when needed

Incentivized

• Planview PPM directs all the resources in the right channel, hence, credible performance.
• Planview PPM initiates proper time, and resource tracking and hence is friendly for company functions.
• Planview PPM is competent in managing diverse projects, and this offers highly sustainable business continuity.

Incentivized