Can I user project server this way?

[Stevation]

I'm just trying to decide which product to buy. I have a small office, and we don't require a tremendous amount of online collaboration, but we want Project to help us map out research project milestons, deadlines, and processes. We are a nonprofit, and we can get a great deal on donated charity software (with a small fee) from Microsoft, but they require us to purchase a minimum of 5 licenses. I could purchase five licenses for Project Pro, which is more than I need, but I wonder if I bought Project Server, could I get enough functionality out of it through the web interface if I don't buy any client packages besides the web access licenses? Using the web interface, can you create new projects, update existing ones, import tasks to Outlook, etc? Or is the web access so limited that I'm going to want the real clients? Thanks for helping a newby
-Steve

 

[Gérard Ducouret]

Hello Steve,



How many users do you expect to have ? If you have no more than 5 persons,
you don't need MS Project Server nor MS Project Pro. MS Project Standard
will be sufficient . and cheaper !



Gérard Ducouret

I'm just trying to decide which product to buy. I have a small office, and

we don't require a tremendous amount of online collaboration, but we want
Project to help us map out research project milestons, deadlines, and
processes. We are a nonprofit, and we can get a great deal on donated
charity software (with a small fee) from Microsoft, but they require us to
purchase a minimum of 5 licenses. I could purchase five licenses for Project
Pro, which is more than I need, but I wonder if I bought Project Server,
could I get enough functionality out of it through the web interface if I
don't buy any client packages besides the web access licenses? Using the web
interface, can you create new projects, update existing ones, import tasks
to Outlook, etc? Or is the web access so limited that I'm going to want the
real clients? Thanks for helping a newby!

 

[Stevation]

That's good to hear. My office is only five people, but only two of us really need to use it. If we want to share a project file so we can both work on it, do we need Pro? Or can we just save the project file in a shared network directory and both work on it with Standard?

 

[John Beamish]

For the scenario you describe:

1. Both need Project Standard
2. Save the plan in a shared folder in the network
3. At any given time, only one of you can have the file open for
editing. When the second person attempts to open the plan that person
will get a message saying the file is in use and can open it read-only.

You might want to review the information here:
http://www.microsoft.com/office/project/howtobuy/choosing.mspx

That's good to hear. My office is only five people, but only two of us
really need to use it. If we want to share a project file so we can both
work on it, do we need Pro? Or can we just save the project file in a
shared network directory and both work on it with Standard?

--