MS Project Server 2003 and EPK Suite

[newbie2]

Is any one using EPK Suite with their MSP Server 2003? If so, please let me
know why you chose EPK Suite and if you are satisfied with the functionality.

 

[Marc Soester]

Hi Newbie2,

The EPK functionality is based on portfolio management, meaning High level
planning ( top down planning). Should your company be interested in Top Down
planning and should your company want to view inforamtion on a high level,
then EPK is a very good tool.

Additionally the timesheet functionality of EPK seems to be more
suffisticated then Project Servers timesheet. And "Views" (e.g. gantt chart
views) from a Portfolio level down to a Task level can be viewed within EPK
in a much nicer way then with Project Server. ( it shows you milestones AND
you can print via the browser)

In a nutshell, EPK is a very good tool for Portfolio Planning and if you are
after a sufiticated timesheet, it is also very good. You may want to visit
their page on http://www.epkgroup.com there is some great inforamtion on the
page and you even can download a trial with an example database.

Hope this helps

 

[Robert Judd]

We "upgraded" to MSP Server 2003 and EPK Suite at the beginning of 2005. We
were using eLabor's Enterprise Project prior to this. The primary focus for
us has been the timesheet. Everyone (including the CEO and the CFO) in our
entire organization uses the timesheet. The acceptance of the new timesheet
has been very good. The ability to charge at the project level is very good.
EPK support has been ok. We end up using our implementation contractor
regarding any issues. We encounter a few minor issues which I understand
have been fixed in the batches.

We hope to implement more of the Portfolio aspect of the Suite in the coming
months. My suggestion is to limit the roll out to just the few items (vital
few) and add functionality as the problems are worked out and the
organization grows in maturity and ability to handle new functionality. MS
Project and EPK are so rich in features that you can easily overwhelm the end
users (KISS Priniciple) and make your job harder.

Email ([email protected]) if you have more questions.