OneNote as Proj Mgmt Tool

[dennish]

Has anyone used OneNote as a project management tool? Specifically has
anyone used a combination of SharePoint and OneNote to help manage, define
functional spec, etc. any of the software development lifecycle (MSF)?

 

[Erik Sojka]

As with all things techincal, the answer is "it depends". Can you clarify
what you have in mind?

OneNote can certainly play a part in a project's lifecycle, if you limit
OneNote to what it does best: capture freeform notes and information from
meetings, etc.

Do you need document library and collaboration features? The SharePoint
offerings are your best bet.

Do you need publication/editing tools to take specifications and put them in
a standard format (i.e. UML) or for other public consumption? Word, Visio,
etc. are the best choices for that.

Do you need a true project management tool to track tasks and resources,
with links to documents? MS Project is the best bet (especially the 2003
Project Web Server).

In a small environment, OneNote integrated with SharePoint might be useful
enough. OneNote isn't meant to product finished/polished documents. OneNote
doesn't (yet) have the hooks into other products that its older more mature
siblings in the Office family have.

I use OneNote to track notes and meetings and status of projects I manage.
But I also use the more appropriate tools for documenting, publishing and
managing projects.

 

[dennish]

Thanks for the feedback.

Related to using OneNote in meetings to take notes and status of projects -
How do you use OneNote for the status of projects and how to integrate with
MS Project Server?

Also is there any sort of XML file save or export capability?

 

[Andrew Watt [MVP - InfoPath]]

As far as I am aware there is no integration with Microsoft Project
Server.

OneNote doesn't currently have Save As XML or Export As XML
functionality. I guess you could export to Word then save from Word as
XML but that isn't convenient.

I think you are considering using OneNote for a task that the current
version isn't designed to do.

Yes, OneNote will cope happily with simply "project management" tasks
but when you want to scale etc it just doesn't have the dedicated
tools for that task.

I appreciate that you haven't stated your whole use case but my sense
is that OneNote is not the answer to your question. You, I think, need
something more like a full power project management tool.

Andrew Watt
MVP - InfoPath

 

[rodney]

Hi Erik. Thanks for you response to the last question pertaining to this
reply. I am new to using microsoft office enterprise. I have been given a
project in one of our building to come up with data that would support
relamping of the building with a certain type of light bulb that is suppose
to be more efficient. Do MS Enterprise have a project management program in
it that would help me set something up to present? I am new to this, and in
my 3rd semester of school.

 

[Rainald Taesler]

Hi Erik. Thanks for you response to the last question pertaining to
this reply. I am new to using microsoft office enterprise. I have
been given a project in one of our building to come up with data that
would support relamping of the building with a certain type of light
bulb that is suppose to be more efficient. Do MS Enterprise have a
project management program in it that would help me set something up
to present? I am new to this, and in my 3rd semester of school.

MS Visio and MS Project would be the proper instruments.
They are not part of Office Enterprise, however.

You might try your best with Excel and Word.
Perhaps a database might be a better solution. So have a look at Access.

Rainald