Project 2007 Top 10 Benefits

Microsoft Office Project Standard 2007 gives you robust project management tools with the right blend of usability, power, and flexibility, so you can manage projects more efficiently and effectively. You can stay informed and control project work, schedules, and finances; keep project teams aligned; and be more productive through integration with familiar Microsoft Office system programs, powerful reporting, guided planning, and flexible tools.

1. Effectively manage and understand project schedules.
   Set realistic expectations with project teams, management, and customers using Office Project Standard 2007 to build schedules, allocate resources, and manage budgets. Understand the schedule with features such as Task Drivers for tracing the source of issues, Multiple Level Undo for testing scenarios, and Visual Cell Highlighting for automatically shading the tasks affected by a change.


2. Get productive quickly.
   The Project Guide, an interactive step-by-step planning aide, helps you quickly master the project management process. Customizable for different methodologies, this tool walks you through creating a project, assigning tasks and resources, tracking and analyzing data, and reporting results. Intuitive toolbars, menus, and other features enable you to quickly master project management fundamentals.


3. Leverage existing data.
   Office Project Standard 2007 integrates smoothly with other Microsoft Office system programs. Build projects with a few keystrokes by converting existing task lists in Microsoft Office Excel and Microsoft Office Outlook into project plans. Resources can be added to projects from Microsoft Active Directory or from a Microsoft Exchange Server address book.


4. Build professional charts and diagrams.
   Analyze and report Project data in professional reports and charts by using the Visual Reports engine, which generates templates for Visio diagrams and Excel charts based on Project data. You can share templates you build with other users. Or you can choose from a list of customizable, ready-to-use report templates.


5. Effectively communicate information.
   Easily present information in various formats according to the needs of stakeholders. You can format and print one-page schedules or other reports. Use the Copy Picture to Office Wizard to smoothly export Project data into Microsoft Office Word for formal documents, Office Excel 2007 for custom charts or spreadsheets, or Microsoft Office PowerPoint for crisp presentations.


6. Gain greater control of resources and finances.
   With Office Project Standard 2007, you can easily assign resources to tasks and adjust their assignments to resolve conflicts over allocations. Control finances by assigning budgets to projects and programs. Improve your cost estimates with Cost Resources.


7. Quickly access the information you need.
   You can group Project data by any predefined or custom field. This saves you time by consolidating data so you can quickly locate and analyze specific information. Easily identify changes between different versions of a project—thus, efficiently tracking scope and schedule changes.


8. Track projects according to your needs.
   A rich set of predefined or custom metrics helps you track data (percent complete, budget versus actual, earned value, and the like) relevant to your needs. You can track project performance over the project lifespan by saving project snapshots in up to 11 baselines.


9. Customize Office Project 2007 to your needs.
   Tailor Office Project Standard 2007 specifically to your project. Choose custom display fields that integrate with your project schedule. Modify toolbars, formulas, graphical indicators, and reports. XML, Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), and Component Object Model (COM) add-ins facilitate data sharing and creation of custom solutions.


10. Get Office Project 2007 assistance when you need it.
    Office Project Standard 2007 provides a wealth of assistance to novice and experienced users. It includes a robust Help search engine, smart tags, and wizards.

- Siti Suriani