There is several benefit of Microsoft Project for large projects compare with Microsoft Excel. MS project can be clearly identified time, resources and cost. And then, MS project have a lot of features such as project guide, help, templates, task drivers and multilevel undo compare with MS Excel. This can be available easier and more effective to quickly in website project plan.

Improved Project Guide and Help

        The project guide can be provided set up project, manage tasks and report project information. Project guide can also be help project management process and customizable for different methodologies. In MS project 2007 enhanced for help such as robust search engine, smart tags and wizards. This is also available online access to training courses, templates, articles and other help resources.

        Again, MS project 2007 has additional templates and downloads free templates from Microsoft Office Online. These templates can help easier to start project and time saving. This can be created custom templates to certain better consistency and standardization for organization.

Task Drivers

        One of the features is task drivers contain in MS project 2007. But, it can’t contain in old versions. Task drivers can control cumbersome process in project. It can trace the issue source by display that affect of the factors on the start date of the task.

Multiple Level Undo

Multiple level undo is also new feature for MS project 2007. This feature can easily make redo or undo such as reallocating resources, changing durations and alternating dependencies. Also include, changes to view, data, options and more are all possible.

Communication

MS project can available new communicating tools and produce various type of custom report according to stakeholders needs. In Ms Project enhanced view to calendar interface and addition of 3-D Gantt bars (See Fig 1). This can create more visually reports. Again, project manager can highlights cells in cell shading background. This feature contain and very popular in MS Excel but it does not contain in MS project previous version such as MS project 2003 and MS project 2000. If necessary, this can be change font color.

The new available feature is Visual Reports in MS project 2007. This feature can produce leverages charts graphs and diagrams based on MS project data by using Microsoft Office Excel and Microsoft Office Visio Professional (See Fig 2).

And then, MS project user can defined custom report template, ready to use templates and chose in a list of customizable (See Fig 3 and 4). Moreover, the report can share to other MS project user.

MS project is an effective tool for project manager compare with MS Excel. And then, MS project is specialized software for manage the projects. MS project can manage change and maintain project on-track. Change highlights feature is a powerful tool. Moreover, MS project can change background color; Milestones task color and so on (See Fig 5). This can make easy to understand of impact on change in project plan. MS project (only latest version 2007) can make automatically highlights the most recent change.

The Top-Down Budgeting is based on formulas and MS project user can calculate and track core metric unique to developing projects. This allow assign budget for projects and programs (See Fig 6). This Top-Down Budgeting is more flexible than in MS Excel. MS Excel does not contain this feature. And then, this is specialized software for ledger or accounting. The type of cost resource enhance for cost estimation and tracking.

MS project 2007 have several type of costs. That not contain in previous version. The benefit of several types of costs contains in MS project 2007, the project manager or MS project user can easily calculate for costs. Moreover, bottom-up and top-down estimating method for budget available in MS project 2007.

Different Between MS Project and MS Excel

MS project is easy to use for project plan compare with using MS Excel. If develop to project plan in MS Excel, the user input not only all data such as resource name, predecessors and duration but also fill color in Excel spreadsheet. But, MS project is does not like that. If user input all valid data, the result directly display.

        MS project can identified default working hour in assign time. And then, MS project user can be clearly identified milestone for deliverable. MS project can change currency type for cost assign. But, MS Excel does not have these features. MS project can change different type of view such as grant chart, network diagram, resource graph, resource sheet, tracking chart and resource usage. In MS project, do not need to find critical path. But, MS Excel will be needed to find for critical path.

        MS Excel can’t split to task. But, MS Project can split to task. For example, if the task is assign in one week duration (Mon to Fri), but Tuesday is off day. If so, this task will be split. (See Fig 7)

        MS Project can control various types of complex projects. And then, it can efficiently plan for all projects. MS Project is specialized software for management project. But, MS Excel isn’t specialized software for management project. So, while developing the large projects, MS Project is better than MS Excel.