Blog | OpenProj

Browse Divisions

Conduce Group

IT Services

Consulting

Software

Dreamscape

Paul Saunders, 20th September 2010

OpenProj

0 comments

I am often asked about how to make use of MS Project without the excessive costs of kitting out all of a project team and project board with an expensive (and very powerful) piece of software. Last week I pointed two clients to OpenProj which is an Open Source and free alternative to Microsoft Project.

MS Project is an incredibly powerful piece of software, but I am amazed that some organisations fork out over £500 a time for dozens of licenses of software that most people simply don’t know how to use, nor will ever need. Most project boards I have worked with are quite content with a standard Gantt Chart export to PDF or XLS. If you are spending hundreds of pounds on a small project for temporary project team members just to get an overview of a project plan or update their task status then I would suggest that is money down the drain. Just imagine the project wrap up party you could afford if you used free open source project management software instead. It doesn’t take many licenses at £500 a pop to pay for quite a slap up shindig.

A screenshot from MS Project 2010

I use MS Project 2010, but I am a power user who would expect to use it day in, day out across a number of concurrent projects. For occasional use I strongly recommend OpenProj. It’s a shame the software is free or else I’d be looking to join an affiliate program.

A screenshot from OpenProj v1.4

With OpenProj you can open, edit and save .mpp MS Project files and you can do most common tasks that you would expect to do in MS Project. Ok, it’s not as comprehensive as MS Project nor as sexy looking, but like I said, how many people use the full capability of the system? Once you get over the Microsoft XP look and feel if you’re used to the 2007 and 2010 versions of MS Project you’ll find that most functions are exactly the same and there is no need to relearn anything.

Give it a try. It’s free and available here:
http://openproj.org/openproj

Click here for more information about our project management services.

Related Posts:
System Selection - Consider Doing Nothing
5 Tips to take Ownership of your Data
Whiteboards | The Essential Business Application
Project Requirements

Author: Paul Saunders

Leave this field blank

Your Name

URL

Add your comment

This article has 0 comments

Bookmark this...

<< older entry

newer entry >>

We have got IT covered

Need some advice? Contact Us

Browse Divisions