How to track projects?
May 12, 2017 9:13 AM Subscribe
I work for a large organization, and I need a way to track a process that occurs at 8 different sites. I have been told I could use an access database, sharepoint, or microsoft project, and I need help understanding the differences (the people in my organization tasking with helping me decide are not helpful). Experience and advice welcome - more details inside.
There are 8 sites. The process begins when an employee fills out a request form and gives it to the manager. The manager decides yes or no. If yes, stop. If no, proceed to director. If yes, stop. If no, proceed to VP. If yes, stop. If no, it goes to me. There are deadlines associated with each step.
Ideally, I would like some kind of software such that the manager enters the details, and indicates her decision; then it triggers an event for the next level; so on and so forth. We should all (approximately 12 people) have access to the software to see where in the process each request is. I would love it to be searchable by the topic of the request, the outcome, the manager involved, the employee involved, etc.
My very large institutional system will not allow me to do this on any kind of cloud based non-approved vendor stuff (so not google). I can get sharepoint or project approved for the employees, I think, if I can explain that it will do what I'm looking for. If there's a third party software that could be installed on our shared drive/server I could maybe make that happen.
I am certain there is software that does this, I just don't know what it is. It would be great if it could be as simple as I state above, without extra bells and whistles - or with bells and whistles that can be hidden from end users, because anything overly complex is going to get me garbage in.
Any thoughts on how to manage this or experience with these programs is greatly appreciated!!
There are 8 sites. The process begins when an employee fills out a request form and gives it to the manager. The manager decides yes or no. If yes, stop. If no, proceed to director. If yes, stop. If no, proceed to VP. If yes, stop. If no, it goes to me. There are deadlines associated with each step.
Ideally, I would like some kind of software such that the manager enters the details, and indicates her decision; then it triggers an event for the next level; so on and so forth. We should all (approximately 12 people) have access to the software to see where in the process each request is. I would love it to be searchable by the topic of the request, the outcome, the manager involved, the employee involved, etc.
My very large institutional system will not allow me to do this on any kind of cloud based non-approved vendor stuff (so not google). I can get sharepoint or project approved for the employees, I think, if I can explain that it will do what I'm looking for. If there's a third party software that could be installed on our shared drive/server I could maybe make that happen.
I am certain there is software that does this, I just don't know what it is. It would be great if it could be as simple as I state above, without extra bells and whistles - or with bells and whistles that can be hidden from end users, because anything overly complex is going to get me garbage in.
Any thoughts on how to manage this or experience with these programs is greatly appreciated!!
SharePoint workflows will do the trick. It's not my favorite enviornment but given your restrictions it's the least worst option. Some custonmization is required but shouldn't require delving into code.
posted by llin at 10:03 AM on May 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by llin at 10:03 AM on May 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
Serena does customizable workflows.
posted by DrAstroZoom at 12:20 PM on May 12, 2017
posted by DrAstroZoom at 12:20 PM on May 12, 2017
I suggest talking to your IT department, or whoever it is who approves vendors and applications for use within your company. There's a fair chance that your company already has a site license for something that could work for you. And if they don't, they can probably recommend & help you implement something new. It's always best to involve those folks in onboarding a new service rather than just signing up for something without checking — especially if you work in a large organization that likely has data security standards to meet, and might have other guidelines for software and services of which you're unaware.
(SOURCE: former IT Project Manager at a decent-sized tech company)
posted by D.Billy at 4:38 PM on May 12, 2017
(SOURCE: former IT Project Manager at a decent-sized tech company)
posted by D.Billy at 4:38 PM on May 12, 2017
As other say, SharePoint can certainly do this although it sounds like you'll need help in setting up the workflows needed to make this tool a success for you.
As for the other options proposed to you, I doubt you'll have much success with them. While Access is a database an underneath everything you want to do is store data and have people update it, Access isn't natively web focused. It is barely a multiuser solution so I wouldn't trust it with the requirement that it be accessed by people at 8 different sites. While SharePoint can turn an Access database into a web accessible (and thus multi-user) experience, Microsoft has deprecated this functionality and will be removing it from the product. You shouldn't build new solutions using this functionality. Also, the skills needed to build and customize such a solution for your needs would be greater than the plain SharePoint Workflow version.
As for MS Project, its goal in life is certainly a project tracking application, however its roots are also in the world a single user project manager using it to keep the status of things up to date. This is clearly not what you want. There are web versions of MS Project that allow for the HTMLization of project plans and allow end users to update status and trigger workflows. This however is very expensive and very complicated software (FWIW, it is another giant layer that sits on top of SharePoint).
I definitely suggest you talk to your central IT team. Some phrases that might be helpful "multi-level document approval", "Forms solution with routing", "ticketing system". I think in general you might get better luck asking for a solution to your business problem rather than looking for how a specific tool can be used.
posted by mmascolino at 8:57 AM on May 14, 2017
As for the other options proposed to you, I doubt you'll have much success with them. While Access is a database an underneath everything you want to do is store data and have people update it, Access isn't natively web focused. It is barely a multiuser solution so I wouldn't trust it with the requirement that it be accessed by people at 8 different sites. While SharePoint can turn an Access database into a web accessible (and thus multi-user) experience, Microsoft has deprecated this functionality and will be removing it from the product. You shouldn't build new solutions using this functionality. Also, the skills needed to build and customize such a solution for your needs would be greater than the plain SharePoint Workflow version.
As for MS Project, its goal in life is certainly a project tracking application, however its roots are also in the world a single user project manager using it to keep the status of things up to date. This is clearly not what you want. There are web versions of MS Project that allow for the HTMLization of project plans and allow end users to update status and trigger workflows. This however is very expensive and very complicated software (FWIW, it is another giant layer that sits on top of SharePoint).
I definitely suggest you talk to your central IT team. Some phrases that might be helpful "multi-level document approval", "Forms solution with routing", "ticketing system". I think in general you might get better luck asking for a solution to your business problem rather than looking for how a specific tool can be used.
posted by mmascolino at 8:57 AM on May 14, 2017
« Older What was this Upstate NY / Vermont TV Commercial? | How can I stop feeling guilty about leaving my... Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by k5.user at 9:22 AM on May 12, 2017