What is project management?

Project management

How can you manage your projects effectively?

Matthijn Hoogenboom

By Matthijn Hoogenboom, Sales Director, MicroPartner

Project management – What is project management?

Project management is the way you manage a project from start to finish. Project management is about how to best work through the phases of the project – and at the same time adhere to both timeline and budget.

A project is characterized by being a delimited size (having a defines scope) that runs over a specific period and with specific resources allocated. As a result, there is a difference between projects and daily operations or maintenance tasks and development projects.

The need for project management varies from company to company. Some companies only work on a project basis, such as contractors and architects. Consulting houses such as advertising agencies, lawyers and CRM / ERP houses such as ourselves also work with projects – albeit to a lesser extent, as some of the projects must be characterized as ongoing operational tasks, for example in connection with a framework agreement.

Regardless of whether you work a little or a lot with projects and, as a result, project management, the need to be able to manage and monitor the project’s progress, register time and invoice is essential.

Project management tools

At MicroPartner, we work with project management tools in the form of Dynamics 365 Business Central and Dynamics 365 Project Operations.

Project management with Business Central

In Business Central, project management is called case management. Business Central can handle basic project needs and can be used primarily for smaller projects.

Business Central allows you to perform all the usual types of project management tasks, such as job configuration and resource planning. Business Central provides you with all the information you need to control and manage budgets and monitor ongoing progress.

Via timesheets, you can also track the working hours of both your employees and machines (or components, raw materials, finished goods, etc.) associated with the project.

A nuanced overview of your projects

As a project manager, Business Central gives you a nuanced overview, not only of the individual projects / cases, but also of the distribution of employees, machines, and other resources used in projects.

In Business Central you can follow the development of your project, e.g., budget, and actual cost price:

Project management

Click on the image to enlarge it.

Project management is about how to best work through the phases of the project – and at the same time adhere to both timeline and budget.

Project management with Project Operations

If you need to manage and allocate tasks, you should choose Project Operations. Project Operations is a complete project management tool with everything from project sales, planning, distribution of resources, project delivery, time consumption and basis for invoicing. However, the invoicing itself requires an ERP system such as Business Central, to which Project Operations can easily be integrated.

Project Operations is suitable for project companies that work with small or large projects. Project Operations can be accessed by all project members across your organization, making it easier to collaborate and manage the project from start to finish.

The image below shows resource planning in Project Operations:

Dynamics 365 Project Operations

Project Operations can help you with:

  • Project sale

  • Project planning

  • Time and resource management

  • Forecast and analysis

  • Recording of consumption, including time and materials

  • Project finance management

  • Project follow-up

Business Central or Project Operations?

We always recommend that you seek advice before purchasing a Microsoft Dynamics product. While it may seem obvious which project management tool to choose, there may be areas that you have not considered. There may be licensing issues or future issues that you have not considered, but which are essential to your product needs.

Contact us to learn more or to schedule a free demo

Our team of experienced and dedicated consultants is always ready to help and guide you, so you can make the best decision. Whether you need advice or want to have a personal demonstration, we are ready to assist you. 

Contact us today through the form, and we will get back to you as soon as possible. 

You are also welcome to contact us directly at Tel.: 70 88 67 83

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