The New Microsoft Project - What's New?

October 29, 2012

Microsoft Project 2013 marks a landmark release with Project Online, deep SharePoint integration, new reporting options and extensibility features.

I share this because Project 2013 was a milestone: it connected the worlds of cloud, collaboration and project management – a key step for digital transformation in enterprises.

Symbolic image for Microsoft Project 2013
Symbolic image for Microsoft Project 2013

Last week I got the chance to attend the Microsoft Project Ignite Training in Warsaw, Poland. Christophe Fiessinger and Jan Kalis went over from Redmond to explain the new features and business opportunities of the new Microsoft Project and SharePoint. Here’s an exec summary from my point of view:

  • The new version is a landmark release - THE big NEW thing is ‘Project Online’ - the SaaS version of Project that integrates with ‘Office 365’
  • Microsoft pushes it as ‘The new Project’ (and not Project 2013) - compare it to Apple, ‘The new iPad’, or Facebook (no one posts to Facebook 3.5.1, do you?)
  • ‘Project Online’ opens a market with 750 million users, in 88 countries with 32 languages and 24/7 availability at an SLA of 99.9%
  • PPM means ‘Project Portfolio Management’ and is the new term for Microsoft EPM
  • The official shipping date is under NDA - but the RTM is signed off (view here) and some versions are available on MSDN (view here)
  • It will be a big-bang release with Office, Exchange, Lync, SharePoint and Project
And here's a high level summary of what's new in version 2013:
  • Project Online – Microsoft’s vision: nearly everything available on-premise should also work online, with multi-browser support
  • Apps – New extension model with desktop apps, SharePoint apps, Project apps – bringing tons of options
  • Newsfeed – New Work Management Feature that collects all SharePoint tasks into MySite
  • Lightweight PM – Timelines, due tasks, SharePoint list sync with Project Professional – lots of collaboration features
  • Integration w/ SharePoint – Create projects from SharePoint, import lists, and extend them into full projects
  • PWA – Baselines, undo, scheduling engine improvements, backend optimizations for online
  • Desktop – Horizon until 2149, built-in reporting, burndown charts, Lync integration
  • Reporting – OData integration, cumulative fields for burndown, localized templates, PowerPivot/PowerView, Excel timeline slicer
  • Extensibility – OAuth, single Project Server database instead of four
  • Workflow – Out-of-the-box with Visio, loop-backs, hybrid SharePoint/Project workflows
  • Time-Sheet – Auto-approvals, Enterprise Custom Fields, new UI & Ribbon

Let’s have a look at a brand new Project Web App of a Project Online version:

And last but not least: Project Online and Project Server share exactly the same code base. Online issues will be fixed immediately and shipped with upcoming CUs – leading to a stable PPM platform.

My conclusion: The strong integration with SharePoint and Project Online brings many opportunities – from SMBs to large enterprises. The question is how fast the market will accept cloud solutions.

More details: my colleagues Boris and Markus published additional articles on SharePoint and Project.

Ingo Meironke, PMP – Manager at Campana & Schott - @meiroTweet

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