Work Breakdown Structure - Microsoft Project - Essay Example

?INTRODUCTION Work breakdown structure (WBS) is one of the most renowned tools of Project Management. Work breakdown structure allows the project to be divided into smaller tasks and by completing each of these tasks the project can be handled in a better way (Hamilton, 2004). Moreover, it allows the project manager to accomplish the project in a shorter period of time as tasks that are independent can be completed first (Lewis, 2006). With the advancement of technology, different software have been developed that can facilitate the project managers in managing the projects in a better way. Microsoft Project is one of the most widely used tools for Project Management as well as for Work breakdown structure. However, there are other alternate software available as well that could facilitate the project managers in managing the project. This report discusses about the use of alternate Project Management software, Project Libre. Project Libre has been one of the most downloaded project management tools in different countries. The software is used in a number of geographic locations as presented in the image below: (Project Libre a, 2013) With 99,770 downloads of the software, this software was one of the most used project management software (Project Libre a, 2013). Therefore this software has been selected in order to compare against Microsoft Project. Project Libre is alternate software to Microsoft Project. Project Libre can also breakdown the project into smaller tasks just like Microsoft Project. Project Libre has also been awarded "Best of Open Source" or BOSSIE award by InfoWorld (Project Libre b, 2013). Thus, this confirms the quality of the software and how helpful the software has been around the world particularly for project managers. This report uses the software Project Libre and then a comparison has been presented using the two tools, Microsoft Project and Project Libre. Evaluation of the techniques used have also been presented in this report for the project Enterprise Rent-A-Car. MICROSOFT PROJECT MANAGEMENT TOOLS USED In order to accomplish the project of ‘Enterprise Rent-A-Car’, the project management team has divided the overall project into following smaller tasks. By dividing the smaller tasks, the project management team can better manage the project and make sure that each of the tasks is handled well. By doing so, it will allow the project management team to make sure that the project is completed within the time. The following table shows the activities that are to be completed for this project of Enterprise Rent-A-Car along with their duration and their predecessors: No. Task Days Predecessor 1 TM Team Development 1 week 2 E-learning Software Purchase 2 weeks 3 E-learning Courses Design 2 weeks 2 4 Hacks Portal 4 weeks 5 Portal Content Set Up 2 weeks 4 6 Trainer Contract 4 weeks 7 TL Training 16 weeks 6 8 Current Training Evaluation 8 weeks 9 Retraining (Current Staff) 16 weeks 7;8 10 PBL Evaluation 8 weeks 9 11 Training (New Trainees) 26 weeks 7 The above tasks are used on two different software; Microsoft Project and Project Libre. The techniques for both the software are evaluated and discussed. Gantt Chart Using Project Libre and Microsoft Project Gantt chart is used to present the tasks of the project along with the starting date and the ending date of that particular task (Cleland, and Gareis, 2006). Modern Gantt chart has started to include the predecessor as well that shows the dependency of that particular task. This allows the project manager to identify the starting as well as the ending date of each task and thus the project can be analyzed. Both the software Microsoft Project as well as Project Libre allow the users to create the Gantt Chart. Project Libre has a similar style and user experience than Microsoft Project. Both the software when starts show a tabular form along with the space for Gantt Chart. As activities or tasks are added in the tabular form, the Gantt chart starts to fill up. As all the information about the activities are added, the Gantt chart is formed. When predecessors are defined, then the Gantt chart links different tasks in the sequence of which they need to be completed. Both the project management software have used similar kind of tools. The following image shows the Gantt Chart prepared using first Project Libre and then using Microsoft Project. The first figure presents the Gantt Chart using Project Libre Gantt chart prepared using Microsoft Project is presented below: By using both the project management software, it can be found that if the project starts from 11th December, 2013 then the project will end on 28th October, 2014. So if the starting date of project is same in both the software, then using both the software the project will end on the same date. Therefore it shows that the techniques used by both the project management software present similar results. However in presenting the Gantt Chart, Microsoft Project does not identify the critical path and the critical activities. On the other hand, Project Libre software shows the red activities as the critical activities. Moreover, the path that includes all the red activities is showing the critical path. Network Diagram Using Project Libre and Microsoft Project Network diagram is another important project management tool. Network diagram shows the activities or tasks of the project in a sequence in the way that they should be completed. Network diagram reflects the tasks of the project of Enterprise Rent-A-Car in the sequence they should be completed. The following diagram presents the network diagram prepared using Project Libre. Network diagram is also prepared using Microsoft Project. The network diagram presented below is prepared using Microsoft Project. Network diagram has been prepared using both the software; Microsoft Project and Project Libre. The network diagram presented above is almost the same for both the software. However there is only one difference that Microsoft Project software suggests to start Training (new trainees) first and then start working on the task of retraining (current staff). On the other hand, retraining (current staff) is to be done as suggested by Project Libre and then Training (new trainees) should start. In addition to this, critical path has been presented in both the network diagrams. Critical activities as well as the critical path in both the network diagrams are the same. Thus, it can be said that both the software are more or less the same and their evaluation technique is almost the same. These software use project management techniques that are relatively same and thus the findings or the results presented by these software are almost same. CONCLUSION Project Libre is one of the most downloaded project management software particularly in United States. The number of downloads of the software has been increasing and it is showing the increasing importance of project management tools used by the project managers. This report presented project management tools using project management software; Microsoft Project and Project Libre. Both the software have been used for the project of Enterprise Rent-A-Car. The findings and results of both the software are same and thus it can be said that both the software are useful and give helpful suggestions and can facilitate the project managers in accomplishing the objectives of the project which are cost, time and quality. These software help the project managers to divide the project and then managing each and every task of the project. By focusing on each and every task of the project, the project manager can make sure that the project is completed within the time. References Cleland, D., and Gareis, R. (2006). Global Project Management Handbook. McGraw-Hill: London. Hamilton, A. (2004). Handbook of Project Management Procedures. TTL Publishing, Ltd: London. Lewis, R. (2006). Project Management. McGraw-Hill Professional: London. Project Libre a. (2013). ProjectLibre: Open source replacement of Microsoft Project. Available from http://www.projectlibre.org/ [Accessed 11 December, 2013] Project Libre b. (2013). ProjectLibre awarded InfoWorld's "Best of Open Source". Available from http://www.projectlibre.org/blog/projectlibre-awarded-infoworlds-best-open-source [Accessed 11 December, 2013] Read More