Customer Reviews

Primavera SureTrak Project Manager 3.0

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

SureTrak was designed with features that practicing project managers need, not glitzy fluff. Although the two previous reviewers have made strong cases for SureTrak there are a few details that I'd like to add.

(1) Multiple calendars - you can have up to 31 base calanders per project, giving you absolute control that is not possible with other PM applications in this price range. This feature allows you to model different resource baselines, which is powerful. Also, unlike MS Project, SureTrak does not assume it knows better than you and change the project in strange and mysterious ways after you've made an adjustment. This alone makes SureTrak worth using.

(2) Earned Value project management is built in and works correctly. If you're a PMP you'll not only appreciate the solid implementation of earned value, but should also know that the earned value portions of the PMBOK were developed by members of the Primavera team--Quentin Fleming and Joel Koppelman--who also authored Earned Value Project Management, second edition. This adds a high level of trust in the way SureTrak works.

(3) Project resource leveling works (it's somewhat 'challenged' in MS Project), and the ability to automatically forecast resource shortages, trace PERT logic, use precedence diagramming method if you so choose, and the ability to jump from WBS, resource, activity or PERT views with a mouse click shows your project from any perspective. Another nice feature is the 'cosmic' view of the PERT view that shows the entire network in one window and details in another.

(4) The reports, profiling and analysis options are too many to list. Suffice it to say that if there is a view or report that isn't shipped with SureTrak (and I cannot think of any), you can easily create one.

Although it has serious features, it also has glitz: publish in HTML, add graphics to your schedule and customize bar legends. It also has team features, such as email management, the ability to manage multiple related projects simultaneously, and the ability to exchange files with MS Project via MPX files. Note that there are some losses when you exchange MPX files because SureTrak has features that Project doesn't have and they will not import correctly into MS Project.

If you make the leap from MS Project to SureTrak I strongly recommend investing in Planning Using Primavera SureTrak Project Manager Version 3.0 by Paul E. Harris, which will get you quickly started.

If you are planning, scheduling and controlling projects in accordance with the process laid out by Project Management Institute's Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) then you will appreciate this program's power and features.

The features that align to the PMBOK are: easy planning using a work breakdown structure, correct computations for earned value and resource leveling that works properly.

Features that I particularly like are: direct import of data into an Excel pivot table (this feature has been in the program since version 1.0, and takes a mouse click to accomplish), wide array of reports, and the ability to switch among Gantt (schedule in bar graph format), organizational view, work breakdown structure view and PERT view, and the ability to export and import between Microsoft Project using the MPX file format. While MS Project is not my tool of choice I have to adapt to what clients are using and it is a common application.

How does SureTrak compare to Microsoft Project? It depends on your approach to project management. If you consider Gantt charts to be a project plan and you can get away with it, then stick with MS Project. However, if you begin your planning and estimating with a work breakdown structure, analyze dependencies and find your critical path using an activity diagram, and are managing to deliverables using earned value, then SureTrak is the way to go.

Here are a few other facts that commend SureTrak: Primavera is a widely respected brand for high end project management software, such as their P3 product. Nearly every major engineering and construction project on the planet is managed with P3. They also played a key role in defining the earned value project management portion of the PMBOK 2000, which is not an international standard for project management. The makers of MS Project, on the other hand, is known for missed product releases. To me this means that they either do not understand project management or the tools they use to manage their development projects are possibly flawed.

The latest version of Primavera Sure Trak, version 3.0 improves an already great project scheduling product. Primavera's lead as the premiere author of professional scheduling software is bumped up another notch with this latest version. Project managers in all fields, not just construction or technical fields will find the Project Kick Start Wizzard a breeze to set up a project. Updating the progress of a project has never been easier using the progress spotlight feature. The built in tutorial walks any new user through the many new and useful features for formating and for setting up project schedules. As a construction professional with 25 years of varied project experience, this scheduling software is easy for even a first time user to quickly learn.

As a professor of construction engineering for the last 7 years at a major midwest university, this software is my number one recommendation to all my students in the construction engineering program.

I have used this product for several years, and it has become my favorite for use in planning engineer/procure/construct projects. This product compares each task's percent complete to the current date to establish early start and finish dates, and adjusts dependent tasks accordingly. That feature immediately eliminates false float until late tasks or all tasks have been updated correctly. The built-in filters and reports are excellent. The improved PERT interface is helpful when establishing overall logic, particularly amoung numerous engineering disciplines, construction crafts, project administration personnel, and client budget and schedule requirements. Its ability to create files that may be incorporated into Primavera Project Planner files allows EPC contractors to schedule the engineering and procurement portion of their projects with a very cost effective product. This product makes it possible to utilize a relatively static amount of manpower to accomplish numerous projects simultaneously, providing information on which tasks on which projects must be performed in which sequence so that each of the projects is completed on time.

Suretrak still does what it was designed to do 15(guessing)years ago when it was first released. But it has problems that any buyer should consider, especially with a price near $1000: a) Its current owner Oracle/Primavera no longer supports the product, and in fact the only source of purchase is 3rd party resellers. Don't count on them being able to tell you how to use the product or even how to start it; and b) The software works poorly on Windows 7. Several important features (Help, for example) do not work at all, although the basic functions of scheduling and printing are still intact.

Recommendation: If you're working on an older operating system, especially Windows XP or older, Suretrak works as intended, but you're on your own as far as learning how to use it (yes, it comes with a manual, and some non-Primavera training may still be out there.) Oracle has also taken over Primavera's "flagship" scheduling software, known as P6, and it's not even clear what the long-term prognosis is of that program. In any case, it's a very expensive alternative to Suretrak. That leaves Microsoft Project. My limited experience with Project was that it was easy to use and intuitive. If Microsoft still supports it you might consider MS Project as your current best alternative.

this scheduling software can do anything you need it to do. it's not simple enough to use, though, without having either studied the users manual in depth or taken a college course on the software. i have take a course on the software so it works great for me.

I like this product. I am in commercial construction and use this product to schedule jobs . I would buy this product again.

I bought the Primvera Suretrak Project Manager, after I bought it we had it installed and found that it would not work with todays computers, we tried to return it and was told we could not.
This is my first and last purchase from Amazon, bad merchandise and bad customer service.

Jack Jackson