Vendors Offer Many Levels Of PPM Help

All PPM software is not created equal. Some poll respondents rely on collaboration apps, even wikis, to automate project approvals. These work OK for small companies and departments, but as you move up the PPM chain, consider more robust, specialized PPM options that will automate the project intake process, integrate with financials, and enable you to report on your entire portfolio's metrics.

Primavera Systems makes the granddaddy of project management software, with suites tailored for specific industries, from aerospace and defense to telecom, but Daptiv, a Web-based up-and-comer formerly known as eProject, is gaining market share. Other Web-based PPM entries include AtTask and the open source Project.net. IT groups willing to do some customization should check out Redmine, an open source cross-platform PPM framework based on Ruby on Rails. Hewlett-Packard's Project and Portfolio Management promises strong integration with asset management. Eclipse PPM and CA's Clarity are other offerings with broad integration support.

For those with simpler needs, Microsoft's Groove and SharePoint collaboration systems work well for automating feedback and approvals for projects. MediaWiki is popular open source collaboration software.

It's important to remember that while good software can make manually updating inefficient spreadsheets a thing of the past, even the best PPM app won't help you if you can't get buy-in for a rational process.

Photograph by Getty Images

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