Project Management Software Review: Making the Most of Milestones
Product Overview
Milestones Professional from Kidasa Software is a project management software that allows users to schedule projects, create presentation reports, combine costs with scheduling tasks, manage complex projects, calculate earned value, distribute schedules and more. This program communicates with Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Project, XML, Custom, and Legacy to import and export your project schedule. You can also calculate earned value if you are using earned value management techniques. All in all, the program seems like a great deal, but is it?
Installation and Setup (4 out of 5)
Milestones Professional is easy to install. Whether you are installing the evaluation edition or a licensed edition, the install shield takes you through all the necessary steps. Once the program is installed, and upon launch, the program gives you some choices for startup. You can either use a default template, the Schedule Setup Wizard, or open an existing schedule. The program runs hints at the bottom of the screen to help guide you through.
Upon selecting the Schedule Setup Wizard, the program asks whether you would like to start Step-by-Step or select a predesigned template. You will then be asked to enter a title for the project, when the project begins, and how you would like your project to appear. This guidance makes setting up a new project simple.
Ease of Use (3 out of 5)
Once you have gone through the setup process, the program requires that you take time to familiarize yourself with the various functions that it can perform. You can import tasks from Outlook, Project, Excel, XML, and Legacy. If you do this, then scheduling using Milestones professional is super-easy. You can also import your Outlook Calendar.
Navigating Milestones is pretty straight forward. If you are used to the Microsoft 2007 Office system, then navigating Milestones will seem intuitive. Take the time to read the training materials available on the website. Milestones is not a difficult program to learn, but you will want to know how to use all the neat little tools available in this program.
Performance and Features (4 out of 5)
The program is fairly fast. Changes are executed as soon as they are implemented. In my trial of the program, I experienced no computer freezes or frustrations performance-wise.
The program contains many features, including the ability to easily share a schedule with tasks, and export tasks to Microsoft Project and Microsoft Outlook. You can also view each task in detail, prioritize tasks, and link tasks. The program will also help you to create useful reports for presentations, create earned value analyses, and track costs.
The features of the program take a few minutes to learn and explore. They go beyond the simple Gantt Chart tools provided in Microsoft Project. Milestones has built-in graphing capabilities, calculation, and smart columns for cost tracking. The program also utilizes hyperlinks to navigate projects.
Price to Value (3 out of 5)
Milestones Professional costs $299 per copy for 1-4 copies or $1,470 for a package containing five licenses. If you buy the downloadable rather than the boxed version, you will save about $20 per license. The program is in keeping with standard proprietary software costs for project managers. Because Milestones will simplify the task of scheduling your projects, and allows you to communicate with other widely used software programs, it is well worth the price.
Overall Rating (4 out of 5)
Milestones Professional is a useful product that will help you to streamline your project management scheduling, cost tracking, and earned value analysis needs. The program is recommended to small and mid-level companies that use programs like Microsoft Office for project management needs. If you struggle with scheduling and cost management, you will want to invest in this program.
