Asta powerproject

Where the user may at some time want to edit a plan. Each installation points back to the computer containing the counter. When Asta Powerproject starts on a computer it checks that a spare licence exists at the counter and when you exit Asta Powerproject the counter is released. This arrangement makes the effective sharing of a licence amount a group of occasional editors and makes the cost of Asta Powerproject very cost effective.Import/ExportAsta Powerproject has an excellent range of data formats that it can read/write to/from and allow data to be exchanged with various other project planning systems.Asta Powerproject has an excellent range of data formats that it can read/write to/from and allows data to be exchanged with various other Project Planning systems. All calendars, resources costs, tasks, links and activity codes are exchanged (where the other system can support these features). This is sometimes needed as you might be interfacing with a client organisation that has another Project Planning system and they have a requirement to examine the basic data.Data can be exchanged with: MPX (old MSP format), XML (newer MSP format), P3B (old Primavera P3 format), XER (newer Oracle Primavera P3e v5, 6 & 7 format), older versions of Asta Powerproject and Asta Easyplan.Service and SupportWhile software functionality is an important area for comparison when considering what software might be right for your organisation, the type of support you receive when you have bought the software is also important.For example, when you have a deadline to meet (tender submission, monthly progress meeting, etc.) and you get stuck it is important to be able to pick up the phone and quickly speak to someone who can help you resolve any problem. The last thing you want is premium-rate phone calls or outsourced overseas call centres.Asta operates:An accessible and

A project so much faster and less of a technical challenge for the less experienced planner when using Asta Powerproject.You can edit directly on the Bar Chart and the position of tasks will always be a whole number of time-units (of your choice).In Asta Powerproject any edit you do on one task can also be done to a group. So for example you can pick up a group of tasks and move them two weeks into the future.When you move a task in Asta Powerproject to another date this doesn’t set a hidden imposed date. In Asta Powerproject you have to explicitly set an imposed date.Asta Powerproject context sensitive linkingAppearance on Screen and OutputThe quality of output from any software system is an important consideration. This is because what you present to colleagues, clients and supply-chain partners is key to disseminating and communicating a plan.Surround the output with a standard Border – which is a four sided graphical header and footer standard that can be edited with a graphical drawing tool called PowerDraw. This places an attractive and standard frame around any output.The body of a plan can be annotated with text of any mixed font and include any data value derived from a task. Pictures and any other embeddable object, e.g. spreadsheets and movies, can be included.Control the printing with a variety of features: fit to any number of pages – both horizontally and vertically; guaranteed to fill the whole page and not leave large white spaces depending on the aspect ratio of the output; set the number of rows to include on each page; switch On/Off various Legends as required and establish page breaks at regular and irregular intervals.The appearance of the plan can be controlled by turning any display feature On/Off – e.g. critical path marking, total

Of changes on a project and projecting the end date accurately. This requirement is important on all projects, but particularly where there is a contract between both parties and the result of changes can have a significant financial effect.Consider the situation where two tasks can partially happen at the same time. If there is only one link between these tasks then a change of duration can have no effect on the end date, but if there are two links it should.Asta Powerproject Start Asta Powerproject EndSimilarly where a task is only restrained by one link and is partially progressed, the remaining un-progressed section can apparently have no effect on the end date, but if there are two links it should.Asta Powerporject with partial progressInterruptible TasksModelling interruptible tasks correctly is important as it can affect the project finish date. Where a task restrained and two links exists, it is possible to consider stretching’ the task to allow it to start earlier while still having the same overall duration. This can result in the project taking place in a shorter time period. The ‘Foundations’ task is made ‘interruptible’ in Asta Powerproject, and this results in an earlier project finish date.Asta Powerproject with ‘Foundations’ stretched and earlier project finish date.Asta Powerproject can model this important situation, either by splitting a task into smaller parts and demonstrating the discontinuity effects of working this way, or it can keep the single task and show the overall result.Asta Powerproject can accommodate more than one activity on the same row of the Bar ChartThis is particularly valued as it makes printouts significantly smaller and more compact. Also it is a familiar way of planning housing, procurement and finishing plans.Asta Powerproject multi-task effect on a housing projectAsta Powerproject multi-task effect on the finishing stage of a projectResource Graphs

And Plans on same Screen/PageAsta Powerproject allows you to have multiple graphs and histograms – of people requirements, materials or finances. This means that you can make edits to the plan and immediately see the impact on resources levels. Where you are trying to balance work for a limited resource it is essential to work in this way.Asta Powerproject multiple graphs and histogramsAsta Powerproject lets you print out what you can see.Print whatever you see on screenIn Asta Powerproject, graphs and histograms can also be printed out separately or their values exported directly to Microsoft Excel.ProgressRecording the progress of a project is extremely important. Demonstrating the rate of progress and accommodating unforeseen situations while keeping the project on track (or minimising the impacts) is a principle requirement of project planning software.Asta Powerproject can show the value of a task’s Planned% Complete– i.e. how much shouldhave been done at a certain report date. This can of course be compared with what has been done to see where a project is ahead and behind schedule.The Progress Line (and Progress Shading) in Asta Powerproject can have its thickness, line type and colour defined. This means you can always make the Progress Line visible and not lost amongst other gridlines and links.More than one Progress Period can be created and data entered against each. This is important as you don’t just end up with an Actual Start and Actual End date, but a record of how the task progressed during eachProgress Period. This facilitates the most accurate ‘As-Built’ plan and it is often essential in demonstrating how and why a project has arrived at its current position. The actual cost, resource effort, task %- complete or EVA values per Progress Period can always be displayed and entered.Asta Powerproject showing detailed ‘As-Built’ progress every week.Asta

Powerproject showing progress vales and shading every week.An unlimited number of baselines can be created in Asta Powerproject. This is often necessary to record the position each week during the course of a project. Should you be asked to show what the situation was like several months ago this can be an extremely useful facility.The progress from the live project can be imposed on the baseline to obtain a Jagged Progress view – where the end date is not changed.Asta Powerproject showing progress effects applied to the baseline every weekCode Libraries – Colours, Filtering and BandingAsta Powerproject provides a structured way to affect the appearance of tasks on the bar chart.Libraries of ‘Codes’ for different circumstances (Work Package, Floor Levels, etc.) are created and each is assigned a colour/pattern and sort-order.A code (or more than one code) is assigned to a task (via drag-drop or spreadsheet entry) and so the task changes colour. The colour code Legend is shown on printouts and the Bar Chart can be Grouped and Sorted by these Code Libraries. This provides an excellent coordination mechanism – as people can see which tasks belong to whom. It also allows all the work of a single contractor to be easily filtered out, or the work of various contractors or resources to be gathered together into an alternative structure.Ease of UseThe ease with which one piece of software can be used compared with another can be a subjective judgement, however in Asta Powerproject several tailored features do make it simpler and more accurate to use.You create links by drawing them from where they start to where you want them to end. You don’t have to enter the Link Type, nor the lead/lag value – all this is interpreted from where you start/end the link creation. This makes linking