Q & A: Project Planning Software

Standard Time (ST) is a project planning software product with timesheet, time tracking, and other components.  What follows is a brief Q & A session describing the capabilities of the product.  Feel free to browse the topics, and download a copy of Standard Time!

Q: Is ST like Microsoft Project?
A: Yes, sort of.  Standard Time is more of a blend between project planning, project management, and time tracking.  It is not just for planning projects.  There is a timesheet, expense tracking, client invoicing, and time off tracking.

Q: Does it work with Microsoft Project?
A: Yes, definitely.  Standard Time allows you to bring your MPP files into a SQL database, where all projects are peers.  You will see the full project hierarchy, including summary tasks, actual tasks, and milestones.  After tracking time to tasks, you can send actual hours back to each MPP file.  Click here for more information.

Q: How do you plan a project?
A: Project planning is very similar to Microsoft Project.  First, you optionally build summary tasks (which are called subsystems in ST), and then you add actual tasks to them.  The actual tasks are assigned to users, who see them in their timesheets.  They track time to them, and the project is automatically updated in real time.

More below...

Project Planning Software

Q: What fields are available for planning projects?
A: Here are some of the fields available in each project task: Start, Finish, Duration, Actual Work, Remaining, Percent Complete, Gantt, Client costs, Salary costs, Completed, and many more.

Q: Can I see how resources are allocated to tasks?
A: Yes, just choose View, Project Resource Allocation to see a graphical bar chart of allocated tasks.  There's even text-based grids with the same data.

Q: How about a Gantt chart?
A: Yep, that's included in the project task view, along with all the other data columns.

Q: You mentioned a timesheet.  Why do I need that?
A: The timesheet lets employees track time to your projects.  Why? For client billing and project management.  There's not much point in planning projects if you don't collect actual hours to compare with your estimates, true?

Q: Is it web-based?
A: Yes, Standard Time is Windows and Web based.  That means you see the same data on both platforms.  Data is stored in a secure SQL Server database, and both clients can access it.  You can even access it from a Palm OS, Pocket PC, or BlackBerry device.

We hope this has helped to answer some of your questions.  The real test comes when you download Standard Time and try it for yourself.  And, we can even schedule a demo to show you.  What are you waiting for?  J

Download Standard Time today and try it for yourself.