Perhaps at a certain point in your professional career, in the company you work at, the following question arose: Should we deploy Project Online or Project Server?
We write this text to guide you on the differences and particularities of each version of Project Online and Server, so you can get an overview of Microsoft Project.
In this article, we will not consider technical aspects such as version, server capacity or any other technical characteristic, because our goal is to bring an overview from the perspective of the business area of the company.
In this comparison between Project Server and Online we consider the following topics:
- hosting;
- Licensing;
- accesses;
- Installation / Implementation;
- Integration;
- Migration.
Initially, the difference between Project Online and Project Server starts at your hosting site, Project Online is hosted on Microsoft servers. Project Server is hosted on the company's local servers or on some private server, but Project Server is considered safer than Project Online because it has fewer accesses and is less exposed.
Another difference we can mention is related to the type of licenses required for the operation of the two. In Project Online you can choose 3 plans, "Project Online Essentials", "Project Online Professional" and "Project Online Premium".
The Project Online Essentials is used by team members on which the interface is based for members with the features of updating tasks, reporting problems and risks, sending schedules, sharing documents, and using the "Microsoft Teams" or "Skype for Business" platforms.
The Project Online Professional is used by project managers with all the features of Project Online Essentials, cost control, project scheduling, resource management, cloud project publishing, Project desktop application in the latest version. Each subscription license allows up to five simultaneous installations of the Project application for desktop.
The Project Online Premium is used by resource and portfolio managers, the license has all the features of Project Online Professional and adds portfolio selection and optimization, demand management, company resource management and portfolio ready reporting options.
In the case of Project Server, the cost with licensing is higher because it depends on the number of users and the licenses will be owned by the company.
For Project Online, there is no need to worry about investing in or updating servers, as they are Microsoft's responsibility. The service and technical support will be carried out via central online.
For Project Server, the company is responsible for the acquisition and updating of the servers and should, for this, have an internal structure with IT department to perform this activity. In addition, upgrade packages are also the company's responsibility. Microsoft technical support will be provided via telephone.
Based on the assumption that the servers have already been hired or installed, the next step is to evaluate how access to these servers would be performed.
For Project Online, Microsoft does not provide access to the database and both the backup and security against viruses, spams and bots are also under Microsoft's responsibility. In Project Online, Microsoft predicts uptime of 24x7 guaranteed by them.
Project Server allows access to the database and error log. In addition, project backup is native and database backup is done via SQL. Project Server also allows access to the full administrative center for server configuration.
The next item we will address is the integration of the Project with other market tools. In Project Online we are easier to extract reports from the system, but we need to use ODATA. Another feature we can list is easy integration with Microsoft applications (PowerApp, Flow, PowerBI, Exchange Online).
On the other hand, Project Server is easier to integrate with third-party products such as SAP or Oracle.
Finally, we will analyze the difference between them when we think of migration of versions.
In the case of Project Online, migration to the next versions of PPM is automatic, without the need for any manual process to be carried out by the company, as all migration is carried out by Microsoft.
For Project Server migration, the work to be performed can be considered greater because:
- The Product is outdated with time;
- Every 3 years Microsoft launches a New Project Server;
- It is expected that every 5 years migration will be necessary;
- Microsoft Support expires after a few years.
Considering the items presented in this article, the decision to choose which version of the Project will be indicated for your company may take into account other points than those mentioned in this article such as: company size, number of users, structure, budget among others. We hope we have clarified your main doubts with this article so you can promote a discussion in your company about the advantages and disadvantages of installing Project Online and Project Server.
To learn more about MLPro solutions for your company, please contact us and request a proposal.
Original content from the MLPro editorial library, fully preserved and translated for the English website.