I'd like to share my thoughts and experience with project management software, and propose a particular software product (Microsoft Project) for evaluation as a tool for tracking CMS cost, schedule, and progress.
The project management software I have had experience with includes:
In general, any of these products can be used to establish a planned cost profile and schedule, to track the actual cost and schedule, and to compare and contrast the planned and actual cost and schedule profiles.
Microsoft Project is available in both Mac and PC versions; MacProject is a Mac-only product; and Open Plan and Primavera run under PC/DOS only (a Windows version of Open Plan has just been released). Open Plan is built on top of dBase, so dBase (or Microsoft FoxBase) is also required. The others use an internal database structure.
The cost of Microsoft Project and MacProject Pro is around $200 (academic version); Open Plan plus Cobra is ~$12,000; I don't know the cost of Primavera. These prices are for single-user licenses on a single machine.
Both Microsoft Project and MacProject Pro can import and export in MPX format. MPX is a platform-independent project management format. There is a third party product available (~$300) which can convert to/from MPX and Open Plan. A Primavera add-on module permits export in MPX format.
Open Plan/Cobra was the project management software used to manage the entire SSC Project, including the SDC detector project. I was in the process of migrating the SDC calorimeter project management software from Primavera to Microsoft Project when the SSC was canceled.
Open Plan/Cobra is a very capable (and complex) piece of project management software. We were able to import data into Open Plan from most other project management software, with limited success in exporting data from Open Plan to other products.
Primavera is equally complex. A great deal of effort was expended transferring data from Primavera to Open Plan; no attempt to transfer data from Open Plan to Primavera was attempted. I very strongly recommend against adopting Primavera for CMS. Although it may be capable, the process of exchanging data with other applications is simply too complex, and the PC-only limitation is too severe.
Open Plan/Cobra would undoubtedly meet all our needs, but it is likely overkill. It is very expensive, which would limit collaborators access to this product. The fact that it is a PC-only application is also a big minus in a largely-Mac world.
I evaluated both Microsoft Project and Mac Project (at a time before Mac Project Pro was released) for use by the SDC calorimeter project, and Microsoft Project was the hands-down winner. It is considerably more capable than MacProject, and is available in both Mac and PC/Windows versions. The new version of Microsoft Project has received favorable reviews, and I believe would be a good choice.
MacProject Pro is the successor to MacProject. It addressed many of the limitations of MacProject, and in version 1.5 added the capability to import/export MPX files. MacProject Pro 1.5 is "almost as good" as Microsoft Project 3.0. At some level, it comes down to a personal preference. With the careful definition a fields, it would be possible to build a version of MacProject Pro which is compatible with Microsoft Project, and with which it would be possible to routinely exchange data.
I intend to track the US CMS costs, schedule, and progress using Microsoft Project on a Macintosh. It integrates well with Microsoft Excel, and I like the Microsoft interface. The availability of both Mac and PC versions is a plus. The ability to exchange MPX files with users who prefer MacProject is also a bonus.
I propose that we obtain a few copies of Microsoft Project for evaluation. A little bit of hands-on experience will go a long way towards determining if it can meet our needs.