At their 24th Annual User Conference in Orlando, the big news was the totally revamped Web functionality of Primavera's new flagship product P6. The attendance of users is great, rooms are filled and the overall quality of the presentations was excellent. P6 itself, particularly the Web version, is just pure pleasure and functionality.

Primavera seems to be able to stay on top of new technologies, incorporating them into their product suite the moment they are mature enough for that. Examples are the dynamic definition of dashboards, new concepts of navigation, and ability to extend comprehensive Gantt chart capabilities to the Web.  

In a way, the P6 Web version's administrative capabilities (like the definition of dashboards and template views) resemble those of state-of-the-art content management systems. It would be really interesting to see the effect of a merging of such tools on the information flow of projects. It could be the next level of collaboration and information.   

The one area where I keep missing the proper perspective is the definition of complete processes for clients. While Primavera's product vision reflects the needs of project-centric activities and processes, it is not quite as clear where these products and product-centric processes fit in the really big picture, particularly when dealing with large and complex organizations. It seems that the Primavera product portfolio takes some steps towards integrating purchasing functionality and enhancing cost management capabilities. On the other hand, the new 'Inspire' SAP-Primavera integration product points at SAP to take care of such business functions.

For example, if you are a construction company, how do you integrate contract manager - and the reporting of actual hours and progress - into your Peachtree or Quickbooks accounting system? Do you need to custom develop interfaces for bookkeeping, billing, time sheet approvals, payment scheduling? Or if you are an owner using SAP - what about the top-down budgeting control you want to maintain in SAP-PS, the standardized procurement control you need to keep in SAP, while you still have the need for reconciliations of the kind that Primavera Contract Manager is designed to provide? I guess in this context the definition of "enterprise" functionality takes on a different kind of meaning...

What's new in P6

• New layout
• Reflection Projects
• Fragnets
• Ability to define templates and standards for layouts and views (including dashboards)
• Highly effective navigation
• Includes now almost all functions of the thick client
• Flexible and dynamic Gantt chart

Some Shortcomings of the Web Version

While in the significantly enhanced product the positive definitely outweighs the shortcomings, there are a few of those. Some of the following points seem already be addressed by Primavera with their next service packs.  

§  Only one project can be opened at a time

§  Only up to 5000 activities can be open at any one time

§  Some administrative functions still require the installation of the thick client