FlexiProject as a Microsoft Project alternative: the comparison

You work with familiar plan elements, in the browser and with no client to install. When you move a task, the dates of dependent tasks recalculate right away, and the critical path is highlighted. A milestone is a separate object type. Under the timeline you see resource workload, so you notice overload as soon as you change a date. Details are on the Gantt chart tool page.

Yes. In FlexiProject the schedule is shared by the whole team. A phase owner updates their part while the project manager works on a different branch at the same time. In the desktop version of Microsoft Project, a plan has to be checked out for editing and returned afterwards. You see the same data as a task list and in the Kanban board tool. The team reports progress without opening the timeline.

Yes. Every approved plan version is stored for comparison. Variance against the baseline shows directly on the Gantt chart. You submit a change to an approved plan as a request with a justification, and a named person approves it. A year later you can check why dates shifted. Approved versions live in the project plan module.

Yes. Working days, company holidays and time off affect task dates. Each person has a daily availability level tied to their contract, so you do not plan a half-time specialist like a full-time employee. You import time off from Outlook instead of retyping it. Assigning a task past someone’s availability triggers a warning. The whole team’s availability is in the resource management system.

Yes. The project budget covers planned costs, revenue and margin. You link every line to a task date, so cash flow changes together with the schedule. In Microsoft Project the budget covers costs and earned value, without revenue or margin. In FlexiProject you version budget changes and compare them with earlier ones. Read more on the project budget module page.

A risk register is part of every project. Each risk has a probability, an impact, a response plan and a link to a schedule task. In Microsoft Project with Project Server, risks run as a SharePoint list on the project site, without a configurable matrix. In FlexiProject you set the matrix yourself, and you compare risks across projects at the portfolio level. The project risk module page describes the feature.

Yes. You configure multi-step and parallel paths yourself, without writing workflows. You name the decision maker as a project role, so the path still works after staffing changes. In Project Server, an approval workflow is built at the server layer. In FlexiProject, every decision records its author, date and comment. The project approval module page describes the setup.

Yes. Every deliverable has an owner, acceptance criteria and a deadline, and a template can add document patterns. You link a deliverable to the tasks that produce it, so scope is described through results. A Project Server project site has a Deliverables list with a name and dates. In FlexiProject the sponsor accepts each deliverable against criteria set at the start. Scope described through deliverables lives in the project deliverables module.

No. You build dashboards, portfolio summaries and review reports in the system. You do not buy a separate BI licence and you do not maintain an extra data model. You assemble a report from ready widgets, then export it to Excel with filters kept. You prepare separate report sets for departments and roles. Ready reports are in the project reporting module.

Yes. FlexiProject is a good Microsoft Project alternative for portfolio management, because you score ideas against your own criteria and weights. You send a scoring survey to several reviewers and see their scores side by side. Next to the score you also get NPV, IRR and payback. In a simulation you switch a project off and see how portfolio indicators change. You select portfolio projects in the project scoring module.

Yes. A goal in FlexiProject carries a baseline value, a target and a current value. Goals form a tree with subgoals, and you link projects to them with a level of influence. Leadership sees goals, indicators and linked projects on one screen. Goals and their indicators live in the strategic goals module.

Start with a list of what the team actually uses: schedules, resources, custom fields and reports. You import schedules from .mpp and Excel files together with dependencies, baselines and calendars. During the transition you can keep old projects in the previous system and run new ones in FlexiProject. We covered the background in our post on the end of Project Server support.

A planner who knows Microsoft Project finds their way around the schedule right away. Training then covers mainly the new modules: the project charter, risks, reviews and approvals. Team members mostly learn to report progress and hours. The app has context help with videos, available on the screen you are working on. Good practice is described in the knowledge base software.

Yes. Employees log hours on tasks, and you see planned and actual time side by side for every task. You also log hours in the mobile app, which helps teams on site and in the field. From a phone you also report task progress with a comment and a photo. Logged time shows up in the resource utilisation view. The team’s hours run through the time tracking module.

Yes, with the full feature set of the cloud version. The installation needs a Windows server with IIS, without a SharePoint farm. The on-premises deployment of Microsoft Project is Project Server Subscription Edition on SharePoint Server Subscription Edition Enterprise with SQL Server behind it. On the FlexiProject side you maintain one application. Deployment and licence models are on the pricing page.

Yes. In the cloud version we store data in the European Economic Area, encrypt transmission and run backups automatically. You can turn on two-factor authentication for users. You set permissions down to a single project tab, so only named people see the budget. You separate divisions and their approval paths in the workspace module.

Yes. You run operational tasks next to project tasks, each with an owner, a deadline and a recurrence pattern. A recurring task reappears once completed, so you do not re-enter routine work every time. Every user has one list of their tasks from all projects and areas. A task can have several owners and disappears from a person’s list once they complete it. Everyday work runs through the operational task module.