BANGALORE: Microsoft Corporation India has entered in to the Enterprise
Project Management (EPM) space with the launch of its project management
software, Project 2002. EPM solutions are designed to help organizations manage,
track and analyze multiple projects across the enterprise, increasing
operational efficiencies while decreasing costs. With these solutions, Microsoft
aims to target the huge market for EPM solutions that comprises e-governance
projects, IT Services companies and the IT departments within large enterprises.
Currently, the Microsoft Enterprise partners will be providing these
solutions in India. Microsoft has launched this in India with support from PMI
chapter and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
According to a report issued by IDC in 2000, the EPM Market was pegged at
$5million, with a projected growth of $2.1bn by 2004. According to a research
conducted by the Project Management Institute in the US, EPM solutions have been
found to have a direct implication on customer satisfaction and overall
productivity with an increase of 33 percent and 61 percent respectively.
"The new features and enhancements in Microsoft Project 2002 make it a
robust and flexible business solution for enterprise customers," said,
Microsoft India Group Marketing Head Sanjiv Mathur. "Efficient project
management can help businesses of all sizes achieve better bottom-line results.
The new solutions and tools that we have developed provide executives, project
managers and other stakeholders with insight into and control over enterprise
wide projects, enabling more informed decision-making and better utilization of
resources."
Microsoft’s EPM offering has Project 2002 at its core, and includes Windows
2000 Server and SQL Server 2000. The cost of products under Project 2002 varies,
depending upon the number of desktops. The estimated retail price of Project
Server 2002 is $1000 per desktop, the Project Professional costs $700 and
Project CAL is for $130. Windows 2000 Server and SQL Server 2000 are priced
separately.