Custom Project Management Software
Core & Extended Features, Benefits, Costs
With 35 years in software development, ScienceSoft provides project management consulting and development services for custom project and portfolio management software.
The Essence of Project Management Software
Custom project management (PM) software streamlines administrative decisions on projects and aligns collaboration between project managers, project team members, and other project stakeholders. PM software helps with:
- Project planning.
- Project team, budget, tasks, risks, and document management.
- Project team collaboration.
- Approval and prioritization of projects.
- Project progress monitoring.
- Reporting on project effectiveness and resource consumption.
For project-intensive businesses, custom PM software can have extended functionality and cover portfolio project management (PPM).
Key Features of Custom Project Management Software
Based on ScienceSoft's 35 years of experience in software development, we can outline the core functionality of a custom project management system.
Project management software features
Extended features for portfolio management
Success Stories by ScienceSoft
Valuable Integrations for Custom Project Management Software
ScienceSoft recommends integrating custom project management software with relevant corporate systems to improve visibility into project-related data as well as streamline project staffing, budget planning, and resource consumption tracking.
PM + ERP
- For ERP users: enables 360-degree visibility of project-related data (e.g., project schedules and results, procurement requirements, budget estimation and actual spending).
- For users of a PM solution: provides data about internal/external project demand, inventory and asset management, billing and accounting requirements, and more (depending on your ERP capabilities).
PM + Human capital management software
For users of a PM solution:
- Uploading employee profiles to the system streamlines project staffing and employee selection for high-priority project roles.
- HCM-stored data on employees’ general availability (with regard to their vacations, sick leaves, etc.) helps effectively plan the human resources’ capacity.
PM + Payroll software
- For payroll software users: sharing data on the project team members’ regular and overtime workloads, their billable and non-billable time contributes to the accuracy of payroll calculations.
- For users of a PM solution: uploading data like salaries and bonuses of project team members streamlines project budget planning.
PM + Asset management software
For users of a PM solution:
- Enables checking the availability and requesting assets relevant for a specific project.
- Uploading physical resources’ costs improves estimations of the project’s budget.
For AMS users:
- Shared data on projects’ utilization and consumption of physical resources helps optimize asset utilization and maintenance planning.
PM + BI tools
For users of a PM solution:
- Enables tracking and visualizing KPIs, risks, resources consumption per project/program with the help of diverse cumulative reports.
- Provides a wide range of project/portfolio forecasts.
- Predicts the success/failure probability for the initiated projects.
Success Factors of PM Software
Based on ScienceSoft's ample expertise in project management software implementation, we've defined a set of factors, which if covered, help maximize ROI of a custom project management system.
Strong PM analytics
Ensure analytic capabilities of your PM solution or integrate it with third-party AI-powered BI tools to get:
- Near-real-time analysis of project effectiveness.
- Accurate forecasting of project resources’ capacity and business value the proposed projects may bring.
Ample functionality for project team members
To level up the effectiveness of all project team members, ensure your PM solution enables them to:
- Register their project-related activities and time spent on them.
- Check their progress against project KPIs.
- Access the project map visualizing dependencies and accountability within the project.
- Initiate and participate in real-life discussions of project-related issues.
- Add and manage documents in the dedicated document repository.
PM software security ensured
Pay special attention to PM software security to prevent the business data leakage. PM security should be provisioned during the entire software lifecycle:
- At the requirements gathering stage (e.g., drawing up a risk profile, etc.).
- During the solution’s development (e.g., adherence to secure coding practices, etc.).
- During the software evolution (e.g., regular vulnerability assessments and penetration testing).
Cost Considerations for Custom Project Management Software
Key benefits PM solutions bring
- Enhanced project teams’ performance.
- Optimized human resources management.
- Fewer projects facing costs overrun.
- Increased number of timely delivered projects.
- Decreased organizational and project risks.
- Transparent and clear project approval process.
- Increased ROI of the company’s project investments.
PM software cost factors
To adequately estimate the investments into a custom project management solution, you have to take into account the following associated costs:
Development
- Functional complexity (the number and specifics of PM features).
- Number and types of integrations (e.g., via APIs, messaging).
- Performance requirements (minimal and expected number of users, scalability parameters, etc.).
- Migrating data from siloed project management data sources (e.g., department-specific PM tools or Excel spreadsheets).
Support, maintenance, enhancement
Depending on the criticality of a PM system to your organization, you should decide on:
- Relevant support timeframe (8/5, 12/5, 24/5, 24/7).
- Scope of support activities to handle current PM issues and cater to the upgrade and evolution of your PM solution.
|
|
|
|
|
The cost of a feature-rich PM solution with a project management module and a portfolio management module can range from $300,000 to $600,000. Despite the substantial investments, you can expect:
|
|
|
|
When Custom PM Software Is Your Best Choice
ScienceSoft advises you to consider the development of a custom PM system, when you have:
|
Specific and diverse project management workflowsEven industry-specific PM products (e.g., PM solutions for IT, construction and engineering, professional services) often don’t cover all industry/business/department peculiarities of PM procedures and may still require complex and costly customizations. Custom PM software, helps streamline your organization’s project-related processes with complete precision. |
|
A significant number of expected usersThe monthly fee for a platform-based PM solution multiplied by a large number of users (e.g., 500+) stays unchanged during the entire period of the PM solution’s usage. With time, it can outweigh the initial investment into a custom PM software, making it a more cost-effective variant for organizations with an extensive base of PPM users. |
|
Complex software ecosystems to integrate with PM softwareThough some vendors offer PM solutions that are easily integrated with their software suites (e.g., Microsoft Project, ServiceNow Project Management), integration with corporate software outside the suites may still require substantial investment and time. Opting for custom PM software, you get an integration architecture tailored to your company’s software ecosystem (including other custom and legacy solutions). |
Project Management Software Implementation
With 35 years in custom software development, ScienceSoft is ready to advise on and develop a PM solution tailored to your industry and business specifics.
Project management software consulting
ScienceSoft’s consultants will:
- Analyze your industry and business specifics, define the existing PM processes.
- Provide a requirements specification for your PM software.
- Draw up a scalable and secure architecture for the PM solution.
- Suggest an integration map to ensure effective workflows between PM and other business solutions (ERP, HCM, payroll system, etc.).
- Estimate PM software implementation costs and time.
- Calculate the expected ROI and payback period for your solution.
Project management software development
ScienceSoft’s team will:
- Develop a requirements specification for your project management software.
- Create a secure and scalable PM software architecture.
- Design a convenient and well-structured GUI ensuring the minimal number of usage steps for smooth PM workflows.
- Develop the front and back end for custom PM software.
- Integrate PM software with relevant business software (e.g., HCM, financial and payroll software).
- Execute full-cycle testing activities.
- Perform post-implementation support and maintenance activities, handle PM software evolution.
What makes ScienceSoft different
We achieve project success no matter what
ScienceSoft does not pass off mere project administration for project management, which, unfortunately, often happens on the market. We practice real project management, achieving project success for our clients no matter what.
About ScienceSoft
ScienceSoft is a global IT consulting and software development company headquartered in McKinney, Texas. We provide project management consulting and custom PM software development services to help organizations optimize financial and human resources utilization in the projects and increase their business value. Achieving project goals in spite of time and budget constraints, as well as changing requirements, is ScienceSoft's top priority. You set goals, we drive the project to fulfill them.