Project managers: I am seeking a tool that can:
- Allow managers to forecast staffing needs for ongoing projects by project, by task for up to a year (ETCs) [this is similar to what is done for EVMS but we do not have a full EVMS requirement at this time]
- Import revenues by task, and cost actuals-to-date for staff hours and dollars by project, by task, to determine profitability to date
- Allow managers to estimate labor for proposed projects, using cost of proposed staff to determine cost and mapping staff to sell rates to determine sell price
We are doing this now using macro-enabled Excel files. It does exactly what we want but is fragile. I am constantly tweaking it when we need something else and I do not have an independent test team so it’s like we are constantly beta testing. Looking for a robust commercial solution.
I am not looking for an evaluation, so GQ instead of IMHO. I am looking for “Does this exist?”
My recommendation will be to continue using your excel tool - maybe improve it or tweak it.
MsProject or Primavera or many free alternatives to them can also do what you want, but they will require tweaking too. And not just tweaking the software, but the managers and resources will require to speak and understand the language of the project management tool.
And switching project management software often creates unintended consequences and it maybe more than a year till everyone gets used to it.
So, I recommend doing a risk / benefit analysis before you switch.
That is my thinking too, in principle. However, I am considering retiring next year and the CEO is a little concerned about the supportability of my Excel system after I’m gone. But I explained to him that what we have is tailor-made to do exactly what we want, it works today, and there is no cash cost (only the opportunity cost of me doing that instead of something else). Plus if he wants something different (and this type of person always wants something different) I can do it. Oracle or SAP or Deltek isn’t going to do that for him.
MS Project has some of the features we need, and might be worth looking into. I have used it for scheduling but have never bothered with the EMVS-related features. I haven’t used Primavera for about 25 years so no idea what it looks like today.
We would definitely do that analysis before we switch.
One person has suggested Oracle NetSuite, which I am looking at. However, Oracle is a bit cagey about this. They don’t just put the info on their web site like consumer app sites. You have to sign up and then they contact you to give you a product tour 
@CookingWithGas - Congratulations for making it to retirement. Wishing you a great relaxing time ahead.
If the CEO wants you to do it, then I guess resistance is futile 
Here are some of my thoughts :
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It’s generally considered a bad idea to customize things like Oracle too much. First of all it’s not easy to customize and even if you do it successfully, whenever there is an update on Oracle, you will run into problems. So if you do decide to customize, then count on a full time IT support person.
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Every project manager does things differently and there is a lot of experience based “guesstimates” that goes into it. If you consider switching to Oracle or anything else, be prepared to change the way you look so things. It’s easier in the long run to think like the platform rather than make the platform think like you.
We use Planview. I am not necessarily recommending it, but I think it will do what you need, based on your description.
As a PM, I can add tasks to a project, assign roles (resources, which are also costed) to those tasks, and the program calculates what the cost will be for the task based on the role assigned to it and how long the task will last, as well as what % of the resource is assigned to the task - a forecast.
Resources log a timesheet each week, which is used to calculate actual costs. So, actuals combined with the forecasted costs can help you forecast the total cost for a project and a portfolio of projects (as well as each task, if that is what you also need). We can also track non-labor costs to a project, such as fixed bid contracts and T&M, as well as specifying capital vs expense costs.
Resource managers can use it to manage/level resource needs and identify when someone is over-allocated. I believe we have a group that analyses resource capacity across the enterprise.
I will say the interface for the version we use is not great, so PMs usually have a steep learning curve. Some people chaff at the idea of filling out a timesheet (only those assigned to projects have to). I also think we are not using the tool to it’s full potential. Anyway, there it is.
I will have a look. We have a culture of timesheets because we are a federal contractor.