Frequently Asked Questions
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What is ProjectDash™?
Who uses it?
How can it help me?
What type of projects is it for?
What project elements are shown?
How time consuming is it?
Does it integrate with MS Project?
How do I buy it?
What is the ProjectDash compatible with? (i.e. Microsoft Project etc.)
Can I import project data into ProjectDash™ from Microsoft Project, Excel or our financial system?
Can I make changes to project data in ProjectDash and import those changes back into Microsoft Project?
Do I need to use Microsoft Project in order to use ProjectDash?
How can I see all the projects on one page?
Do you offer consulting services?
What is ProjectDash™?
ProjectDash™ takes your existing Project Metrics and displays them in a Project Performance Dashboard that is intuitive, inexpensive and available anytime, from anywhere! ProjectDash can be installed on your internal network or purchased by project from iDashes' web service.
Who uses it?
Most ProjectDash™ users are people managing projects.Project Managers have a common and consistent method for presenting and reviewing project status to a wide range of constituents. Project Teams and customers can see the progress and next steps - immediate and real time Executives can track multiple projects and quickly identify problem areas. Internal and External Customers and Partners can see the status of key projects.
How can it help me?
It is a tool to communicate status and performance of all projects in
an organization. It is a great visual enhancement for users and stakeholders.
Communicate status and high level results. Easily expand project communication
and access to customers, colleagues or suppliers. Quickly communicate
to stake holders without burying them in detail
Upload milestones and resources directly from popular project management
tools and spread sheets and avoid double entry. Available to anyone with
web access. For less detailed project management, ProjectDash™ is
all you need!
What type of projects is it for?
ALL types of projects.
- Information technology projects to monitor new software development or software
installations, or major infrastructure changes. - Major capital projects to ensure executives, customers and finance knows status
of major investment projects. - New product development tracking, so all constituents know what the next steps are
and planned rollout timetable. - Construction or engineering projects - communicate high level milestones, costs,
and end deliverables with your customers and partners to ensure everyone knows
current status and expected completion dates
What project elements are shown?
Deliverables, Milestones and Resources, Risks and Action Items(Quality, Time and Cost). There is a place to share up-to-date project documents as well, such as meeting minutes, project schedules and spread sheets.
How time consuming is it?
ProjectDash™ has a very intuitive, web-based interface. Updating key milestone dates and resource categories only takes about 10 minutes. This is saved many times over in reduced man hours in meetings and phone calls presenting project status. Only key milestones and resource categories are input- With up to 10 Major categories, each of which has up to 10 Minor categories, the average number of inputs is about 25 for each category of milestones and resources
Does it integrate with MS Project?
Yes. You can easily upload MS Project information into ProjectDash™. You can even upload data from Excel into ProjectDash™.
How do I buy it?
You can select to buy Projectdash™ for your internal systems or
buy porjects through our web service. ProjectDash™ is sold in prepaid,
twelve (12) month subscriptions, and can be started up in hours. You can
purchase a single Project subscription, a package of six subscriptions,
or an enterprise package. Pricing varies from $8.00 per project per month
for a single Project subscription to $6.81 per project per month for
the six-pack. Each account is initially allowed to have up to 100 named
users and 1 mb of storage per project. More user packages and storage
can be purchased. Click Buy ProjectDash™
to start your order!
What is the ProjectDash™ compatible with? (i.e. Microsoft Project etc.)
If you are using Microsoft Project or another project management tool to track tasks, assignments and dependencies, there is no need to rekey milestone dates into ProjectDash. The following steps allow you to pull data directly from your project management solution:
You setup a CSV, or comma delimited, text file, with rows for every milestone and three sets of data for each: the milestone name, the forecast completion date, and the actual completion date (if completed). Microsoft Project uses a standard date format that looks like: "Wed 3/13/02." This is a one-time setup. If you prefer, you can copy the Sample Macro, then run it.
Step 1 - Save Export Map
Step 2 -Task Mapping
Step 3 -Select Export Map
Step 4 - Upload
Step 5 - Review and Update
Sample Macro
NOTE: Milestone names in your Microsoft Project file must be precisely the same as your milestone names in ProjectDash for dates to properly update.
Can I import project data into ProjectDash™ from Microsoft Project, Excel or our financial system?
ProjectDash™ can import data for Milestones and Resources from any program that can create a comma separated value (.CSV) file, including Microsoft Project and Excel and most financial systems. ProjectDash's Help function explains the steps to import the data. We also provide the macros that can be copied and pasted into Microsoft Project to perform the export function automatically. The ProjectDash™ import matches the names of the resources and milestones that are used to map the data. Alternatively you can input project data manually.
Can I make changes to project data in ProjectDash™ and import those changes back into Microsoft Project?
When used in conjunction with Microsoft Project or other project management tools, ProjectDash™ operates as a project reporting and communications tool. In this case changes to project data should be made in the project management tool such as Microsoft Project and then imported into ProjectDash.
Do I need to use Microsoft Project in order to use ProjectDash™?
ProjectDash™ is primarily a project performance tracking and reporting tool but can be a very cost-effective way to manage projects and initiatives when Microsoft Project is unavailable or inappropriate. The learning curve for ProjectDash is very short as compared to Microsoft Project, project data can be easily entered manually and the project communication and reporting capability is immediately available within a single tool.
How can I see all the projects on one page?
The main dashboard that you see after you log in can display six projects per entity. As a user, you can set what entity and which six projects you want to display. To display all the projects that you have access to, select the ProjectDash™ Summary on the main dashboard page. This is also the typical view used for portfolio review discussions so that you can easily sort and focus your attention on the projects with performance issues or sort by project manager.
Do you offer consulting services?
Yes, we would be happy to discuss our consulting services with you.