Selecting a new project management software tool for your construction or engineering business is an important decision – and one you want to get right.

The comparison table below should help you with the process of comparing Asta Powerproject with other solutions on the market such as Microsoft Project, P3e/c and SureTrak.

Feature / benefit   Asta Notes   Asta   Another solution INSTRUCTIONS: To compare Asta Powerproject with another solution, check whether the other vendor(s) can also put a ‘tick in the box’ against each feature on this list. 100% designed for the construction and related industries.   Well-established product; developed over last 16 years.     Easy to use.   Familiar Microsoft style interface; construction specific features.     Construction specific template included as standard.   Includes pre-set calendars, resources and reports that are construction specific.     Comprehensive online help and tutorial.   Context sensitive help for all features in the software.     Date zone Up to 10-rows with project week numbering as one option. Also 3 different date zones to show different parts of plan at different horizontal scale   Useful for construction companies with their own procedures for project week numbering, as well as split zones for planning long projects (e.g. PFI)     Full control over presentation of project plans.   Everything in Asta Powerproject can be viewed or switched off –hide the critical path, float, holidays, logic, etc.     Customised borders for presenting project plans.   Each output (i.e. printed documented, PDF) is surrounded by a custom border which has precise and controllable graphic and project text references – like revision no’s, key project dates, company logo.     Plans are scalable to any chosen size.   Can fit to a single page (or multiple pages), with a wealth of scaling options.     Precise scheduling.   - Plan tasks in units from hours, days, weeks, months, years etc. - More than one link between two tasks. - Links can be categorised and even omitted from a reschedule.     Sophisticated calendaring.   - Each task and resource can have different calendars. - Each calendar can have a changing work pattern. - Non-work periods can be shown or hidden on the bar chart.     Multiple tasks on the same row.   Allows planners to breakdown a build project (e.g.. a house) into a number of build stages (e.g.. foundations, plastering, etc.) and view the tasks all on one line. Condenses information and reduces output size.     Progress and monitoring.   - Record exactly what happened on a task. - Record the Progress Period the work was carried out in – see as coloured periods - Jagged progress line that highlights where work is behind/ahead of schedule. - Unlimited baselines. - Run ‘what if’ scenarios to find best way of getting projects back on track.     Resource management.   All resource types supported – labour, plant, materials etc. - Each resource can be assigned its own specific properties, e.g. work rate, cost rate, calendar, etc. - Control how the resource levels are adjusted when a task changes – increase man-hours, or keep constant - Resource levelling to project the effect of reducing resource peaks - View resource utilisation instantly with customisable histograms.     Cash flow and costing.   Combine time and money to control costs and accurately forecast cash flows. Predict monthly valuation levels and break-even points and profit levels.     Distributing plans.   Book in/book out facility to send project plans (or sections of plans) to third parties so they can work on them. Low cost web/email tool for collecting progress from multiple sites and updating back into the main project plan. Ability to check project data before booking back into the master plan.     Portfolio management..   Manage multiple and/or large-scale projects from a single database.     Risk analysis.   Decision-support tool based on the Monte Carlo simulation method.     Scalable solution.   Available as standalone, over local area network or for use across the enterprise .     Training courses tailored to the construction sector.   Courses run every week in Oxfordshire, at clients’ premises and regionally.     Technical support desk   Staffed by support analysts who understand the construction industry.     Ability to integrate with other business systems.   Integrations established with, estimating, valuation and accounting software tools.     Ability to customise software to meet specific company requirements.   Dedicated in-house professional services team with extensive experience of the construction sector.     Used in up to 70% of successful UK construction projects.   Chartered Institute of Building awards, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998