next pm suite

Project managers and other authorized users can use the project editor to edit their projects (create and update them).

An administrator can arrange standard fields—such as project name, project manager, project start date, project type, etc.—in any order on tabs, for example, to group relevant fields together for a status report.

Depending on the field type and configuration, the project editor provides helpful information, such as a drop-down menu, a calendar icon, or an icon that allows you to click directly on a hyperlink.

Total effort can be planned in the project editor using a customizable resource structure (down to the individual level, if necessary) and distributed either linearly over the current project duration or manually.

(Unless the project is planned at the work package level with deadlines and effort in another tool, such as Next Project)

This allows you to verify, at the project portfolio level using a resource histogram, the extent to which sufficient capacity is available in accordance with all current project plans.

Configure dashboards tailored to your needs or those of management. Combine the widgets you need in a logical way to efficiently prepare for and conduct your project steering committee meetings.

Use simple tables or charts (such as pie charts or bar charts) to quickly get an overview of the status of projects in your project portfolio.

(e.g., a breakdown of current projects by their current traffic light status and a list of all projects with a "red" status, including relevant details—such as the project client).

Click on a segment to view a list of the included projects, or click on a specific project to go directly to the project editor for that project.

As in individual project management, tasks are visualized as time-proportional bars; however, in project portfolio management, you can configure which projects are filtered and how they are grouped and sorted.

Are the projects visualized as individual bars, or are they also displayed with their initial baseline plan and the underlying milestones and dependencies?

Decide which additional project information should be displayed as text in the columns, or according to which criteria the project bars should be colored.

Take advantage of the Kanban board method—which has been in use for decades and is well-established in agile individual project management—adapted for modern project portfolio management.

Choose a structure (buckets) for your board, where projects are displayed as cards with the desired project information in text form and color-coded.

If necessary, make decisions in the management view and document them directly in the tool (e.g., by dragging and dropping projects into a different management priority bucket).

Click on a card to navigate directly to the project details if you need additional information in the management view to make a decision.

As with next portfolio, one of the most popular views is the project pipeline, a specific configuration of the portfolio chart.

• In the portfolio chart, you can customize the layout using filters, axis settings, and bubble size and color (as well as other parameters).
• In the project pipeline, standardized phases are plotted on the X-axis in a logical sequence, and a corresponding background image is added.
• Use this to identify trends or derive strategies and decisions for projects in a specific segment (e.g., low strategic fit, high risk).

Based on continuously updated project schedules and workloads, resource requirements and availability can be analyzed and aligned in the resource histogram. View entire departments at a high level or focus on specific bottleneck resources to determine the extent to which project needs can be met.

The project table provides the most information about the projects:

• Filter, group, and sort the projects as needed to support the project steering committee’s decisions.
• Simply select and arrange the columns to your desired width, and save a variety of templates for different information needs and target audiences.
• Export the comprehensive project information as an MS Excel file, which you can distribute, analyze further, or import into a third-party system.

• Manage: users, fields, structures (resource and cost types, project types, project phases, strategic directions, etc.), filters available for templates, background images, and the permissions that determine which tabs and fields users can edit.
• Fields can be created and extensively configured based on the field type:
  e.g., drop-down options, custom colors, maximum values, default values, user descriptions, etc.

• Let users of the next pm suite (project managers, PPF managers, PMO, PSK) choose their preferred language or design.
• Use the built-in AI chatbot to explain how the tool works or to answer questions about the project portfolio and its projects. You can access the relevant editors and reports within the tool directly from the chatbot’s responses.

Project portfolio management has never been easier!