Microsoft Project Server 2007 is well known as an enterprise project management (EPM) application offering budget tracking and cost resources and reporting data services compatible with common business reporting tools such as Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007.

Microsoft provides a hosted version of Microsoft Project Server 2007 through a network of authorized third-party hosting providers. Going the hosted route with Microsoft Project Server 2007 means, you can off put the infrastructure that Project Server 2007 at a substantial cost savings versus building the required infrastructure on your own network.

Microsoft Project Professional 2007 acts as a client for Microsoft Project Server or you can use Office Project Web access to access Project Server 2007. In the case of Project Hosts, a Microsoft Project Server 2007 hosting partner, customers use this interface to setup a link to Project Professional.

Office Project Web Access enables projects team to collaborate over the Web and it includes a proposals capability for managing plans activities prior to project approval and an activity plan capability for managing operational activities after project completion. Microsoft Project Server 2007 includes sophisticated analysis and reporting with its Cube Building service that enables users to build portfolio analyzer cubes.

While Project Server 2007 is a sophisticated project management tool, users can access it through Microsoft Office applications like Outlook for entering progress or Excel 2007 and Visio Professional 2007 for creating dynamic reports. For far too long, project management tools have been inaccessible to non-project managers and Microsoft’s move to have their Office suite tools serve as front-end is a testament that project management data needs to be accessible to wider range of users than just the PMO.