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General questions about Primavera products

11 replies [Last post]
Tue, 2009-07-07 07:49
Bo Johnsen
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Hi,

Being totally new to Primavera (well, except “Contractor” some years ago), as I’m normally planning in either MS Project, Pertmaster or Powerproject, I have some questions that I hope someone can answer more informative than what you can find or download on their webpage (which is basically next to nothing).

1) P3 – can it still be purchased and is it worth the money? I’ve heard upgrades stopped back in the 90’ties and support is hard to obtain. Is moving to P5 or P6 just like an upgrade or are they basically whole new planning packages?

2) P5 – can it still be purchased? What about upgrades or is Primavera know only focusing on P6? Moving from P5 to P6, is this just like a new version of the same programme or is it almost like a new programme?

3) P6 – Is it reliable as I’ve read about many people having problems with P6. What is the latest version of P6? Anything else to say about P6?

4) "Expedition" – can it still be purchased and if so what is the new name for it and what is the latest version?

5) Suretrak - can it still be purchased and what is the latest version?

6) Indicative price range for the above programmes based on standalone licenses.

7) Can any of the above Primavera products also do location-based-scheduling (LSM, time/location, French diagram, march chart, etc.), maybe only in a primitive form, and if so, which ones?

8) Any problems with conversion of files from one of the Primavera’s products to another Primavera product, also including Pertmaster.

Best regards,

Bo
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Replies

Fri, 2009-07-10 08:28
#1
Rafael Davila
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Yes, 10-4
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Fri, 2009-07-10 08:15
#2
Arthur Godbeer
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Rafael, that sounds good. (When I said "U.S." I meant mainland U.S.)

The only other thing I could add is that Primavera is a fairly independent Oracle "Global Business Unit". So your first port of call for info should be the likes of Miami Micro (I do know of them) or Oracle Primavera, rather than the more general Oracle offices.
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Fri, 2009-07-10 08:05
#3
Rafael Davila
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Arthur

As you figured it out we use US Partners as Puerto Rico is a US territory. The last I know was a company named Miami Micro Data, I took training with them at a San Juan hotel and it was excellent. They had a local technician that would provide on-site help to your company upon request for any issue regarding network and web deployment. I lost contact with them but now thanks to you, I know there are options, if we need additional licenses we will contact them, is easy to find their web site with a Google search.

Also thanks for the reminder it is no longer Primavera but Oracle a company with an even larger worldwide presence, is another option you can find in your phone book, here I found it to be Oracle Caribbean.

Best regards,
Rafael
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Fri, 2009-07-10 04:51
#4
Arthur Godbeer
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Rafael, you’re welcome.

Not being on a service contract should not prevent your getting information and/or quotations from an Oracle Certified Partner for Primavera. You’re a "prospect" and that’s their job. They would be very shortsighted (to use a relatively polite word!) if they didn’t understand that.

To find a Partner, go to the Oracle Solutions Catalog: http://solutions.oracle.com and search for Primavera. I can’t see any entry for Puerto Rico, but not all of the previous "Primavera Authorized Representatives" (PARs) have transitioned to the Oracle Partner Network or entered their company details in the Solutions Catalog. I don’t know if there used to be a local PAR, because the Primavera website where those were listed has closed down now. But you could try one of the U.S. Partners, or ask your local Oracle office to direct you to one.
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Fri, 2009-07-10 04:28
#5
Rafael Davila
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Arthur

Thanks so much for taking your time to get us all the information from the source, Primavera/Oracle.

I tried before to contact them via e-mail but it was impossible as we do not have service contract, now we know the options in case we need of another license we will contact a Primavera Vendor/Supplier directly.

Thank you again.
Rafael

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Fri, 2009-07-10 01:38
#6
Arthur Godbeer
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Rafael, you have asked three different questions, because you refer to three different products.

1. P3: My understanding is that it doesn’t matter how long ago P3 was purchased, or whether Maintenance was renewed. (As it was called then, and the first year of which would have been included in the purchase price.)

2. SureTrak: Independent of P3 in this context. And still available.

3. P6: If Support (as it is now called) is not purchased, then there is no access to new service packs or new versions. But Support may be renewed by payment of the required fees, including those from day one.

For any more information I suggest you speak to your Oracle Primavera supplier.
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Thu, 2009-07-09 11:51
#7
Rafael Davila
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Arthur

What about individuals who have an old license of a Primavera Product but not under any Service Agreement Contract?

Do they have to comply with any other requirements or just the license number is enough for them to buy any amount of licenses they do want for P3 and Suretrak?

I do work for companies that bought their licenses long ago and never paid for any Service Agreement. What if they purchase P6 and no Service Contract, what when P21 is released and they want to upgrade?

Best regards,
Rafael

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Thu, 2009-07-09 09:34
#8
Arthur Godbeer
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And a minor change to the name of what used to be Expedition Professional and which was renamed Contract Manager. The new Oracle Primavera name is Contract Management.
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Thu, 2009-07-09 09:33
#9
Arthur Godbeer
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"P3 has stopped in support and purchase". This is only true for companies that do not already have at least one P3 licence. Existing users may purchase further licences, and Support is at present available to at least the end of 2010. That was the commitment prior to the purchase of Primavera by Oracle and I’ve heard nothing yet that has changed that.

SureTrak is still available.
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Tue, 2009-07-07 22:57
#10
Rafael Davila
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I believe you cannot purchase P3 any longer, maybe a few Suretrak licenses still available. P3 is 16 bit software that is losing functionality; you cannot use Post Office with Outlook 2007 directly from within Primavera, though there is a partial fix. Suretrak is 32 bit software but not as powerful as P3 and limited to 10,000 activities. Both use Btrive Database in an easy to use interface, almost invisible, keeping a separate database per job. Because both are domed to extinction I would not recommend you to purchase any if you find a license for sale.

P3e (similar in name to P3 but a different animal), P4, P5 and P6 are different versions of the same software. These were bought by Primavera from another developer. You will get every other month a fix or service pack, then after a few fixes yow will get a new version with a new decimal or whole number. I do not like the interface; I have no need of the Enterprise Stuff, and believe 98% of construction jobs can be handled with an interface similar to P3 without getting into issues with database maintenance. Usually P6 users backup individual jobs as PST files but lose some (or a lot) of the enterprise data stored on the database.

Unless you really need Enterprise Stuff showing all jobs on a single database all sharing resources don’t buy it.

Some P6 users are reluctant to change because they do not want to learn something new, others because they have no choice due to the market penetration by Primavera. I do not believe Primavera/Oracle will maintain the market penetration in the Construction Industry with such a product.

A few years ago I used Expedition v8 under Citrix/Metaframe and then v9 as true web application, never liked it, maybe good to keep kindergarten kids aligned.

IF A GENERAL CONTRACTOR DOOM PRIMAVERA FOREVER

Still using P3 and SureTrak, in the future, I have no idea, hope not P6.
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Tue, 2009-07-07 21:32
#11
Duy Huynh
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1. P3 has stopped in support and purchase

2. P5 has stopped also, you will need to buy the lastest version P6.2.1 Moving from P5 to P6, it remain 70-80% the same. Almost upgrades are done within web based access, not much changes in client based.

3. Every computer program has bugs, you can’t expect P6 error free. The latest version is 6.2.1. Good web based project control for anyone need it.

4. Expedition is now called Contract Manager, latest version is 12.1

5. SureTrak, I am not sure but think it’s stopped as P3.

6. Price range depend on which country you live and many other factors.

7. Sorry, none

8. No, if you follow their guides and notes in every conversion.

Regards,
DH


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