Almost like clockwork, Microsoft releases a new service or app across its Office 365 offering, giving users more productivity and collaboration tools and services. In this article we’ll focus on Office 365 Project Online which is essentially Project Server in the cloud. What was once reserved as an on-premise Enterprise application built on SharePoint is now available as part of the Office 365 family of apps. Below is a list and description of each area of Office 365 Project Online and Project Server:
Office 365 Project Online (MSPO):
This is Microsoft’s entry into a hosted Project Server solution. This is essentially Project Server in the cloud. Before Microsoft entered this arena there were a number of vendors and partners providing a similar service. As Microsoft focused on its Office 365 solutions, moving Project Server to the cloud was obvious. What was previously a challenge for many organizations with sharing important project information outside of the corporate firewall can be overcome with Project Online.
Learn more about Project Online Premium
Project Online Professional (Subscription vs Non-Subscription):
Project Professional is the scheduling engine behind Project Server and Project Online. This application is reserved for project managers who will be doing the “heavy lifting” around managing projects. Project Professional connects to your Project Online or Project Server environment and lets you manage enterprise projects including checking out and publishing projects to these environments respectively. Only users who need all of the functionality that Project Professional will need a license of this application. The only difference between the Subscription version and Non-Subscription version is how you pay for it. In either case you are using a desktop application to manage projects and resources in PWA. There is also a Standard version that has all of the features and capabilities as Professional without the ability to connect to PWA.
Learn more about Project Online Professional
Office 365 Project Online (MSPO) Premium:
This is the same O365 description as above, essentially Project Server in the cloud. The Premium edition includes Project Professional as part of the license.
Project Web App (PWA):
The Project Web App or PWA is essentially the “front end” or home page for your Project Online or Project Server environment. This is where users will browse to in order to get access to project and resource information. This is also where users will be authenticated and the appropriate user rights granted. PWA is often used interchangeably with Project Server and Project Online because this is the destination of the app.
Project Online Essentials:
Project Online is considered a role based environment and this license is specifically for Team Members who will need access to project assignments, status reports and project sites. These users are not expected to run Project Professional.
Learn more about Project Online Essentials.
Project Server 2016 PWA CAL:
This is the on-premise Server and end user CAL (Client Access License) that each server and user will need to access Project Server (PWA). A single server CAL is required on the application server. For the PWA CAL you can think of this as Project Lite described above, but for the on premise environment.
Learn more about Project Server 2016.