Project Online Plan 1 (ANNUAL)

Project Online Plan 1 (ANNUAL), now increasingly referred to as Microsoft Planner Plan 1, is an entry-level, cloud-based project and work management solution offered by Microsoft. Designed for individuals, small teams, and "accidental project managers," it provides essential tools for planning, tracking, and collaborating on projects without the complexity of traditional, full-fledged project management software. As an annual subscription, it aims to provide a cost-effective and predictable budgeting model for organizations.

It's important to note the shift in Microsoft's product branding. While "Project Online Plan 1" was historically linked to a more basic version of the Project Online service, the capabilities are now largely consolidated under "Planner Plan 1" which leverages Project for the web. This new iteration is built on the Microsoft Power Platform, offering a more modern, integrated experience within the Microsoft 365 ecosystem. This document will primarily refer to its current incarnation and capabilities.

Understanding Project Online Plan 1 / Planner Plan 1 (ANNUAL)

At its core, Project Online Plan 1 (or Planner Plan 1) is a web-based application designed for simplicity and ease of use. It's meant for those who need more than a basic to-do list but don't require the advanced portfolio, resource, or financial management capabilities found in higher Project plans (like Project Plan 3 or 5).

Key Features and Capabilities:

The annual subscription provides access to a set of features focused on individual and team-level project execution:

1. Project Planning and Scheduling:

   • Grid View: A simple, spreadsheet-like interface for creating and managing tasks, setting due dates, and assigning responsibilities.

   • Board View (Kanban): Visualizes tasks as cards on a board, often organized by status (e.g., To Do, In Progress, Done). This is highly intuitive for agile-style work management.

   • Timeline View (Gantt Chart): Provides a visual representation of the project schedule, showing tasks, durations, and dependencies. While more basic than in Project desktop, it's sufficient for visualizing simpler project timelines.

   • Charts View: Offers basic reporting dashboards and charts to visualize project progress, task status, and resource allocation.

   • Task Dependencies: The ability to link tasks, so the start or finish of one task is dependent on another. This is a fundamental project management feature that helps in understanding the critical path.

   • Project Goals: Define and track overall project objectives.

   • Backlogs and Sprints: Supports agile methodologies by allowing teams to manage product backlogs and organize work into sprints.

2. Task Management:

   • Task Creation and Assignment: Easily create tasks and assign them to team members.

   • Checklists: Break down tasks into smaller, manageable sub-tasks.

   • Labels: Categorize tasks using customizable labels for better organization and filtering.

   • File Attachments: Attach relevant documents, images, or other files directly to tasks.

   • Comments: Facilitate communication and collaboration by allowing team members to comment directly on tasks.

   • Due Dates: Set clear deadlines for tasks and track their completion.

3. Collaboration:

   • Microsoft 365 Integration: Seamlessly integrates with other Microsoft 365 applications such as Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, and Outlook. This allows users to manage tasks, share files, and communicate within a familiar ecosystem.

   • Real-time Collaboration: Multiple users can work on the same project plan simultaneously, seeing updates in real time.

   • Guest Access: Ability to invite external users (guests) to view or update plan details, enabling collaboration with external stakeholders or partners.

   • People View: Offers a visual way to see tasks assigned to individuals, helping with basic workload balancing.

4. Reporting:

   • Basic Built-in Reports: Provides simple reports and dashboards for tracking progress, task status, and team workload.

   • Power BI Integration: For more advanced and customizable reporting, Planner Plan 1 (via Project for the web) can integrate with Power BI, allowing users to create more dynamic visualizations and dashboards (requires a separate Power BI license).

5. Customization and Integration:

   • Low-code/No-code Platform (Power Platform): Being built on the Microsoft Power Platform, it offers possibilities for customization, automation, and extension using Power Apps, Power Automate (Flow), and Power BI. This allows organizations to tailor the solution to specific workflows.

   • Microsoft 365 Groups: Leverages Microsoft 365 Groups for collaboration, meaning projects are automatically connected to shared resources like a SharePoint site, shared mailbox, and a Teams channel.

Subscription Model (ANNUAL):

Purchasing Project Online Plan 1 on an annual basis typically means a commitment for a full year, with payment made either upfront or in monthly installments over the year. This often comes with a slight discount compared to month-to-month subscriptions and simplifies budgeting for organizations. It's usually a "per user" subscription, meaning each individual who needs to create or edit project plans requires their own license.

Pricing Considerations

As of current market information, Project Online Plan 1 (now Planner Plan 1) typically costs around $10 USD per user per month when paid annually. This translates to approximately $120 USD per user per year. Prices can vary slightly based on region, volume discounts, and specific reseller promotions. Compared to the higher-tier Project plans, it is significantly more affordable, making it accessible for smaller businesses or departments within larger organizations that don't need extensive project portfolio management (PPM) capabilities.

Key Use Cases for Project Online Plan 1 / Planner Plan 1 (ANNUAL)

Project Online Plan 1 is best suited for scenarios where:

• Small Team Projects: Managing projects within a small team where detailed resource management or complex financial tracking isn't the primary concern.

• Simple Project Management: For projects with clear tasks, dependencies, and deadlines, but without extensive inter-project relationships or portfolio oversight.

• Ad-Hoc Projects: Departments or individuals who frequently manage smaller, informal projects alongside their regular duties.

• Task Management: Serving as a robust task management tool for teams that need more than a basic checklist but less than full-blown project software.

• Agile Teams: Teams adopting agile methodologies (like Scrum or Kanban) can leverage the Board view, backlogs, and sprints.

• Event Planning: Organizing events, campaigns, or small initiatives with clear phases and deliverables.

• Content Creation: Managing content pipelines, editorial calendars, or marketing campaigns.

• HR Onboarding: Streamlining the onboarding process for new employees with defined task lists and timelines.

• Integration with Microsoft 365: Organizations heavily invested in the Microsoft 365 ecosystem benefit greatly from its native integration with Teams, SharePoint, and Outlook.

• "Accidental" Project Managers: Individuals without formal project management training who need an intuitive tool to get started with project organization.

Limitations and When to Consider Upgrading

While powerful for its intended audience, Project Online Plan 1/Planner Plan 1 does have limitations, which often become reasons for upgrading to Project Plan 3 or 5:

• Limited Resource Management: It offers basic assignment of tasks to individuals but lacks sophisticated resource leveling, capacity planning, or enterprise resource pools. You can see who is assigned to what, but not easily manage their overall workload or availability across multiple projects.

• No Portfolio Management: It does not offer a consolidated view of multiple projects, roadmaps across programs, or advanced portfolio analysis for strategic decision-making. Roadmaps are a feature in higher plans.

• Basic Financials: While you can track task efforts, there are no robust built-in features for detailed budgeting, cost tracking, or financial analysis at the project or portfolio level.

• Lack of Advanced Scheduling: Does not include features like baselines, critical path analysis (beyond simple dependencies), earned value management, or advanced constraint management, which are crucial for complex projects.

• No Desktop Client: This plan is purely web-based. Users who prefer or require the robust capabilities of the traditional Project desktop application (e.g., for very complex schedules, custom fields, or VBA macros) would need Project Plan 3 or 5.

• Limited Reporting Depth: While it offers basic charts, deeply customized or analytical reporting often requires integration with Power BI, which is an additional cost and complexity.

• No Timesheets: It doesn't have native timesheet functionality for tracking time spent on tasks, which is a common requirement for billing or detailed effort tracking.

• Scalability for Enterprise PPM: Not designed for managing a large portfolio of interconnected projects across an entire enterprise.

Migration and Future Direction

Microsoft has been actively consolidating and evolving its project management offerings. Project Online (the full-fledged PPM solution) is gradually being superseded by Project for the web, which is the underlying platform for Planner Plan 1, Project Plan 3, and Project Plan 5. All future innovation in Microsoft's cloud-based project management will occur in Project for the web.

Organizations currently using the older Project Online service are encouraged to plan their transition to Project for the web. Microsoft indicates there's no immediate retirement date for the legacy Project Online, but new features and improvements will primarily land in the newer Project for the web experience. This means that an annual subscription to Planner Plan 1 is aligned with Microsoft's current strategic direction for work management.

Conclusion

Project Online Plan 1 (ANNUAL), now effectively synonymous with Microsoft Planner Plan 1, provides an accessible and effective entry point into cloud-based project and work management for individuals and small teams. Its focus on simplicity, ease of use, and deep integration with the broader Microsoft 365 ecosystem makes it an attractive option for organizations seeking to streamline task management and straightforward project planning without the overhead of more complex PPM solutions.

The annual subscription model offers predictable pricing, making it easier for budgeting. While it has inherent limitations in advanced resource, financial, and portfolio management, it excels at providing intuitive tools for task organization, collaboration, and basic project tracking. For organizations whose needs grow beyond these foundational capabilities, Microsoft offers clear upgrade paths to Project Plan 3 and Project Plan 5, which provide progressively more sophisticated features for managing complex projects and enterprise portfolios. Understanding these distinctions is crucial for selecting the right Microsoft Project offering to align with an organization's specific project management maturity and business requirements.