More and more people within and between organizations are working "interactively." It’s becoming unusual to work on a project by yourself or to use only one software program. For example, you may need to supply project cost data to accounting personnel who analyze that data using Microsoft Excel. Or, you may need to send an entire project plan to a client who doesn’t have Microsoft Project but can view the plan in a database program you aren’t familiar with. In these situations and many others, you can share Microsoft Project information directly with other programs.
When you share information with another program, you either insert Microsoft Project information into that program or insert information from that program into Microsoft Project. Text, pictures, numerical data, spreadsheets, project calendars, and even entire project files can all be included in other programs. For example, if your team leaders use Microsoft Team Manager to track the progress of team members, you can update your project plan with this information. Or, to highlight important numerical data in a status report, you can put it into Microsoft Excel, show the data as a pie chart, and then insert the pie chart into the Gantt Chart view of your project. You can also exchange Microsoft Project data with other database programs that your clients use to display and review their project data.
In fact, most often, exchanging information between Microsoft Project and any other program — Microsoft or non-Microsoft — is as easy as placing an apple into a friend’s hand. Just as the apple’s shape fits both your hand and your friend’s, so too is project information "shaped" to fit into Microsoft Project as well as other programs. Even when information from another program doesn’t have the "shape" or format Microsoft Project usually works with, you can convert it to a compatible format.
You can share information with other programs in a variety of ways:
With Microsoft Project, you can choose the information-sharing method that best meets your needs.