Project 2010 Architecture

Project 2010 uses a three-tier architecture with a variety of Project and Microsoft server products.

User interface. A variety of clients can access project information from the Microsoft servers, depending on the user’s role. Project managers and team members actively involved in both planning and the day-to-day measurement of progress will probably find Project Professional 2010, Microsoft’s high-end desktop project management application, to be the best client. (Customers cannot interact with Project Server using the Project Standard client, which is intended to be used on a stand-alone basis by individual project managers.) Team members who only need to update their tasks and timesheets might use Outlook, Internet Explorer, or an enterprise resource planning (ERP) application such as Microsoft Dynamics AX or SAP ERP, which can be interfaced with Project Server via APIs and Web protocols. Software development managers and their teams can access project information through Visual Studio and Visual Studio Team Foundation Server (VS TFS); an Integration Feature Pack allows project managers to use Project to connect to TFS to collaborate and participate in the planning and execution of software development projects. Senior executives and managers interested in initiating and managing projects may find that using Internet Explorer with Project Web Access (PWA) provides sufficient access to Project Server for the information and reports they need. Project Professional is required to author information that can be accessed using PWA.