Task Management Options Summary

Microsoft offers a range of task management options as shown in the accompanying chart. All of the five options can manage task lists with completion status, deadlines, and reminders. They differ on features, likely future investment from Microsoft, and the technology and licensing for end users they require.

Planner offers team task management and has received the most recent development effort from Microsoft. It is a Microsoft-hosted service licensed through User Subscription Licenses (USLs) for Office 365 Enterprise services (such as Office 365 Enterprise E1).

The Project line supports complex plans with millions of interrelated tasks and can automatically schedule tasks and calculate resource costs and budget variances, making it the only Microsoft option for enterprise project management. Historically, the Project line has advanced slowly, but it is likely to receive improvements more frequently in the future. The line includes Project client applications, the Project Server software for on-premises and partner deployment, and the Project Online Microsoft-hosted service. (An iOS client for reporting time and status to Project Online appeared in Sept. 2016.) Depending on the deployment, an organization will typically need client application licenses for project managers and Client Access Licenses (CALs) or USLs for other stakeholders.