Have you ever managed projects for customers and sent them your nice Microsoft Project .mpp file only to find out during the status meeting that they can’t view it because they don’t have MS Project?  I have – and it’s been too many times to count.

Now, your problems – and my problems – are solved.  There’s a product on the market that will allow your non-MS Project team members and customers to seamlessly view all aspects of your MS Project .mpp files without the need to purchase the very expensive MS Project user licenses.  The product is Seavus Project Viewer.



Seavus Project ViewerIn the past, the solution was usually to send your non-MS Project using customer a PDF version of the schedule.  That is static and provides only the view you give them.  If they want something different, you have to provide it.  Not so with Project Viewer …. Flexibility is built in.

With Project Viewer, there’s no need for your target audience to own a copy of MS Project – unless you plan on having them alter the file.  As the project manager, that’s usually not a great idea, unless you’re running it on Project Server with educated users and are looking for full collaboration.  Project Viewer gives every delivery team member and every customer team member the ability to read your detailed project files that they receive from you on a weekly basis at a fraction of the cost of owning a full MS Project license.

Using Project Viewer, your recipients can:


  • Display views, charts, and tables just as the appear in MS Project
  • Show tasks, milestones, and resource usage and allocation
  • View multiple progress lines to maintain awareness of actual project status

Project Viewer operates completely independently from MS Project and costs 10% of a full MS Project license.  So, going forward there’s really no excuse for incompatibility with your project team or customer project team members.  The cost is minimal and everyone can be on the same page.