Primavera P6 can handle projects with hundreds of thousands of activities without crashing. MS Project typically struggles beyond 20,000 activities. In oil & gas refinery turnarounds or airport expansions, P6 is the only viable option.
The engine recalculates the critical path after each change using a topological sort of the activity network. Primavera P6
The software supports EVM, making it possible to track project performance against the original budget and schedule baseline. Primavera P6 can handle projects with hundreds of
| Feature | Primavera P6 | Microsoft Project | |-----------------------------|--------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------| | Database backend | Oracle / SQL Server (enterprise) | Access / SQL Server (Project Online) | | Multi-project resource levelling | Global across portfolio | Single project or limited shared pool | | User permissions (global) | OBS (Organizational Breakdown Structure) + security profiles | Group-based, simpler | | Activity codes (multi-dimensional) | Yes, unlimited user-defined fields | Custom fields but less flexible | | Best suited for | >10,000 activities, EPCM, infrastructure, owner teams | <500 activities, small-medium business | The engine recalculates the critical path after each
P6 natively supports following ANSI/EIA-748 standards. Calculated metrics include: