The software solution you select must reduce the costs of managing projects. Gone are the days of spending six figures on an Enterprise software solution that deliver dashboards, charts and gauges without providing any cost savings in labor.  Many of these Enterprise class tools require you to hire additional staff to enter the data in the application that drives these graphics. If all you wanted are fancy charts and reports your staff can do this in excel at a fraction of the cost.  Todays proactive project managers need to be looking at solutions that can be deployed quickly, reduce labor costs immediately and deliver unparalleled accountability.   To accomplish this you need a collaborative project management application that captures data from your project participants. Combing the power of the Internet with todays web based collaborative tools you can eliminate 
When evaluating software solutions most directors and managers are looking for tools that give them better visibility into how their projects are performing. Performance is typically measured in number of issues, costs, and schedule. There are a lot of software applications on the market that provide beautiful charts, gauges, dials, and other pretty graphics for a manager or director to look at. 