Portfolio and project management software specialist Primavera has today unveiled new versions of both its flagship portfolio management suite and its recently-acquired Pertmaster project risk management toolset.

The company said that Primavera 6.0 (P6) features a new user interface, enhanced analytics and what-if modelling capabilities for working out how to help managers optimise allocation of resources across different projects, and improved integration between SAP apps and Primavera's own Pertmaster suite.

Richard Faris, co-founder of Primavera, said that the updated version also boasted new web-based capabilities designed to make the suite's functionality accessible across the enterprise and make it easier for executives to gain visibility over project status.

"We've taken advantage of AJAX to make the suite much more responsive over the web," Faris said. "Compared to client server systems it means much lower installation costs and it also allows users to work on project plans that are being held in a central database, making it easier to collaborate and gain visibility over related projects."

Faris added that firms could access the software from a hosting provider, but predicted that most would want to host the suite themselves and access it across their own intranet. "Project management suites contain very sensitive data and most firms want to host the software themselves," he explained. "We aren’t offering to run it like an ASP."

Separately, the company also launched version 8 of its Primavera Pertmaster risk management suite, which it acquired from UK startup Pertmaster last December. The update features a new "Office-like" user interface and enhanced analytics capabilities capable of showing how the risk of project failure alters based on cost and resource allocation decisions, said the vendor.

"We've also developed new functionality that means the suite doesn’t just identify risks within a project, but also identifies opportunities for project improvement," added Faris.