Critical Path is a means of flagging tasks that have a direct impact on the project end dates. If the duration of a task on the critical path changes then the overall project duration also changes. The reason for specifically identifying, and flagging, a projects critical path is so that these critical tasks can get additional focus. These Tasks warrant additional attention because the impact of delays to these tasks is greater than the impact of delays to tasks not on the critical path.

BrightWork supports the Critical flag available in Microsoft Project Professional 2010 through the SharePoint Sync feature. This works by allowing users to synchronize the Critical flag in Microsoft Project Professional 2010 with a Project Tasks list in SharePoint. Once the Critical flag is available in the Project Tasks list a Gantt chart can be rendered in SharePoint using the Project Tasks list and showing the Summary Tasks and Critical Tasks for the project.

In BrightWork 10 (coming early 2012), a new theme will be available called 'Critical' to help this type of Gantt stand out. Below is a screenshot of how this looks. This Gantt is showing the Critical Tasks and Summary Tasks for the project in question.

To see the new SharePoint Sync in action, with Critical path included, you can enroll for the BrightWork TrialZone Sandbox here.