Microsoft Project is Great .... but....

In my humble opinion, MS Project is the "Gold Standard" of Project Management Software. It has every function that a Project Manager could need all in one place. In my experience, it is most successful when the PMs all give feedback to a centralized MSPM Server that the PMO Manages.

All that said, there is a reason why its use is limited. It has a cost per license so the Corporate Executive levels will usually only allow the funding of a few licenses.

That restriction prevents MS Project from being used as an Information Radiator (one of its greatest benefits). When few people have access, few people are trained, few people can see its value, and few people will use it (even the ones with the licenses).

What I recommend to most people is to use Microsoft Planner (assuming they have an Enterprise MS License). With it you can assign tasks, set start and due dates, you can even use the Board View to do simple KanBan Management:

You can also find free templates for creating Gantt Charts. I like the one by Vertex42

https://www.ganttexcel.com/download-link-gcpc/

Keeping it simple is a requirement of Effective Project Management and sometimes it makes more sense to use what is already available, rather than trying to convince Executives of the value of enterprise-wide software licensing.