Project Management Tools

Meenakshi Lakshmikanthan04/19/2010

Project Goals

Survey the current, most widely used software project management tools. (Minimum 9 tools)

Provide comparison studies between the different tools.

Tools Overview1. Microsoft Project2. Scrum (Team Foundation Server)3. Open Office4. Basecamp5. Kforge6. Central Desktop7. Fogbugz8. Lighthouse9. Iwork10. OpenProj

Metrics Identification Factors

Tool must provide clear and tangible project status information about project schedule and cost.

Using the tool, the project manager must be able to identify root causes for schedule slippage such as under-estimates for work or late delivery of vendor product or additional complexity.

The tools should act like a system which drives data collection, tracking tasks and the actuals and facilitating collaboration with all the people that are part of the project.

Tools facilitating visual data like charts, graphs. Tools that blend well in all environments and the ones that integrate with

other products. Finally, cost of the product is an important metric which might influence

its usage and popularity.

Metrics Installation

Does the tool require installation???? If so, how easy or difficult it is to install.

Documentation Availability of a formal documentation to provide help when needed. Metrics Excellent, Good

Platform Independence Is the tool platform independent?

Ease of Use How easy is the tool to work with? Metrics Easy , Moderate

Collaborative Is the tool designed to help people involved in a common task to achieve their goals?

Metrics Open Source

Is the open source or proprietary Visual Representation

Gantt Charts, PERT Charts etc. Scheduling

Can resource be shuffled between a variety of possible tasks based on time constraints and factors.

Issue Tracking System Does it help to manage and maintain a list of issues.

Resource Management Does the tool aid in efficient and effective deployment for an organization's

resources when they are needed Cost

Pricing factors.

Tools Analysis

Install or sign up for the tool. Review the tutorials that help go about the tool. Explore the tool by playing around with the different

features and plug ins available. Test with multiple projects and multiple resources. Collect inputs from various people using the tools in

real time.

Analysis In a broad sense, there are can be two approaches to project

management

High Level Management Typical attributes include each project's total expected cost,

consumption of resources ,expected timeline and schedule of investment, risk analysis, inter-dependencies with other projects etc.

Low Level Management Typical attributes include monitoring the ongoing project activities,

identify corrective actions to address issues; controlling the processes so that potential problems can be identified in a timely manner.

Analysis

High Level Management Tools Microsoft Project OpenProj Open Office. Iwork suite

Low Level Management Tools Basecamp Lighthouse Central Desktop Kforge Fogbugz Scrum

Tools Installation DocumentationPlatform Independent Ease of Use

MS Project Yes Excellent No Moderate

Open Office Yes Good No Easy

OpenProj Yes Excellent No Moderate

Iwork Yes Excellent No Moderate

Lighthouse No Excellent Yes Easy

Central Desktop No Excellent Yes Easy

Scrum Yes Excellent Yes Moderate

Fogbugz No Excellent Yes Easy

Basecamp No Excellent Yes Easy

Kforge No Excellent Yes Moderate

ToolsCollaborative

Open Source Schedulin

Issue Tracking

Resource Manage Visuals

Cost (Free?)

Microsoft Project

No No Yes No Yes Yes No

Open Office No Yes No No No Yes Yes (Free)

OpenProj No Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes (Free)

Iwork No No Yes No Yes Yes No

Lighthouse Yes No Yes Yes No Yes No

Central Desktop

Yes No Yes Yes No Yes No

Scrum Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes No

Fogbugz Yes No Yes Yes No Yes No

Basecamp Yes No Yes No No No No

Kforge Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes (Free)

Results

Open Proj seems to have a slight edge over other high level management tools. It is Free Open Source.

Low Level management tools are more or less similar. Scrum fares well. (Agile Methodologies) Central Desktop fares well. (Web Based)

Milestones

Milestones Tasks Due Dates Actuals

Phase 1 Tools Identification 02/19/2010 02/19/2010

Phase 2 Research and explore the tools identified.

03/25/2010 03/27/2010

Phase 3 Come up with the results of the analysis and comparison study and present it in a report.

04/10/2010 04/24/2010

Demo

Central Desktop Web Based Low Level Management tool. Manage Projects Manage Your Team Online Set-up Projects, a Wiki, Intranet, or Extranet in < 15 minutes Access All Your Files & Tasks, Anytime from Anywhere Find, Share, Store & Collaborate on Documents & Files Manage Task Lists, Milestones, & Project Reports Track Time or Review Department Calendars Online Keep All Your Information in One Place.

http://www.centraldesktop.com/lmeenakshi/testproject/

Questions and Suggestions!!!!!