I am looking for a project management system that can be used to
manage multiple large scale software contracts in a multi national
environment, with the potential for clients in one country, project
resources in one or more countries, and executive reporting in yet
another country.
I am looking for specific references (websites, contact info) for
software project management systems that meet the criteria I have
listed below. The elements that are listed as ?mandatory? are
disqualifiers if not present, although if a project management
software firm is willing to code the changes I need, then they can be
included on the list.
I?ve looked over a ton of project management software websites, and I
could write a feature list a mile long, if I wasn?t already entering a
catatonic state. The items I have listed as ?highly desired? are
those elements which I deem as having great importance to the
successful use of the system and which will weigh heavily in my
selection. I will leave it to the researcher to determine if the
system is still worth considering if one or more ?highly desired?
elements are missing.
I was going to list a bunch of ?wanted? elements; however, I want
anything that reduces risk and enhances the probability that a project
gets completed successfully. Look at it this way. EDS, Gartner, and
others have noted that at least 70 percent of large scale projects
either fail or end up being grossly over time and dollar budgets. I
think I know why. I?ll be happy to share my ideas with the successful
researcher in the hopes he/she can find the system I am looking for.
On with the requirements:
Mandatory Requirements
1) Must be web based, that is, no software need be installed upon any
client computer that will be interacting with the system.
2) Must be Unicode compatible, that is, able to support two byte
character strings; further, via a user logon, be capable of displaying
all screens in the user?s preferred language (I will handle
translations as required; the vendor need not have the translations
available in the languages I need).
3) Must have built in currency conversion such that sums input in
bhat, dong, francs, pounds, or dollars can be viewed in the native
currency of the user logged on. Conversions can be fixed for the
project, ie, daily market variations not required.
4) Must have a high level of security, with strong encryption, and VPN
or equivalent to protect against interception of Internet
communications.
5) Must have password controllable access to all parts of the system,
preferably at the field level, so that for example, my field worker
can report to me the number of computers he has installed and his cost
to me, and in turn I can authorize my client to view the number of
computers installed without seeing my cost, without my need to copy
data. I want controllable transparency.
Highly Desirable Requirements
1) The software should run on a LAMP based server ; Linux, Apache
Server, MySql database, and PHP programming language. None of these
requirements is fixed in stone; the avoidance of Microsoft security
risks and higher costs is the target. If a system meets other
criteria it should not be rejected because it runs on an MS Win XX,
IIS platform.
2) Should have a built in risk analysis component allowing me to
specify both qualitative and quantitative risk parameters, and in turn
providing me with an overall risk expectation for the entire project
and various steps. For example, based upon my estimate of a worker?s
ability to adequately complete a task on time, I?d like to know the
failure expectation given that particular person and the task
importance, and from that develop a costing model that includes worst
case risk expectation. Other risk factors I?d like to include:
equipment delivery, technology mismatch, organizational and budget
changes.
3) Templates for tasks: I want to build a common repository of tasks
that I define that can then quickly be strung together to create sub
projects, which can be quickly incorporated into a full project. In
other words, I don?t want to have to enter 1000 project steps for each
new project I undertake.
4) I?m looking for something with a ?life cycle? approach, that makes
quality assurance, user acceptance testing, and a go/no go decision
integral to every step in the project.
5) Integrated financial analyses, executive level reporting, and a
complete package that enables me to handle dollars, time, personnel,
training, equipment, and other elements in one system.
6) Brandable ? that is, I want my name on what the user sees, not the
fact that I use the ABC company?s system to manage projects. |
Request for Question Clarification by
hedgie-ga
on
09 Jun 2004 03:51 PDT
Your specification
The software should run on a LAMP based server
is the right approach, as most, if not all, your requirements
can be met by using existing open software.
What is not not clear from your querry is budget and level of expertise
you have or are willing/able to aquire or to hire.
There is a nontrivial work of integration, maintenance and of customisation
There is the task of selection of a hosting company to host your LAMP
server, selection of staff to install and customise the components.
You will need
to have or aquire the expertise to do that yourself, or
hire a part-time consultant or consulting software firm to do it for you,
or hire a full-term webmater/LAMP programmer(s).
Different choices will require different time and cost budget.
For example your requirement
"..If the system contains integrated email, conferencing, and group
interactions that can be captured and made part of the entire project
history, that would be a benefit..."
can be met by several open software systems
(e.g. nuke and wiki branches). Depending on experience of
your consultant and your more specific preferences, one of these would
have be picked, installed, customised with your logo and graphics, etc ..
So, you can either get a list of websites which describe these systems,
and pick one, download and install on your exisiting server..
or (rather)
you can get a recommendation of resources which can provide these services
Which one do you want as an answer?
It would also help if you would say a bit more about yourself, your
experience and current resources.
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