miw09_pm_sol
Freeware On-line Project Management Software Review
Introduction
Project goals:
Research open on-line project management and collaborative work software.
Analysis of information available at official websites, Wikipedia and user forums.
Comparison of functionality of different platforms.
Project management definition
Project management is the discipline of planning, organizing and managing resources to bring about the successful completion of specific project goals and objectives.
A project is a finite endeavour-having specific start and completion dates-undertaken to meet particular goals and objectives, usually to bring about beneficial change or added value.
The primary challenge of project management is to achieve all of the project goals and objectives while honouring the preconceived project constraints. Typical constraints are scope, time and budget. The secondary—and more ambitious—challenge is to optimize the allocation and integration of inputs necessary to meet pre-defined objectives.
Project management approaches
Project management software basics
Group collaboration solution include following features:
Dashboard - overview of data from all active projects,
Messages - communication between team members,
Milestones - project completion overview,
Tasks - To-Do list features,
Calendar - time frame for the project,
Files - data exchange space for team members.
1.WebCollab
Main features:
WebCollab is released under the General Public License (GPL).
2.Codendi
Main features:
Customisable project environment
Security and permissions management
Software project management tools (Universal Tracking Tool, Test Management Tool, Source Control Manager, Eclipse Integration)
Collaboration Tools (Collaborative editing, Code Snippet Library)
Communication Tools (Instant Messaging, Mailing List Manager, Forums, News, RSS Feeds)
„Lutèce d'Or” prize for „Best Open Source Project Undertaken By A Big Company”
3.Collabtive
Main features:
To-do lists
Milestones
Messaging / Instant Messaging
Calendaring
File management
Role based user permissions
Timetracking
Tagging
Search
Reporting (Excel, PDF)
Exporting (ZIP, XML, RSS, iCal, vCard)
Importing from Basecamp XML
Multilanguage
4.eGroupWare
Main features:
Calendar (including support for scheduling of groups, resources and contacts)
Contact-manager using an SQL database or LDAP
Integrated IMAP webmail client (FelaMiMail)
Infolog, an application for tasks and notes
Element based project manager highly integrated with all other apps
Resources management (inventory) and booking tool integrated into eGroupWare calendar
File manager
SiteMgr: web based authoring system with fine granulated access control lists
Time-tracker application integrated with project manager
Tracking of bugs or other, integrated with project manager
Wiki
Knowledge base
5.dotProject
Main features:
Projects and Tasks
Companies, Departments and Contacts
ToDo lists
Resources (rooms, equipment et al.)
Forums
Gantt charts
-
Reporting
History of all activities
Calendar
6.OpenGoo
Main features:
Document management
Contact management
Project management
Time management
7.ProjectPier
8.Redmine
Main features:
Multiple projects support
Flexible role based access control
Flexible issue tracking system
Gantt chart and calendar
News, documents & files management
Feeds & email notifications
Per project wiki
Per project forums
Time tracking
Custom fields for issues, time-entries, projects and users
SCM integration (SVN, CVS, Git, Mercurial, Bazaar and Darcs)
Issue creation via email
Multiple LDAP authentication support
User self-registration support
Multilanguage support
Multiple databases support
Summary
Author's personal favourites:
1. Collabtive - functional, easy-to-use interface, sleek design, based on most popular commercial project management platform Basecamp.
2. OpenGoo - language versions (Polish support), report tools, suited for company use.