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RationalPlan 5.2 – Additional Columns for Tasks and Multiple Cost Rates for Resources

By | May 28th, 2019|News, RationalPlan|0 Comments

RationalPlan 5.0

RationalPlan 5.2 comes with new features for the web-based interface and an increased speed for computing the critical path. Many columns were added to the Gantt and Timesheet views: project code, task slack and related Earned Value Management data, working calendar, predecessors and successors. Also different cost rates can now be set for resources.

RationalPlan is a project management software suite that is available either as stand alone products or as a project management cloud service. It is used by individuals and by companies that need a distributed solution with concurrent access from multiple users.

Changes for the current version

  • Improved the speed of critical path algorithm
  • Added Project Code column for Gantt and Timesheet for both desktop and web interface
  • Added slack and EVM related columns to web interface
  • Added Calendar column to web interface
  • Added Predecessors and Successors columns to web interface
  • Added Notes tab for resources to web interface
  • Added resource rates to web interface
  • Mouse precision on charts for HDPI monitors
  • Bug fix: Do not allow a user to see the costs if it does not have the “See resource costs” right
  • Bug fixes for Hungarian and French translation

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Why Is Importance Of Project Risk Management Overrated?

By | January 9th, 2019|Risk Management|0 Comments

importance of projct risk managementHave you ever given a serious thought about the importance of project risk management? Do you think that risk identification, analysis and assessment are important for project management?

I believe you will answer the above questions in affirmative. Before I share my opinion about significance of risk management, let me tell you a small story.

Proper Risk Identification, Analysis, And Assessment In Corporate Projects

Morpheus was the most experienced project manager of Zion Corporation. In past, he had successfully completed many technically challenging projects. Customers love him for his strong analytical skills.

In the recent years, Zion has sustained heavy losses due to poor risk management. They hired a new CFO named Lock to turn the corner. Lock was a micro-manager and looked at everything from financial standpoint. This had given him lot of success in the past.

To turn Zion around, Lock initiated a novel project of developing a complex new game system called Matrix. He assigned Morpheus as the lead project manager. He also assigned senior analysts Neo and Trinity to assist Morpheus.

Morpheus enjoyed a good working relationship with Neo and Trinity. They had worked together on many projects in the past. But Lock was a new commodity. Morpheus soon realized that it was very difficult to work with him. Lock had little understanding of the game development and always wanted to talk about finances.

As a diligent project manager, risk management was on top of Morpheus’ mind. He was ably supported by both Neo and Trinity in identifying, analyzing, and resolving risks. But Lock did not appreciate their efforts. On the contrary he was very critical.

Lock would say risk management is a complete waste of time. He thought that professionals should stick to their jobs and solve real problems. They should spend more time of execution and overcome the problems as they come.
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RationalPlan 5.0 – Improved Web Interface and a Stronger PM Scheduling Engine

By | November 2nd, 2018|News, RationalPlan|0 Comments

RationalPlan 5.0

RationalPlan 5.0 is a major release that comes with new features for the web-based interface and a more powerful project scheduling engine. The product is now able to handle those types of project plans in which certain tasks need to be delayed as much as possible. On the other hand the web interface of both the Cloud service and the Server product gets improved with several features.

Users with licenses older than one year are entitled to upgrade them with a 50% discount.

RationalPlan is a project management software suite that is available either as stand alone products or as a project management cloud service. It is used by individuals and by companies that need a distributed solution with concurrent access from multiple users.

Important changes for RationalPlan 5.0

RationalPlan can now handle As Late As Possible(ALAP) constraints for those tasks that need to to start as late as possible relative to the project end date. The entire scheduling engine was transformed to support this type of planning. Even the critical path detection algorithm was adjusted to comply with this major change.

Since certain parts of the application are depending on Java technology this major release also added support for Java 9 and Java 10. This is a big step forward to maintain the compatibility with the latest Java versions in order to avoid software vulnerabilities.

Starting with this release the developers of RationalPlan removed the support for the old .xrp files. This file type storage was deprecated and it is no longer being used.

For the online and server side segment:

  • Critical path functionality
  • Labels for task bars on Gantt chart
  • A hover icon and a contextual menu for the task tree grid (Gantt & WBS)
  • Project code and Client name within the email notifications
  • Bug fix: do not show the work on tasks in web if the user does not have the rights to see the resources
  • Bug fix: allow negative lags on web
  • Bug fix: guard against non-working constraint dates for dependency driven tasks
  • Bug fix: guard against the case when the project estimated start is non-working

For the On-Premise products:

  • Added resource data filter and project status filter for Timesheet view
  • In Timesheet view if a filter is applied for All projects then filter the resources
  • Bug fix for Ukrainian translation
  • Bug fix for budgets on Single version

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7 Reasons Why A Scheduling Tool Scores Over Excel Spreadsheet

By | April 29th, 2018|Project Management Software|2 Comments

Which tool would you use for project scheduling – a tool specifically designed for managing projects or Excel spreadsheet?

The answer is quite simple – a scheduling software is specifically designed for project management. It has many inherent advantages over spreadsheets like Excel or Google Sheets.

I guess you agree with me. But let me provide my reasons for my preference for a scheduling software like RationalPlan.

Appropriate Tool For Appropriate Jobs

excel scheduling tool pills-3111992_640

Which of the above picture suggests the right usage of fork & knife? The first picture. You would agree that fork and knife should be used for eating food and not medicine.

A hammer is no good for fixing screws and a screw-driver is not the right tool cutting wood. Similarly, PMs should use appropriate tools for managing projects.

You would say that this is simplistic example and it does not work in real world. So let me explain it further.

Microsoft Excel Vs. Scheduling Tool

How would a PM assign duties to team members and ensure task completion? How would a Customer keep an eye on work progression? How would a Sponsor track project expenses?

Excel would be a great bet if you want an isolated solution as an answer to the above questions. But project management is not done in isolation. It is a group effort.

There are many things that make a proper scheduling tool stand out from Excel. I can probably think of 100 things but I have made a group of 7 features that Excel just does not provide.

  1. Task creation, assignment, & tracking
  2. Resource planning & tracking
  3. Availability of Gantt charts for presentation & reporting
  4. Network diagrams for planning analysis
  5. Project performance dashboards
  6. Detailed project reports
  7. Team & stakeholder collaboration

You should also read more about advantages of PM software and why should you upgrade from spreadsheets to PM software. (more…)

RationalPlan 4.16 – Improved Web Interface and Translation to Ukrainian Language

By | September 14th, 2017|News, RationalPlan|0 Comments

RationalPlan 4.16

Starting with RationalPlan 4.16 the web interface of both the Cloud service and the Server product gets improved with several features while the On-Premise products become available in Ukrainian language. The communication protocol over the Internet gets updated to https and the integration with Microsoft Project 2016 is improved.

RationalPlan started as an easy to use and straightforward project management software but it evolved into an embedded and powerful system that is now available even as a project management cloud service both for individuals and for companies that need a distributed solution with concurrent access from multiple users.

Important changes for this version

For the online and server side segment:

  • Possibility to customize task colors on the Gantt chart
  • Added custom Data columns for tasks
  • Improved security through the use of https protocol

For the On-Premise products:

  • Highlight late tasks and tasks that hit the deadline date on Gantt chart
  • Translated to Ukrainian language
  • Improved support for MS Project 2016 files

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MOOS Project Viewer 3.2 – Support for Microsoft Project 2016 Files

By | August 18th, 2017|Microsoft Project, MOOS Project Viewer|0 Comments

MOOS Project Viewer version 3.2. adds support for opening Microsoft Project 2016 files. Further more the application now also supports files containing Estonian or Turkish characters.

After several months of development a major version was released that adds support for reading Microsoft Project 2016 files. Users can now open .mpp files generated with any version of MS Project including the latest one.

For those users that need to open .mpp files and see their content in a graphical way – just like in MS Project – then MOOS Project Viewer is the right solution. If no editing is needed then the price of a Microsoft Project license is not justified. Even more users will have the possibility to open the files on any operating system (Windows, Mac OS X , Linux) as the product is platform independent.

Multiple views are available and the files can be opened from external storage services as MOOS Project Viewer is integrated with Dropbox, Google Drive and OneDrive. This way users can access the projects from any location and at any time. Printing is also available allowing users to generate customized reports.

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RationalPlan 4.15 – Microsoft Project 2016 Integration and Projects Dashboard Gets Out of Beta

By | February 13th, 2017|News, RationalPlan|Comments Off on RationalPlan 4.15 – Microsoft Project 2016 Integration and Projects Dashboard Gets Out of Beta

RationalPlan Project Management SoftwareStarting with RationalPlan 4.15 the Projects dashboard for the web client is out of beta, the process of adding resources was simplified and the performance of Timesheet view was improved. Additionally it was added the possibility to read Microsoft Project 2016 files and more.

RationalPlan started as an easy to use and straightforward project management software but it evolved into an embedded and powerful system that is now available even as a project management cloud service both for individuals and for companies that need a distributed solution with concurrent access from multiple users.

Important changes for this version

For the online and server side segment:

  • Projects dashboard is out of beta
  • Simplified process for adding resources
  • Performance improvements for Timesheet view

For the On-Premise products:

  • Added support for MS Project 2016 files
  • Updated to Dropbox API 2.0
  • Introduced week numbering since project start
  • Added task highlighter in Portfolio view
  • Send assignments by email only for currently selected project
  • Bug fix for computing the critical path
  • Bug fix for daylight saving time

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RationalPlan 4.14 – Increased Collaboration Using Comments on Tasks and Support for Polish Language

By | August 31st, 2016|News, RationalPlan|0 Comments

RationalPlan Project Management SoftwareRationalPlan 4.14 offers increased collaboration by adding comments on tasks and automatic email notifications to users. Additionally the desktop products were translated into Polish.

RationalPlan started as an easy to use and straightforward project management software but it evolved into an embedded and powerful system that is now available even as a project management cloud service both for individuals and for companies that need a distributed solution with concurrent access from multiple users.

Important changes for this version

  • Increased collaboration using comments on tasks and email notifications
  • Translated into Polish language
  • Send assignments by email in .ics format using task UID in order to avoid duplicate events
  • Added support for Vietnamese characters when exporting to MS Project .xml file and .xls file

Adding comments on tasks while managing work within the Cloud is a feature aiming to increase collaboration among users. Instead of using communication solutions like email, phone calls or other external software tools, users will be able to discuss different task related issues directly within RationalPlan by adding comments. Everyone that is interested on a certain task – like the project manager, a responsible or the assigned resources – will get notifications by email whenever a comment is added on that task. (more…)

5 Tips for Coming Up with Great Project Ideas

By | May 11th, 2016|Business Management|0 Comments

Some organizations, including small businesses, may want to start side projects to supplement their revenue, invest parts of their capital, or simply keep their employees occupied full time while waiting for a larger project to start. Coming up with a great project idea is not impossible, as not all great ideas have already been discovered, but it is not a simple task that a person alone or even a team can do over the weekend. Here are some tips for coming up with great ideas for projects:

Define what “great” means

Define what a “great” project would mean for your organization. A great project is one that is not too small, as the deliverables may not be valuable enough to worth the investment of resources, but not too ambitious either because such project would mean high investment, too many risks, complicated project management, and even not enough resources available. A great side project is one that is possible with the resources available in the organization right now. A great side project is one where employees feel that they are creating value and that they own the project. So, as a first step, great project ideas should come from the project team members themselves.

Take your time to find ideas

Give your team enough time to come up with great project ideas. In general, great ideas are not exactly “Eureka!” moments; it takes time to find them. But many people and many organizations are not willing to put up that much time, which makes great ideas, when they do surface, even more valuable. (more…)

Want to get project disciplines into your organization fast? Here’s how

By | April 21st, 2016|Project Management, Project Management Software|0 Comments

 Introducing Project Disciplines is hard work

Lots of companies find introducing project disciplines slow, difficult and not very exciting.  Staff often show resistance and it can be hard to get buy in and commitment at executive level where other stuff is seen as more important or pressing.

Well here’s some good news.  The best way to get some project disciplines in fast is to buy a project management package.

But before you get too excited and start reaching for the cheque book, you need to make sure that you chose the right package.

Choose the right project management software

Choose the right software and accompany it with a process for running projects and some training and you’re cooking on gas.

If you choose well, your project management package will do all of the following:

  • Provide the means for project managers to produce plans and keep them up to date
  • Capture time worked and optimise staff utilisation
  • Capture and track financials
  • Monitor project status and publish project status reports
  • Facilitate executive level reporting on all of the above

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