[WEB4LIB] Project management software

[Edward Wigg]

At 07:34 AM 9/18/2002 -0700, Smith, Barbara <BSmith at imls.gov> wrote:
>Several staff are asking for project management software that will help them
>keep track of tasks and timelines.  MS Project is overkill for us.  I'm
>looking for a simpler software application, either a separate product or
>information about how one can use Excel or some other MS Office product to
>create timelines and relate tasks/resources.
>
>Any suggestions?  

Project has lots of nice features, but you are right about it being
overkill, both in terms of capability and price, for most of us who would
like some help tracking projects but don't want the complexity and expense
of bloatware.

After I took a short project management class I went looking around for
project management software, in the course of my travels I came across
Intellisys Project Desktop
<http://www.webintellisys.com/project/desktop.html> (they also have a
multi-user version for collaboratively managed projects, but I suspect that
is beyond your needs). 

The program runs in Java, so it is actually cross platform (Mac, Linux,
Unix or Windows -- I actually wanted to run it on a Mac). It is a little
clunkier than Project and does not have all the bells and whistles, but it
seems to have all the features that I need. I haven't used it that much,
but it does seem to work as advertised. Price starts at $59 for a one year
license ($149 outright), so it is affordable, and there is a free trial.

As for spreadsheets, they are easy enough to use to list tasks and
dependencies, and it is possible get them to produce gant charts. I suspect
that for most smallish projects the mere activity of working out the tasks
and their interrelation is the most useful part of the process, so anything
from a legal pad, pencil, scissors and glue on up that makes that process
easier gets you the result you need, just so long as you don't need to
impress others with pretty colored charts.

Ed.