robs@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (Rob Schaeffer) (01/08/91)
I am looking into a project planner/scheduler, for the Mac.
MacWorld's Best 44 software in issue September 1990 says that
Claris' MacProject II is the most popular, by a wide margin.
But I am open to suggestions.
Thanks.
--
robs@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu
"My God, [static] it's full of [static] toasters..."
-- 2001, A Hardware Odysseya544@mindlink.UUCP (Rick McCormack) (01/08/91)
In the discussion about using project planners, by Kathy Strong, Andrew M. Cohill and the originator of this string, Rob Schaeffer, I have seen a parallel with my use of "project planners." REAL project management software is important when a project needs a project manager, but a lot of jobs need a TASK manager instead. Any one familiar with the MS-DOS version of MORE, called GRAND VIEW, will be familiar with the idea of a task manager. An outline of the tasks to be done is created. GrandView then allows the user to create categories and sub categories for each head and sub-head. An example would have the categories: RESPONSIBLE, DUE BY. Then, you can view the outline in terms of the categories, selecting only those headlines or sub-heads for which Kathy is responsible; or only those headers due by Jan. 16, or all headers for which Andrew is responsible and due between Jan. 14 and 21st. I had hoped that the More 3.0 package would have more of this organization, but I find myself using GrandView on the trusty old XT to keep tasks manageable. By the way, I have no connection with Living Videotext/Symantec, apart from having used their products since the days of the Apple II+, on several platforms. ______________________________________________________________ | Rick McCormack | IMAGISTICS BUSINESS THEATRE TECHNOLOGY | | Vancouver, BC | Information transfer - with a purpose. | | CANADA | ________________________________________ | | AOL: Rique | INTERACTIVE COMPREHENSIVE ENLIGHTENING | |________________|____________________________________________|
cohill@vtserf.cc.vt.edu (Andrew M. Cohill) (01/08/91)
Reporting on MacProject II is virtually non-existent; it stinks big-time. I used to teach project management and if you have more than 5 or 6 people you want to be able to churn out paper status reports (or the email equivalent) on a regular basis, sorted by person, showing the status of each task assigned to that person. You can't do that with MacProject II. All you have is a really awful one-shot query feature. You can store the queries, but it's a major pain doing them one at a time. Graphics and charts are okay, but without reports it is strictly very small project stuff only. We are looking for a replacement for it here. As far as it being popular, all that means is a lot of people bought it; my experience is that very few people actually use PM software of any kind, unless you are in a very big organization with very large projects, where you then have industrial strength PM apps. The problem most people have with PM is that to use it correctly, you have to think a good deal about what you want to do, and few people bother with that. It's much more fun to just start churning out code. -- | ...we have to look for routes of power our teachers never | imagined, or were encouraged to avoid. T. Pynchon | |Andy Cohill cohill@vtserf.cc.vt.edu VPI&SU
clouds@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Kathy Strong) (01/09/91)
In reply to a request by robs@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (Rob Schaeffer) for feedback on project management software (specifically, MacProject II), In article <954@vtserf.cc.vt.edu> cohill@vtserf.cc.vt.edu (Andrew M. Cohill) writes: >Reporting on MacProject II is virtually non-existent; it stinks >big-time. I used to teach project management and if you have more than >5 or 6 people you want to be able to churn out paper status reports (or >the email equivalent) on a regular basis, sorted by person, showing the >status of each task assigned to that person. You can't do that with >MacProject II. >... >As far as it being popular, all that means is a lot of people bought it; >my experience is that very few people actually use PM software of any >kind, unless you are in a very big organization with very large >projects, where you then have industrial strength PM apps. > >The problem most people have with PM is that to use it correctly, you >have to think a good deal about what you want to do, and few people >bother with that. It's much more fun to just start churning out code. I don't doubt that Andrew's gripes are well-founded; however, without knowing Rob's requirements in a little more detail, I'd be inclined to give MacProject a second chance. Andrew says: The problem is that to use it correctly, you have to think a good deal about what you want to do. I say: "Correctly? Hmm..." In our shop, so many people are working on tasks so diverse that it would be well-nigh impossible for any one person to bring it all together in a full-blown computer-tracked PM package--that is, assuming that the project manager has any other tasks at all in his/her day. Instead, we find that the best use of PM software is for each individual (or very small subgroup) to plan their work so as to see what the critical tasks, times, and resources are for their particular bit of the big picture. What I'm getting down to is that sometimes simple is better than fancy. We have at least two "full-blown" PM packages gathering dust on the shelf. The "low-powered brand" may not have all the bells and whistles, but it's easy enough that just about anyone can learn it. In a highly centralized and hierarchical work environment, Andrew's model of what is "correct" usage of PM software is probably a better one. In a loosely organized, very distributed environment, I vote for "the one that anyone in the group can pick up and learn." -- ........................................................................... : Kathy Strong : "Try our Hubble-Rita: just one shot, : : (Clouds moving slowly) : and everything's blurry" : : clouds@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu : --El Arroyo : :..........................................................................:
cohill@vtserf.cc.vt.edu (Andrew M. Cohill) (01/09/91)
Hmmm....seem to have started a thread here. In fact, I use MacProject II just about the way Kathy Strong has described--small projects, just to see how tasks hook together and to get a general feel for the time needed and where critical tasks lie on the timeline. MacProject II is fine for that, but I still maintain that it is inexcusable not to put in some rudimentary reporting capabilities. If you are going to spend $400-$600 on a project management package, you ought to get one that works with both small and large projects, or at least small and medium-size. There are times when I want some tabular reports, and I get mad as hell at all the back-flips I have to do just to print out 10 or 15 lines of information. MacProject II has this pseudo-spreadsheet thingy with tabular info in it. You open it, and displays 20 or 30 mostly empty fields that you have to manually close up, a la Excel, because you are probably only interested in 4 or 5 date and time fields. This is a pain in itself; you ought to be able to save the format. Then you have to load your query, which will select the rows you want. Then you have to export the data. Then you have to move to a spreadsheet and import the data. Then you will spend more time fiddling with the formatting. Then, finally, you print it. Now do all that again for the list of tasks for the *next* person on your project. Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.... That's not what using computers is supposed to be about, and Claris ought to know better. My two cents, anyway.... -- | ...we have to look for routes of power our teachers never | imagined, or were encouraged to avoid. T. Pynchon | |Andy Cohill cohill@vtserf.cc.vt.edu VPI&SU