Project Managment software

[Jeff Mottle]

As a follow up thread to this one that Nisus posted, ( http://www.cgarchitect.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=000485 ) I am very curious to know what everyone does to track their projects. Do you use your own custom built software, a 3rd party app, excel?

 

Do you think there is a market for a project managment and tracking app that is targetted specificaly to the arch CG industry?

 

Are there features missing from your current apps that you wish you had?

 

I was thinking about this last night after reading Nisus' post and was wondering if there is a market for this type of software.

[garethace]

I think it would be interesting to discuss this topic on perhaps another level. There is stuff called Data Mining and Data Warehousing. I have noticed how Autodesk have started to bring in things like buzzsaw, i-drop, i-enabled versions of asset browser etc, etc.

 

I think such softwares would be better off, when moved to the file server than kept running in the background on a desktop or something. Perhaps just an extra dedicated little low U system programmed to mine through all the data in the file server and even the internet at regular intervals and extract synchronising the work done by yourself, and someone else who could be miles away. I have thought about technology like this:

 

http://www.lencom.com/VisualWTSite.html

 

Visual Web Task is advanced web crawler that parses HTML tags and extracts data and files. It creates spiders for any download and extraction need. You can teach your HTML parser how to negotiate logins, proxies and security pages to download and extract what you need - files, search results, and more. VWT offers a very intuitive user interface, powerful visual parsing and ability to download just what You want, not a whole web site. Examples include extraction the music albums images from search results , list of available online jobs and many others. Businessmen can cut out the whole online business directories or verify prices of online stores. The extracted data can be stored in text files or ODBC databases , downloaded files can be saved on local drive. This software is a part of RNO 4.0 and fully integrates with all other parts of the development kit. Using office source code generator You can reuse the technology creating robust Visual Basic code and implementing your own HTML parser . For additional information please check out the full documentation .The best test results with Internet Explorer 5.5 or higher

I would also perhaps like to point you all to my 'shock' post here about MicroSoft's new 64-bit operating system requirments in terms of memory and storage capacity/bandwidth, power consumption of the actual drives etc, etc.

 

2 EXABYTES of NEW data is generated every year world wide and growing

 

http://www.aceshardware.com/forum?read=105020661

 

[ June 30, 2003, 08:56 AM: Message edited by: garethace ]

[nisus]

Hi Jeff,

 

Wonderful thread. I bet most people have been looking to this kind of organisers before. Why don't we make a list of the possibilities too?

 

About organisers:

At first I found the idea of organisers/project planning software very useful because it's great to see projects upgrades and to be able to track the workflow etc.

But too many issues prevent organisers from being manageable. Will everyone in the firm use it? Is it easy to use? What is the cost? What about errors?

 

From what I've seen, not too many programs tackle every bit of organisation that one desires, but all claim to do so.

A lot is possible with those programs, but what features are really used? Okay, it's possible to evaluate afterwards, but does a firm do so regularly? The software won't generate this attitude if the firm itself lacks in this.

If the firm is not organised, the software won't help. If it is, it CAN be great, but it's about human habits to really get a positive remark out of this

 

Why need expensive email-tracking software if one can simple pick up the phone and ask whether an email has been read? Imho organisers DEpersonalise business and generates social horror and excuses. There is always the software to blaim, but aren't we all humans who can take responsibilities for ones actions?

 

Personally, I don't want to spent tons of money on software that won't be used to it's end, because if one is not an organised person, organisers (software) are not useful. One should get a hardcopy agenda and practise

 

rgds

 

nisus

[Jeff Mottle]

From what I've seen, not too many programs tackle every bit of organisation that one desires, but all claim to do so.

Well, one of the reasons I asked this was becuase I wondered if there was a market for such a project to exist. I half though of developing a program like this myself for our industry specifically, if there were not better alternatives. (like I need more things to do) LOL. But seriously I am curious to know. My knowledge would be an internet/intranet based application.

 

Why need expensive email-tracking software if one can simple pick up the phone and ask whether an email has been read?

Becuase sometimes offices are very big, people are not in, or have offices around the world in different time zones. At Smoothe email tracking is used so that there is a central record of all correspondance. Not only is this good for backup puposes, but quite often someone might be brought in on a project at a later date and it would be a nightmare for everyone to sort though their emails to see what was applicable to the new team member.

[garethace]

Why need expensive email-tracking software if one can simple pick up the phone and ask whether an email has been read? Imho organisers DEpersonalise business and generates social horror and excuses. There is always the software to blaim, but aren't we all humans who can take responsibilities for ones actions?

I am beginning to understand your point of view now. How many meetings have i sat down and listened to everyone in the whole company try to make out they had 'all the answers, solutions, etc' sorted out, as to how to improve workflow in the office. Bah, what a load of crock, and complete self-gratifying time-wasting, for Friday evenings when noone feels like working. Just saying out loud, and all at the say time, "I think this, that...."

 

On the first chapter of a book about database software i once read the following thing occured: The organisation wanted to make its own database, so one summer they got two students to do it. The students went around and interviewed everyone in the organisation and asked what each person wanted, blah, blah, blah. Anyhow, that sounds like a reasonable strategy. WRONG! The database was constructed by the students and they left and went back to college. The organisation said Wow! Look at all the cash we have saved, and we have built a new company database!

 

It turned out, that nothing whatsoever in the database actually worked as it should. While on the one hand, everyone in the organisation was extremely pleased that 'all their suggestions' had been assimilated into the program. On the other hand, the shere messiness, complexity and lack of a thorough structure/plan in making the database to begin with, made sure the whole fiasco was doomed to begin with. A couple of years down the road, the organisation decided the old 'summer student' database could not be fixed. Having showed it to professionals. The professionals merely took the old system 'as a company personnel survey' and made a ground-up new system. It cost more, but the professionals said that the old system wasn't even worth trying to save now.

[ingo]

>>I am very curious to know what everyone does to track their projects. Do you use your own custom built software, a 3rd party app, excel?

 

 

Well as a one man company i dont need anything like that, but when i get enough clients and work so i need that i'd like to hire a nice bikini girl, of course only to organize my email and letters.

[garethace]

Allow me to include a description of Engineers using 3-D building object models in the design process.

 

One of the big problems for architects has been a reliance upon 2-dimensional CAD software, while trying to collaborate with many different professions around the world. Software like CATIA, and Bentley Project Bank work in 3-dimensions. This means that each designer can see, what work the other designer is doing to the same model. Therefore, in real time one automatically knows how changes made by one person can effect you in your job.

 

With 2-dimensional CAD draughting this process of cross-checking becomes a complete nightmare. While building the highest bank in the world, Foster and Assoc. employed a separate firm of architects to actually do nothing else except overlay all drawings all the time, by various disiplines and look for innomalies, conflicts and errors.

 

In standard everyday practice this equates to endless hours spent sitting around tables with pages and pages of blueprints. Talking to other people saying, "I changed this in the plan of floor level 3, so you need to change that line there on section C-C. And if i adjust the floor thickness in section C-C, the elevation in North side is going to have to be adjusted .... AGAIN!!!"

 

So 2-dimensional Design is a big crock in other words. It mainly amounts to meeting, after meeting about changes to changes, about changes to those changes.... Very little energy being spent on actual design, and most energy being spent on coordination of this whole merry dance. Project bank, CATIA etc, are interesting since you can choose to retrieve a design revision model from any stage in the project, and see exactly how the design looked on the 4th June, what changes were made, and by whom between that date and the 12th June. Etc, etc.

 

This way engineers can carefully study, what actually happened to allow them come to a final solution. They don't have 'to remember' the crunch moments in the process. (Memory is never very good for this kind of thing) The dimension of time, how the design progressed over time, becomes accessible to the engineer, architect or designer.

[Jeff Mottle]

Just so that this topic does not get too far off topic, my meaning of project managment was only for managment of architectural CG jobs, not architecrual and engineering management as that is an entirely different ball game. Basically the same program that Nisus found, with more features and designed specifically for our type of work.

[nisus]

Well, we have added our database file-naming system and some pre-set actions/performances so that every one in the firm uses the same standard.

We are checking what other features we want and will buy a custumized tool soon.

 

rgds

 

nisus

[garethace]

Just so that this topic does not get too far off topic, my meaning of project managment was only for managment of architectural CG jobs, not architecrual and engineering management as that is an entirely different ball game. Basically the same program that Nisus found, with more features and designed specifically for our type of work.

I realise totally, that engineering projects such as road/infrastructure/plant construction (often being managed in software such as UNIX based IBM/CATIA Lifecycle management for a couple of generations afterwards) are not like a CG Artist's job of doing a visualisation for a particular deadline.

 

At Smoothe email tracking is used so that there is a central record of all correspondance. Not only is this good for backup puposes, but quite often someone might be brought in on a project at a later date and it would be a nightmare for everyone to sort though their emails to see what was applicable to the new team member.

The great thing about Microsoft ware, love 'em or hate 'em, is it allows many people who could never purchase a customised system, to avail of standard templates that are out there. I think that MicroSoft's current work into knowledge management is exactly what you have described about your e-mail tracking system Jeff, but instead of using a home-built customised system, MicroSoft are trying to offer a standard template to anyone who cares to buy it from them. In fact, i suspect that MicroSoft are integrating alot of the features of e-mail tracking (maybe not as good) into the new Longhorn Windows operating system. I will just paste in here the Susan Conway related stuff, i posted in the other thread:

 

BTW, Jeff Scopeware Vision is more to do with Capturing knowledge assets, knowledge management, knowledge as a resourse - that whole argument currently raging in the new MicroSoft world of information management and science. The classic question of bigger and bigger hard drives, web resources, blah, blah, blah... "Where is my stuff". If people have to spend 10 hours just finding 'their stuff' out of every week, then what is the point of using computers at all. Susan Conway has published an excellent book about this by the Microsoft Press, called Unlocking Knowledge Assets, which i highly recommend. MicroSoft have this sophisticated thing called Sharepoint Portal, which is for web centric collaboration. Imagine in a corporation, like Microsoft keeping track of important knowledge resources, upgraded versions etc. People like nVidia and other software houses have to use specialised version tracking applications, to track what changes were made to underlying code, drivers, plugins, GUI code, dlls etc. (All that GNU lic stuff etc) MicroSoft also sell stuff like MS Project to large companies, which are less personal than say a small cg artist company - so that all the employees are properly scheduled to do work, use expensive equipment to test, get results, analyse results... i.e. designing chips, fault testing chips etc. The argument MicroSoft make, is that Knowledge is one of the most valuble assets that any company owns in todays world. That is 'this knowledge' is simply floating around in peoples' brains, then when that person retires or simply leaves to work elsewhere, half or at least a significant percentage of the companies information capital walks out the door with them. Capturing knowledge, and creating tacit knowledge assets (KAs) is about dealing with the problem of maissive leaks in company knowledge capital due to the mobile/temporary nature of today's workplaces. Scopeware vision is simply about making all the information associated with a particular project available to anyone who needs it. Too often here at my workplace, a person leaves after a year or two, and that whole network or mesh of connections, people, contacts, dates, deadlines etc, etc associated with any particular job (master planning jobs usually) simply get lost! Making a very, very bad impression on your clients, who begin to feel messed around, and justifiably so. I have not been able to properly sell the science of information management to the boss here at work, but last February 2003, i started to study Susan Conways book, and trying to use the Scopeware trial edition, in the hope of educating myself first. Unfortunately like everything else, there has been many, many other pressures put on my time since last February, meaning that KA project of mine went on the back stove a bit.

Comparing a company of the size, complexity and resources of MicroSoft to a company like Smoothe or Animotions is a bit far-fetched. But say we take the site here, CG Architect? It is almost big enough to be considered a Knowledge community and display many of the features like discussion boards, published white papers, Experts etc, that MS that Susan Conway talks about in her book. By MicroSoft's definition, CG Architect would be called 'a Knowledge Community' and we are all 'filtering' information to make out which stuff is really useful knowledge assets. The Susan Conway book goes into the role of the Community Expert (that would be you Jeff or Nis, or whoever) etc, etc. I found the book very helpful to explain to myself what i am actually doing to using a web site, or company intranet/file server to work and collaborate on jobs.

 

[ July 01, 2003, 08:07 AM: Message edited by: garethace ]

[garethace]

3D File Management in Hybrid Environments

 

As with all things management, you'll do well to tackle these problems before they take root. Here goes.

 

 

http://www.cadenceweb.com/2003/0403/vpoint0403.html