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M2: Analysis of Comparable Project Planning/Management Offerings

M2 Product/Service Profile: Opendesk.com

Date: 17 August 2000

Copyright (c) 2000 Frank Castellucci
All Rights Reserved

Associated project: Specification Writing for Web-based Project Planning Software

Project URL: http://sohodojo.com/techsig/project-planning-project.html

sXc Project detail: http://sourcexchange.com/ProjectDetail?projectID=24 (SourceXchange is out of business.)

Project coordination: Sohodojo

Sponsors: Position open

Sponsors (M1-3): Opendesk.com and Collab.Net

Core Team: Jim Salmons and Frank Castellucci

1 Overview

The intent of this document is to provide feedback from analysis of products that are comparable to the general goals of the project. The focus is on key technological areas with an overriding concern in regards to role collaboration capability.

2 Product/Service Profile [ All assessments, this topic ]

2.1 Name of offering

Opendesk, Version 2.1.0.3

2.2 Publisher/Author/Service-provider

Opendesk.com

2.3 URL for more information

http://www.opendesk.com

2.4 Type - one or more of local client, client/server, web service, etc.

Opendesk is a web service application with client access through standard browsers. All layout and processing is server side using perl script applications.

2.5 Pricing/Availability

Free opt-in web service

2.6 Assessment based on hands-on experience or info-only?

Hands on in User, and Administrator role. Did not participate in the setup and configuration of an Opendesk server.

2.7 Reviewer comments

As a closed source system, Opendesk can't be considered as a starting code base for open source initiatives.

It should be noted, however, that the Opendesk service offering makes extensive use of the Open Source SmartWorker framework, a Perl-based Open Source offering.

3 System Constraints [ All assessments, this topic ]

3.1 Physical Limitations

Not applicable

3.2 Software Limitations (operating systems, plug-ins, drivers)

All of Opendesk interactive modules are implemented as web pages with perl script applications. There are no plug-ins or drivers required by the client.

3.3 Implementation Limitations (number of projects, tasks per projects, users, roles)

Not Applicable.

3.4 Does the software assume a specific project management methodology, if so which one(s)?

Not Applicable.

3.5 Reviewer Comments

As a closed source system, Opendesk can't be considered as a starting code base for open source initiatives.

4 Collaboration [ All assessments, this topic ]

4.1 What is the interaction model? (Real-time dynamic views, publish/subscribe, email, user queries, etc.)

Opendesk provides the following:

1. E-mail
2. Sem-threaded group discussions
3. Intranet News
4. Real-time updates to static views
5. Calendar sharing

4.2 When used in project planning mode, is team communication supported?

As there is no project planning capability, this is not applicable.

4.3 When used in project monitoring mode (more modest a target than project management), how is team member interaction handled? ('project-manager -centric' or peer interaction; is there an ad hoc issue management facility, etc.)

As there is no project planning capability, this is really not applicable. But, there is a to-do list where you can enter personal tasks with due dates and priority. It appears that if the task is due, a small icon blinks in the lower corner of the screen until you delete the task, or change the date to the future.

4.4 What are the 'key indicators' used to keep project team members and stakeholders informed of the state of the project?

The Group Discussion

4.5 Does the product or services concurrency features facilitate or hinder team member collaboration?

The most useable collaboration feature, Group Discussion, hinders team collaboration. There are no sorting or display options. The feature incorporates a hard to navigate drill down interface.

4.6 Security features

All users are required to login to the system for access, at which point the user profile accessibility controls are used to allow/deny access to various aspects of the intranet as defined by the Administrator.

4.7 Reviewer Comments

There is a way to go before the collaboration features of Opendesk can be considered really useful beyond simple communications. The author has a running dialog with the developers for feature enhancements and additions in this regard. Opendesk will benefit from the resulting RFP for this project.

5 Role Support [ All assessments, this topic ]

A Role characterizes the system participants of in terms of responsibility. A role can be people or other systems. For example, a developer is a role that has different responsibility than a SQA tester. In this section, we will provide what provisions the system under review provides for describing the person/role, and what processing rules that it may imply.

5.1 What is the 'person/role' model?

Opendesk predefines two (2) roles in the system:

1. Administrators - All privileges of other user types. Granted full access to both project data and project configuration, as well as creating new users.
2. Users - Can modify only personal data, calendars, files. Can participate in group discussions and e-mail other intranet users.

5.2 How are 'person/role' elements related to 'organization/group' elements?

Functionality not supported.

5.3 Can one person fill many roles? Can one role be filled by many persons? (resource/skill pools, etc.)

Yes, the Administrator can assign administrator control over the various tools in the applications list. Applications include:

• All Applications
• News
• Polls
• Contacts
• Educational Expenses
• Office Supplies Request
• Company Directory
• Group Discussions
• Check Voucher
• Expense Report
• Purchase Order

5.4 Reviewer Comments

The lack of recognizing that even a small business concern (the marketing identified target audience) has roles defined in their organization.

6 Concurrency [ All assessments, this topic ]

Concurrency is defined by the implementations locking and transaction model. As such, the granularity of the locking will determine the liveliness of the system. The finer the granularity of locking, the more lively the interactions may be. Another aspect of concurrency is in regards to work-flow and the transaction model, does the system support "conversational or long-term transactions" for example.

Concurrency is defined by the implementations locking and transaction model. As such, the granularity of the locking will determine the liveliness of the system. The finer the granularity of locking, the more lively the interactions may be. Another aspect of concurrency is in regards to work-flow and the transaction model, does the system support "conversational or long-term transactions" for example.

6.1 Single or multi-user

Opendesk supports multiple users in a company intranet. A user may belong to multiple company intranets.

6.2 What is the implementation technology supporting concurrency?

Two tiered implementation, server side scripts commiting data to the database.

6.3 Revision Management

Functionality not supported.

6.4 Reviewer Comments

7 Accessibility [ All assessments, this topic ]

In this section, we want to capture how accessible the system is from both a human interaction capability as well as support for the interchange of information from other systems.

7.1 Web-based

Opendesk is enabled through HTML pages and server side Perl script applications.

7.2 Interchanges support (MS Project, XML, RDF, etc.)

Functionality not supported.

7.3 Import/Export (MS Project, text, etc.)

Functionality not supported in regards to Project Management, but Opendesk does support file upload and downloads to a personal file sub-directory structure.

7.4 Mobile Users

Support not explicitly mention through hands-on or documentation.

7.5 Reviewer Comments

Working as designed.

8 Project Proposal Management [ All assessments, this topic ]

Is there a business processing rule that supports the tenet that before a project there is a proposal? If so, what are the processing rules that govern it's description and acceptance?

8.1 Vision/Goals specification

Functionality not supported.

8.2 Business Processing Rules

Functionality not supported.

8.3 Implementation Specific Rules

Functionality not supported.

8.4 Reviewer Comments

Nothing to comment on.

9 Requirements Management [ All assessments, this topic ]

The tasks of creating a software system are usually (but not always) bound to initial requirements elucidated by analysis of the problem space. To what extent, if any, does the system under review support the requirement phase of the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC)?

9.1 Documentation Controls

Functionality does not exist per se, although the user private files are backed up.

9.2 Relationship to Task Management

Functionality not supported.

9.3 Implementation Specific Rules

Functionality not supported.

9.4 Business Processing Rules

Functionality not supported.

9.5 Reviewer Comments

Nothing to comment on.

10 Task Management [ All assessments, this topic ]

10.1 What is the 'activity/task' model?

Opendesk has a simple to-do list application, which includes:

• Setting the due date
• Setting the priority

10.2 How are roles related to activity/tasks?

Any user can have any tasks that they create for themselves.

10.3 Is the product/service 'project-manager-centric' or can team members extend and/refine the plan within the realm of their own activity?

The user tasks are only visible, and modified by the user themselves.

10.4 Views: Predefined, user-configurable or both

Predefined view. No configuration.

10.5 Status reporting mechanisms (percent complete reports, 'flag-raising' or issue management features)

It appears that if the task is due, a small icon blinks in the lower corner of the screen until you delete the task, or change the date to the future.

10.6 How are consumable/required task-specific resources handled?

There are not.

10.7 Reviewer Comments

There is no task managment feature to review.

11 Task Constraints [ All assessments, this topic ]

11.1 Task Dependency Internal (intra-project)

Functionality not supported.

11.2 Task Dependency External (inter-project)

Functionality not supported.

11.3 Resource constraints (expressed as percentage)

Functionality not supported.

11.4 User defined constraints

Functionality not supported.

11.5 Reviewer Comments

There are no constraints available to review.

12 Reporting [ All assessments, this topic ]

12.1 Pre-defined, user-defined or both

Functionality not supported.

12.2 Publisher-push by project manager or team member dynamic views?

Functionality not supported.

12.3 Stakeholder-specific views?

Functionality not supported.

12.4 Multi-project analysis

Functionality not supported.

12.5 What-if analysis

Functionality not supported.

12.6 Security features

Reports are limited by user type.

12.7 Reviewer Comments

Nothing to comment on.

13 Multi-project Management [ All assessments, this topic ]

13.1 Role Template library?

Functionality not supported.

13.2 Repetitive Task library?

Functionality not supported.

13.3 Reviewer Comments

Nothing to comment on.

14 Post Mortem [ All assessments, this topic ]

It is often desirable to look back upon a completed project and enumerate what problems arose, the quality of how they were handled, and a gauge to the positive or negative effect on the baseline plan. This is primarily used as an quality accounting about the software development process.

14.1 Analysis and Reporting

Functionality not supported.

14.2 Is there an interface to a 'reputation-building' rating system for team members? If so, is there a 'disputed assessment' system to resolve conflicting opinions.

Functionality not supported.

14.3 Reviewer Comments

Nothing to comment on.

15 Subjective Impressions [ All assessments, this topic ]

15.1 User Interface: Strengths/Weaknesses

15.2 Project Modeling: Strengths/Weaknesses

15.3 Technology Platform: Strengths/Weaknesses

15.4 Overall 'Wow' factor: 1 (low) to 5 (high)

15.5 Reviewer Comments

In all fairness, Opendesk is NOT a Project Management/Project Planning offering. It is focused and geared at providing some workflow management applications for a small business concern. It would be unfair to judge those characteristics in this forum.

DOCUMENT HISTORY

Version 0.9 - Draft
Version 1.0 - Final

### end of sxc24-m2-opendesk-comparables.txt (Version 1.0) ###

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