Web 2.0 and Online Project Management Software
Wikipedia defines Web 2.0 as a second generation of web-based communities and hosted services like social network sites (Facebook, My Space),
wikis and other collaborative zones, which facilitate creativity and sharing among users.
Much of the focus is on social networking or non-business or enterprise applications. However, there is a lot of power in Web 2.0 business applications and project management software products like Project Insight which focus on giving a community of project team members a collaborative zone for sharing projects, tasks, project assets and documents, even posting communication or threads in a centralized place. Granted these zones are not public, but they are inclusive of 'communities' that are not simply made up of team members of a corporation or organization. Many project teams include third party vendors, suppliers, freelancers, sub-contractors and even customers. Tools like Project Insight give these project communities one centralized place to login and get real-time project status and information.
As more project work gets outsourced, whether domestically or internationally, the challenges of communicating across multiple time zones, can be solved by collaborative zones. For example, Funrise Toy designs and manufactures toys like Tonka trucks, Silly Putty and Gazillion Bubbles. The design team resides in Los Angeles, California, while the manufacturing team is in Hong Kong. When the team in California is asleep, the Hong Kong team can still be productive by reviewing project status and communication in Project Insight. Prior to Web 2.0, communication might happen via email, or worse, someone had to stay awake from the U.S. side to make a phone call. The issue with email is that then valuable project history is stored in individual email boxes instead of in a centralized location for all team members to review.
Using portfolio dashboards, an executive can immediately see which projects are on schedule and which are falling behind. Take Funrise for example, prior to using Project Insight approximately 70 percent of its projects were completed on deadline. "From a management standpoint, it allows you to look across the entire development portfolio and see exactly where you stand," says John Meyer, CIO. Now, that percentage has increased to 85 percent. In addition, Funrise is now managing the development of about 30 percent more products with essentially the same resources.
Another aspect of Web 2.0 is the notion of using the Internet as a platform, instead of client-server applications and/or desktop applications. Project Insight was one of the first mid-market, 100% web-based project management solutions, launching its solution at Project World in 2001. Project Insight V.P. Cynthia West states, "I recall a time when we had to explain what 'web-based' meant to prospective customers. We had to let them know that they simply typed in a web address and logged in and everything they needed was in one place. They sometimes had difficulty understanding that they didn't have to download anything on their computers!"
Some innovations associated with Web 2.0 include AJAX technology. AJAX allows a rich user experience by making website mimic the desktop experience. For example, Project Insight allows project managers to use in-line editing of their project schedules. This feels like entering tasks in Excel or MS Project because AJAX is doing some of the data processing on the client side. This dramatically speeds up the user experience. Many other web solutions force the user to click and open a form, then submit that form all the way back to the server. Even if this takes a couple of seconds, the user can still detect the difference in speed. We are, after all, in the age of the 'Jetsons' where users expect more functions to happen with a single click.
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