Situation: You Need to Manage a Portfolio of Projects Within a Small Business.
OPM Creator is a very simple, clean web-based package aimed at smaller businesses who not only need to manage multiple projects, but could use a little help with knowledge management as well. I really like packages that give you an easy, structured way to capture emails related to projects. Many high-end packages don't really help in that regard and often even hamper the capture of the real "lessons learned" that resides in everyone's email. Here's a partial list of features from the site...
| Add your projects and tasks and assign the users who need to access them. Your users can then log in and access their projects online, communicate with other project users, share files, discuss issues and track progress keeping all project information in once central secure area. Users can only view the projects you add them too. |
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| Unique login page OPM Creator includes your own unique login page, you can easily add your own logo, change the system colours and add a welcome message branding the system to your own corporate identity, impressing your clients and keeping your business one step ahead of the competition. |
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| Hot home page The hub of your OPM Creator system, once logged in you are taken to your home page, clearly showing the most active projects and any projects waiting for feedback, one click will take you directly to any project you are authorized to view. |
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| Project main page All projects include a main project page with full project dates and details, the system administrators can also add custom fields to suit their own projects if required. Create a project from scratch, duplicate an existing project or create template projects and duplicate them to save time. |
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| Document management Each project includes a files section where project users can upload/download and view all project related files online; files can be any format with many files opening in a web browser for easy access. Files are stored in fully customisable folder structures these can be quickly created with multiple folders and subfolders on a project-by-project basis. Folders can also be hidden from certain users, useful if you invite your clients into projects and only need them to see specific project files. File approval is also included allowing users to comment or approve files added to the system. All files added are date stamped for version control and automatic email notification informs users that new files have been added. The use of OPM Creator eliminates the need to email large file attachments to multiple team members, the file is available online at any time in one central secure area. |
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| Task management Create and assign tasks to project users, tasks are then displayed in a dedicated MyTasks page for each user for quick and easy access. As users work on tasks they can then keep them updated recording hours/days spend and percentage complete. All task activity is stored online for future reference |
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| Gannt chart Tasks are graphically displayed on project gannt charts linked directly back to each task, this feature allows for a quick simple view of overall project progress. |
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| Project emails Project communications are simplified using the built in project email facility, users can send emails to all or selected project users online via the project. Emails are physically sent to the recipients inbox but are also stored in the project details for future reference, this feature is useful for tracking project communications and helps to keep all team members fully informed at all times. |
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Project discussion Project based discussions allow users to share ideas and conduct discussions. Use the project forum to brainstorm new ideas, ask other users of your projects to help solve problems. encourage feedback and involvement from your staff, customers and suppliers. Topics and replies are displayed as hierarchical "threads" that make reading and responding easy. |
| Calendar Keep track of personal meetings, group meetings, project and task start and end dates using our built in calendar. New calendar alerts can be quickly shared with project teams or as personal reminders of events and meetings. With a weekly or monthly viewing format you can also filter results to show all or selected project information. |
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| Automatic notifications Automatic emails can be sent out to project users whenever the project is updated; all automatic emails are fully customisable by yourself and can be fully branded with your company logo. The notification emails include a hyperlink to enable users to directly login to your OPMcreator system to view the changes to their project. The use of automatic notification emails speeds up communication and ensures all project users are fully aware of project progress instantly as it happens. |
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| Reporting The reports section offers the ability to print or export simple summary or detailed project and task reports. |
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| Project feedback Request feedback from your clients and project users, once complete OPM Creator sends automatic emails requesting feedback if required, feedback questions are fully customisable and all feedback received is stored in the administration area for future analysis. Request feedback on a project-by-project basis and you can set a minimum number of required responses before the project is automatically archived. |



