PocketPCs and Pen Systems for process improvement..?
Anonymous
Many wireless technology providers are positioning their solutions such as PocketPCs, VOIP, Pen based systems, etc. as viable tools for process improvement, project managers, and the PMO in general. Is anyone doing or seeing this? Are any project managers using PocketPCs and/or Pen Systems in support of their project management efforts..? Saving Changes...
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Michael WoodProject Manager / Business Analyst / Business Process Improvement Guru| Independent ContractorGig Harbor, Wa, United States
I have actually heard about one use of PDAs to improve the management of part-time staff at a lagre gocery store chain. In order to keep overtime at a minimum the store manager is notified 1/2 hour before the end of each part-time person's shift. This is done using a workflow / document management product that monitors time clock transactions and then emails the store manager in time for them to end the person's shift on time.
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Mark Price PerryBusiness Driven PMO Evangelist| BOT InternationalOrlando, Fl, United States
Dear Anonymous, great question..! Why would a project manager or a PMO care about mobility solutions..? And who would manage a project using a Pocket PC or digital pen..? And are the Pocket PC applications Word, Excel, etc. really the same and compatible with their Windows Word and Excel counter parts..? And does MS Project even run on a Pocket PC..? Bah, Humbug – right..! Well, we are seeing an increased interest and use of mobility solutions in support of project management and the PMO in general. Among the PMs in the PMO, mobility solutions like Pocket PCs with Voice Over IP (VOIP) allow for device consolidation from a mobile phone, a PDA, and perhaps a pager to just one device. And depending upon the call plan being replaced, the resulting Pocket PC VOIP usage charges may even be significantly less than that of a traditional mobile phone plan. In addition, there are also a growing number of Pocket PC vendors and software solutions for project management. Some of the solutions are simple task management and “to-do list” applications which likely would be of little value to most IT and PMO project managers. But there are other Pocket PC project management solutions that are actually compatible with MS Project which are far more useful and relevant to a PM in a project organization. Imagine you're a project manager and you are in a lunch meeting with your very busy PMO manager or CIO and you get asked "can we finish that project two months early - how many extra people do you need"? ...so you take your Pocket PC out of your jacket and analyze the schedule and answer straight away! A vendor called Twiddlebit provides this today with their “Pocket Plan” product for the Pocket PC. And Processes On Demand, by BOT International, provides a Pocket PC software solution called PM PocketPorts that provides project management processes aligned to the PMBOK including PM and SDLC workflows, templates, and step by step guidance. Would a project manager need or want PM processes, templates, forms, and checklists, a scheduling tool compatible with MS Project, and Voice over IP in his hand…? Maybe, maybe not. But some PMOs, not all, are seeking to own the "Practice" of project management throughout the enterprise and to enable high value employees in the lines of businesses outside the PMO, the “casual project managers”, to access, follow, and use PMO approved processes and tools, Windows and Pocket PC-based, for managing their project efforts - from the marketing person planning the next customer conference or event, to the business development person developing and managing a reseller project, to the sales person asked to manage a competitive analysis project effort. The business case for enabling line of business project efforts to be managed via an approved PMO process, rather than via ad hoc and best effort approaches is quite significant. And tools like Pocket PCs help to do that, especially since many of these high value employees have them already. We have a few clients doing this today and a number planning to roll-out mobility in 2005. I would be happy to put you in contact with them. You can also do a Google search on “Pocket PC Project Manager” and find a wide range of vendor solutions. Have a look at Tweedlebit and Portnexus. Hope this helps. Thanks for your great post and happy holidays..! – Mark Perry, VP of Customer Care, BOT International Saving Changes...
First of all, many thanks for the invite to post to this discussion point. On the mobile project management side, this is something that we specialise on at GRN Consulting Limited.
The new PDA's that have become available over the last couple of years have significantly increased the processing power that is available on handheld solutions especially within the Pocket PC and Embedded Linux solutions.
Project Professional, our own application, was designed from the ground up for handheld usage and much of the critical project management functionality including active gantt charts, graphical and detailed data models etc are all included in Project Professional.
In fact, one of our German customers was so impressed with the application they informed us that they would drop Microsoft Project on the Desktop and replace it with handhelds running Project Professional. Their reasoning was based on the fact their consultants were constantly travelling between sites on trains, planes etc. The PDA giving the definite versatility between portability and functionality.
One of the biggest issues is the data input, often this can be tedious with some devices which is why so many of our customers use devices with integral keyboards like the Sharp Zaurus devices.
Often, users will use our Desktop Edition for mass data input (or will import projects from Microsoft Project).
Our Desktop Edition application was developed after the handheld, the emphasis always being on portability of data. The Desktop is also platform independent running on various operating systems including Apple Mac, Linux and Windows. This freedom in selecting computing platform is therefore also of paramount importance.
Originally we had a large user base in companies that have large multi-site campus's. The ability to keep important project status information with you wherever you are being a real bonus. However, we also find many companies taking up Project Professional purely for it's size.
The importance of tool selection, is ensuring that it has the functionality you require as a Project Manager. To the level of portability that your position requires. However, the mobile computing marketplace is developing so quickly these days that the PDA is here to stay.
With a wireless Enterprise Server solution under development as well, Project Professional can meet the demands of Project Managers wherever they may be.
Please feel free to check out Project Professional at our website at http://www.grnconsulting.com for further information.
kind regards, Gary Newbould, Director,GRN Consulting Limited. Saving Changes...
