Open Workbench - About MoonHart Consult

Open Workbench
Complete Desktop Project Planning and Scheduling
Open Workbench is the only open source Windows-based
desktop application that provides robust project scheduling
and management functionality and is free to distribute
throughout the enterprise. When users need to move beyond
desktop scheduling to a workgroup, division or enterprisewide solution, they can upgrade to the Clarity™ system from
Niku, an enterprise portfolio management system that offers
bidirectional integration with Open Workbench.
Comprehensive Project Management Capabilities
Open Workbench is a robust, mature tool for project
scheduling and management. It conforms to and supports
the underlying ideals of project management while presenting
information in a way that is intuitive and easy to learn. Tens of
thousands of project managers around the world use Open
Workbench to plan and execute complex projects.
Optimal Schedules Based on Resource Availability
Open Workbench is unique in its ability to schedule work in a
flexible way based on resource availability. Rather than
manually specify how much and when a resource works on a
task, Open Workbench allows that time to be calculated
automatically by the Auto Schedule feature. When a project is
scheduled, work on tasks is calculated to fit within the
availability of the people to do that work, even if those
people are allocated to multiple projects. As a result, the
daily work for a resource is an output of the scheduling
process rather than in input, allowing the application to
optimize work to deliver a useful plan.
Review and
update resource
assignments as the
project progresses
All projects proceed through a series of tasks (or stages)
during their lifecycle. By using Open Workbench, these critical
tasks or stages become more manageable, making projects
more likely to succeed. Open Workbench enables project
managers to create work breakdown structures (WBS) with
tasks and milestones, set baselines, schedule project plans
with dependencies, assign resources to tasks, schedule work
on tasks over a period of time, adjust the schedule as actual
work is recorded, link master and subprojects and schedule
resources across them, and conduct earned value analysis.
Create and manage
complex plans using
Open Workbench
Flexible Information Views
Project managers have access to a library of project views in
Open Workbench, allowing them to customize the
information display to their needs. Multiple views are
supported, including Gantt and Phase Level Gantt charts, as
well as logical, PERT-style displays. Organizations can also
define and distribute custom views as corporate standards.
Advanced Scheduling Functionality
Once the project plan is created, project managers can
schedule tasks with assigned resources for completion. For
large projects, scheduling can be an intricate process that
balances task relationships, resource availability, and task
duration. The powerful Auto Schedule feature in Open
Workbench is designed to handle just this type of complexity.
With the click of an button, the Auto Schedule feature uses an
internal set of rules to create a schedule that takes into
account task constraints, dependencies, priorities and
resource constraints—automatically generating the best
method for project completion. When the plan is approved,
the project manager can create a baseline, which gives a
snapshot of the project and allows revisions to be compared
against the original plan.
Scope Change Management
Modifications are required when a project’s scope changes,
whether due to new requirements, lack of resources or time
and budget constraints. Open Workbench identifies these
potential problems and trends before they affect a project by
performing the following analyses:
• Critical Path: analyzes isolated dependency networks and
tasks with negative float.
• Estimated Time to Complete: calculates the estimated
usage required to complete a task and ascertains if
deadlines will be met.
• Earned Value: analyzes the true progress of a project,
taking into account the effort expended as well as what
has been achieved.
Managers can refine the project schedule based on these
analyses and, using the project baseline, compare scope
changes with the original plan for detailed analysis. Having
the right information to quickly mitigate potential problems
is crucial to the successful delivery of work.
Track Project Status
Against Baseline to
Identify Schedule
and Resource Issues
Availability
The latest free version of Open Workbench is available from
the Open Workbench web site at www.openworkbench.org.
The site provides additional information on Open Workbench,
updates and news, and discussion forums for the community
of end users.
Key Features of Open Workbench
• Define projects and create associated work breakdown
structures with activities, phases, tasks and milestones
• Define resources as people, equipment, materials or expense
• Assign resources to tasks
• Create dependencies as finish-start, start-start, finish-finish
or start-finish
• Schedule tasks manually or automatically using Auto
Schedule
• Automatically schedule tasks forwards or backwards (the
latter allowing tasks to be started as late as possible) and
with or without resource constraints
Beyond Desktop Scheduling
Desktop scheduling applications work well for individual
users and small workgroups where it’s possible to manually
assess how people and plans affect the work to be done. In
larger and more complex organizations, project managers
need insight into the organization’s resource availability,
project expenditures, standardized methodologies and
shared knowledge.
• Configure resources on tasks with uniform, fixed, contour,
front or back loading
To achieve this level of integration, users of Open Workbench
can upgrade to the Clarity system from Niku, a fully integrated
project portfolio management system that seamlessly
connects day-to-day project management activities with
strategic portfolio planning and execution.
• Define, compare and reset project baseline settings
Contact Niku to learn more about the powerful combination
of Open Workbench, the open source Windows client
application, and Clarity, the browser-based solution for
enterprise project, program, portfolio, resource and financial
management.
• View Gantt charts (both detail and roll-up), PERT charts and
the critical path
Benefits of Open Source
Niku Corporation, the developer of Workbench, has
contributed the software code to the open source
community so that users get the benefits from communitybased development and support: higher quality, faster
innovation, and lower costs. Project managers and other end
users can expect a steady stream of value added
improvements by a global community of developers and
service providers who contribute their enhancements to the
Open Workbench project at SourceForge.net.
• Create subprojects and link them to master projects
• Create and manage inter-project dependencies
• Associate guidelines with tasks
• Manage advanced task properties such as fixed duration,
dependency lag, imposed start/end dates and charge codes
• Create, edit and delete calendars
• Schedule to general or individualized calendars
• Schedule across linked master and subprojects
• Track status, percent complete and estimates to complete
• Conduct earned value analysis
• Customize project views including column layouts, filters,
sorts and rule-based formatting
• Seamlessly integrate with the Clarity system from Niku
www.openworkbench.org | www.niku.com | [email protected]
© 2004 Niku Corporation. All rights reserved.The information in this document is subject to change without notice.Niku and the Niku logo are
registered trademarks, and Clarity and Workbench are trademarks of Niku Corporation in the United States and certain other countries.All other
trademarks, trade names, and/or product names are used solely for the purpose of identification and are the property of their respective owners.