Project Management with eDocLib 2.5
Since “project management” and, moreover, “project management software” may mean completely different things, we make a reservation right away that we do not consider eDocLib as an alternative to Microsoft Project or Oracle Primavera. At the same time, we note that often the huge functionality of these products is used by no more than a few percent. This material describes a small development based on the eDocLib system, already used for other purposes, which made it possible to refuse to purchase licenses for specialized software.
Description of the problem to be solved
So, for what, as a first approximation, do we need special project management software? In the specific case we have implemented (and I think this is a fairly common case) - primarily to control the timing of the work. As a rule, when performing a task, it is divided into several key stages, and for each stage, its duration and the employee responsible for its implementation are determined. In the future, the deadlines for work are traditionally shifted, and the person in charge of the whole process needs to keep track of the real deadlines and in any way seek to complete the work within the stipulated time frame. With a large number of tasks for each of the employees, keeping track of deadlines in their work becomes relevant, so as not to miss the required deadline. The traditional means of communication for group members, in the absence of special software, is e-mail. That, of course, is not always convenient from the point of view of joint editing of documents, version control, etc. Thus, the main task to be solved was to automate the accounting of the stages of work on projects, maintain the actual phased work schedule and create common work areas for project teams.
The decision .
Before proceeding to the description of the implementation of the task on the eDocLib platform, let us briefly describe the system itself. eDocLib is a highly customizable solution that allows you to quickly organize electronic data storage of arbitrary structure, customize the visual presentation of this data and immediately get out of the box all the functionality for working with arbitrary documents - cataloging, rubrication, version control, access control, collaboration , search capabilities, web access, customization of user workstations, etc. The general idea of the solution is quite simple - we use the eDocLib platform, we create new data types “Projects” and “Project Execution Stages”, we set up workplaces so that when the user logs on, the user can see the list of objects of the “Stage” type, for which he is responsible the deadline for which will expire soon (week, month or quarter depending on the settings). Next, using simple scripts, we implement a recalculation of the calendar plan and updating the data for each “Stage” object when making changes to the deadlines for performing any of the previous stages. Actually, almost everything. It remains only to select the groups of system users in eDocLib and assign them appropriate rights to work with new objects in accordance with their roles in the working group. All other functionality - issuing instructions and receiving performance reports, logging user actions, storing materials related to work on each task, their informal discussion, keeping a history of changes, notifying working group members about changes by e-mail - is provided by regular eDocLib tools.
All the listed settings are slowly performed in a few hours. It would hardly be interesting to dwell on the detailed description of the settings made, they fully comply with the documentation supplied with the eDocLib package, but if requested, we can provide a detailed step-by-step guide.
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About the financial component
The cost of licenses for 20 users of the eDocLib system is about 45,000 rubles. The time for the overall revision of the “boxed version” is less than 4 hours (of course, a person unfamiliar with the product will also need some time to get acquainted with the product and the means of finalizing it). Of course, the implemented functionality is very far from specialized systems, but nevertheless safely solves the problem of organizing collaboration and controlling the project implementation dates. In this case, the found solution is out of competition in terms of price and costs of putting the system into operation.
Description of the problem to be solved
So, for what, as a first approximation, do we need special project management software? In the specific case we have implemented (and I think this is a fairly common case) - primarily to control the timing of the work. As a rule, when performing a task, it is divided into several key stages, and for each stage, its duration and the employee responsible for its implementation are determined. In the future, the deadlines for work are traditionally shifted, and the person in charge of the whole process needs to keep track of the real deadlines and in any way seek to complete the work within the stipulated time frame. With a large number of tasks for each of the employees, keeping track of deadlines in their work becomes relevant, so as not to miss the required deadline. The traditional means of communication for group members, in the absence of special software, is e-mail. That, of course, is not always convenient from the point of view of joint editing of documents, version control, etc. Thus, the main task to be solved was to automate the accounting of the stages of work on projects, maintain the actual phased work schedule and create common work areas for project teams.
The decision .
Before proceeding to the description of the implementation of the task on the eDocLib platform, let us briefly describe the system itself. eDocLib is a highly customizable solution that allows you to quickly organize electronic data storage of arbitrary structure, customize the visual presentation of this data and immediately get out of the box all the functionality for working with arbitrary documents - cataloging, rubrication, version control, access control, collaboration , search capabilities, web access, customization of user workstations, etc. The general idea of the solution is quite simple - we use the eDocLib platform, we create new data types “Projects” and “Project Execution Stages”, we set up workplaces so that when the user logs on, the user can see the list of objects of the “Stage” type, for which he is responsible the deadline for which will expire soon (week, month or quarter depending on the settings). Next, using simple scripts, we implement a recalculation of the calendar plan and updating the data for each “Stage” object when making changes to the deadlines for performing any of the previous stages. Actually, almost everything. It remains only to select the groups of system users in eDocLib and assign them appropriate rights to work with new objects in accordance with their roles in the working group. All other functionality - issuing instructions and receiving performance reports, logging user actions, storing materials related to work on each task, their informal discussion, keeping a history of changes, notifying working group members about changes by e-mail - is provided by regular eDocLib tools.
All the listed settings are slowly performed in a few hours. It would hardly be interesting to dwell on the detailed description of the settings made, they fully comply with the documentation supplied with the eDocLib package, but if requested, we can provide a detailed step-by-step guide.
')
About the financial component
The cost of licenses for 20 users of the eDocLib system is about 45,000 rubles. The time for the overall revision of the “boxed version” is less than 4 hours (of course, a person unfamiliar with the product will also need some time to get acquainted with the product and the means of finalizing it). Of course, the implemented functionality is very far from specialized systems, but nevertheless safely solves the problem of organizing collaboration and controlling the project implementation dates. In this case, the found solution is out of competition in terms of price and costs of putting the system into operation.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/114395/
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