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A Comparison of Project Management Software Tools (PMST).

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 A Comparison of Project Management
Software Tools (PMST)
Halil Cicibas1, Omer Unal2 , Kadir Alpaslan Demir3
Institute of Naval Sciences and Engineering, Istanbul/Turkey,1,2
Department of Computer Engineering, Turkish Naval Academy, Istanbul/Turkey,3

Abstract—Using automated software tools is essential for

successful planning and managing of projects. Many 2. Study
automated software tools have been developed in the
industry. The literature on how to select the appropiate 2.1 Selection of Tools
project management software tools is quite limited. This
A huge number of PMSTs exists today. We scoped down
paper provides a comparison of a set of project
our study to include a handful of these tools since our goal
management software tools (PMST). In this study, first, we
is to provide a means to compare tools but not to compare
developed criteria to determine which PMSTs would be
them all.
subject to our analysis. Then, we developed criteria to
compare and evaluate these PMSTs. Finally, we present For this study, we developed the following criteria for
our findings in a tabular format. Our findings will help selecting project management software tools to be included
project managers to assess the strengths and weaknesses of in this study:
these tools. 1. Being subject to other related studies
[1,18,20,21,23].
Keywords— Project Management, Project Management 2. Being used by people other than its developers [1].
Software Tools, PMST 3. Popularity in project management community
according to forums, blogs and other non-officials websites
(Table-1).
1. Introduction 4. Being able to reach information about the tool.
The number of automated project management tools
available in the market is increasing rapidly. With Table-1 Forums, blogs and other non-officials websites
significant evolution of these tools, many project managers
have started using various software project management
tools to manage and support their project activities. These URL Addresses
tools are mainly used in planning, monitoring and 1 http://project-management-software-
controlling projects. The features provided with these tools review.toptenreviews.com/
vary. The project managers must choose an appropiate set
2 http://www.brighthub.com/office/project-
of tools with necessary features among many tools found in
management/articles/10767.aspx
the market. According to Capers Jones [18], in complex
software projects, successful project planning highly utilizes 3 http://www.softwareprojects.org/free-project-
automated project planning tools. Hence, it becomes management-software.htm
important for project owners or managers to choose the 4 http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/11/13/
most appropriate tool or set of tools for their project 15-useful-project-management-tools/
management needs.
5 http://www.wilsonmar.com/1projs.htm#ProjToo
In this study, we analyzed a set of project management ls
software tools (PMST). Then, we compared these tools
using a set of criteria. In addition to the criteria we 6 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_pro
developed, we used the criteria listed in [12]. At the end, we ject_management_software
present our findings in a tabular form. Our goal in this study
is to help project managers in choosing project management
software tools.
We selected 10 PMSTs that meet our selection criteria. We when PMSTs provide ease of modifications in the project
believe the last criterion is also important, since project schedule.
managers are not likely to select a tool they do not have
sufficient knowledge about.
Resource Management: With this feature, project managers
The list of tools subject to this study is as follows: allocate proper resources to activities and tasks to meet
1. Assembla[2] project requirements. Such resources may include financial
2. BaseCamp[3] resources, inventory, human skills, production resources,
3. DotProject[4] etc.
4. GanttProject[5]
5. LiquidPlanner[6]
6. Artemis View[7] Collaboration: Collaboration awareness is important for
7. OpenWorkbench[8] managing inter-team development activities. These
8. Open Proj[9] activities often lead to shared artifacts that requires careful
9. Primavera[10] handling. Successful collaboration provides the opportunity
10. MS Project[11] to detect potential integration problems in time.
Furthermore, it helps to take proactive steps to avoid
conflicts [15] and enables sharing of knowledge and best
We note that these tools should not be considered as the practices. Collaboration can be implemented by integrated
best tools or the most successful tools in the market. We do e-mail, web pages or wiki pages.
not promote any of these PMSTs mentioned. These tools
are just subjects in our study.
Time Tracking: Time tracking enables recording, analyzing,
2.2 Comparison Criteria estimating, and reporting the time spent on project
activities. With the help of time tracking employers'
To evaluate these tools, we define basic functions and core
timesheets and expenses is managed. A significant cost
features that provide the basis for the evaluation process.
item, personnel salaries, are calculated. In addition, time
In [12], twelve criteria (1-12) were selected and defined to tracking leads to a detailed breakdown of project tasks.
compare and evaluate software project management tools.
We added five more criteria. The final list includes 17
criteria. Estimation: It is the activity leading to estimates on project
effort, cost and schedule. Project managers can generate,
1. Task Scheduling
manage and validate estimates of effort on projects.
2. Resource Management
3. Collaboration
4. Time Tracking Risk Assessment: A successful risk analysis reduces long-
5. Estimation term expenses and prevents project failures [17]. Risk
6. Risk Assessment assessment enables the project manager to recognize and
7. Change Management schedule risk countermeasures during project execution.
8. Project Analysis/Reporting
9. Document Management
10. Communication Tools Change Management: It is the controlling of project plans,
11. Process Development Method resources, products and cost of project development
12. Portfolio Management process. By change management, the effects of changes on
13. Access Control requirements and above issues can be easily observed and
14. Quality Management managed.
15. Web Based
16. License
Project Analysis/Reporting: It is an analysis of product,
17. Issue Tracking
process, person or organization related project development
effectiveness by Gantt, PERT, CERT or other custom
Task Scheduling: Task scheduling is the activity of defining
formats.
the start and end times for each activity. The result of task
scheduling is a feasible project schedule. Most project
management tools have features to support task scheduling. Document Management: It enables managers or necessary
The project schedule helps project managers to monitor project members to customize, share, distribute, recover,
project milestones, and activities. Furthermore, project
schedule often changes in projects. Therefore, it is helpful
authenticate, secure and also manage versions of the sharing, time tracking, and a messaging system. It also
documents. focuses on communication and collaboration [3].

Communication Tools: They are used for informing DotProject: It is a web-based project management tool
stakeholders and project members about the status of the developed by dot Marketing Inc. In order to address a wide
project and published documents. Communication tools user community, it has multi-language support[4].
may use e-mail notifications and other means. These tools It emerged as an open-source alternative to Microsoft
constitute the foundation for collaborative activities [16]. Project. According to its official web site [4] its features
are:
Process Development Method: With this feature § Simple user interface
standardized scheduling of tasks can be implemented. § Project management functionality such as
Project manager can manage various tasks or activities collaboration
during product development process using these methods. § Open access, free usage
§ User management
§ E-mail based trouble ticket system, (Integrated
Portfolio Management: Project portfolio management voxel.net's ticketsmith)
(PPM) methods are used for choosing the right projects for § Client/Company management
producing the deliverables beneficial to the organization § Project listings
[21]. It enables managing multiple related projects and § Hierarchical task list
hence resource allocation among them. § File repository
§ Contact list
Access Control: It is controlling access to the resources of § Calendar
the software tool to authorized users and restricting access § Discussion forum
to unathorized users. § Resource based permissions

GanttProject: It is an open-source Java based project

Quality Management: Managing all activities, tasks, management software that runs under Windows, Linux and
documents etc. related to ensuring a certain level of quality Mac OS X operating systems [5].
such as quality policy description, quality planning, quality
assurance, quality control, and quality improvement. Team members and their information like e-mail accounts,
phone numbers can be added to the tool and tasks can be
assigned to each of the team members. The key feature of
Web Based: Some tools are accessable via a network such GanntProject is that it saves files with an .xml format, thus
as the Internet or a LAN. makes them accessible via web. Its features are[19]:

Issue Tracking: Creating, maintaining and managing lists of § Task hierarchy and dependencies
issues related to the project. § Gantt chart
§ Resource load chart
2.3 An Overview of PMSTs § Generation of PERT chart
§ PDF and HTML reports
In this section, we provide an overview of PMSTs.
§ MS Project import/export
Information in this section was collected from the official
§ Exchange data with spreadsheet applications
web sites of the tools subject to this study.
§ WebDAV based groupwork.

Assembla: It is an open-source, collaborative project LiquidPlanner: It is a web-based, platform-independent tool

management tool that is used for commercial purposes. It that uses probabilistic estimation approaches to manage
allows companies to hire its PM applications online [13], uncertainty. According to the official web site [6] its
and thus helps companies to lessen their software features are:
development expenses.[14] § Multiple projects
§ Smart scheduling
BaseCamp: A web-based project management tool § Painless time tracking
developed by 37signals. It presents to-do lists, wiki-style § File sharing
web-based text documents, milestone management, file § Email integration
 § Project portals It is mostly used in engineering and construction businesses.
Primavera was developed by Oracle. Other related
Artemis Views: Artemis Views is an integrated enterprise applications like Project Portfolio Management were also
project and resource management application. It is released. With its secure access, P3 enables managing
advertised as being able to offer project planning, multiple projects in a multi-user environment.
scheduling, resource allocation and tracking, earned value Features stated in the official web site [10] are:
management, and time reporting through a single,
§ Select the right strategic mix of projects
synchronized product suite. It is a suite of applications used
§ Assure project, corporate governance
for managing multiple projects from any level of project,
§ Enhance processes and methods
activity or resource.
§ Improve project team collaboration
It has logically designed modules enabling the creation of § Measure progress toward objectives
custom solutions addressing any organization’s specific § Ensure project are align with the strategy
objectives for a project. Artemis runs on Windows and web § Complete more projects successfully and with the
based platforms and works with Microsoft SQL Server and intended payback.
Oracle databases. Its main features are [23]:
§ Project management MS Project: This project management tool, developed by
§ Advanced planning Microsoft, aims to offer project managers to develop
§ Advanced MSP planning project plans and requirements, assign employers tasks, and
§ Time reporting monitor status of projects. Additionally, in MS Project,
§ Earned value management users are separated into groups based on their assigned tasks
§ Management reporting or positions. Hence, users can have different access levels
to various project documents.
OpenWorkbench: It is an open source tool developed as an With MS Project Server add-on, MS Project can be used
alternative to Microsoft Project that presents robust project via web easing collaboration. As a summary, as advertised
planning and management schedule. The main difference in the official web site [11] its features are:
from Microsoft Project is that Open Workbench makes
§ Collaboration
scheduling based on effort while MS Project scheduling
§ Communication
focuses on duration.
§ Task management
In its official web site [8] following features are stated: § Project management
§ Project Planning and Managing § Quick access to information
§ Resource management § Improved interface
§ Project Scheduling § Portfolio management
§ Project Review § Document management

Open Proj: It is an open-source desktop project

3. Analysis
management tool. A great deal of features match with MS We summarize our findings in Table 2. For each of the
Project. The main difference from MS Project is that it is tools, we investigated whether the tool supports the
designed to address the needs of small teams. OpenProj is a functionality or features listed earlier as the 17 criteria
Java-based, platform idependent application. According to developed for this study. If a tool supports a particular
its official web site [9] its features are: functionality or feature, we put a check (b); otherwise we
put a no (r). Some of the features require experimentation
§ Earned value costing
with the tool. Thus, we put a “N.E.“ to the corresponding
§ Gantt chart
cell in the table. One of the tools supports online scrum
§ PERT graph
meetings. We put a “S.M.” to indicate this feature.
§ Resource breakdown structure (RBS) chart
§ Task usage reports Our analysis indicates that none of the tools provides all the
§ Work breakdown structure (WBS) chart functionality or features. Some of the features exist in most
§ Network diagram all of the tools. These include task scheduling, resource
§ Simple reporting on tasks and resources management, collaboration, and document management. In
§ Import / Export project files with MS Project addition most tools are web-based. We would like to note
that there are also a quite number of open-source project
management software tools available to practitioners. Half
Primavera: Primavera Project Planner (P3) is a non-web
of the tools we analyzed are open-source or do not require
based management tool targeting big and complex projects.
licenses. Some of the functionality requires further [8] http://www.openworkbench.org
investigation. These include change management, process [9] http://openproj.org/openproj
development method, and quality management.
[10] http://www.oracle.com/primavera
In this study, we merely identified whether these tools
support the listed features or functionality to some extend. [11] http://office.microsoft.com
Of course, the quality of the functionality provided with [12] Norita Ahmad N. and Laplante P. A. “ Software Project
these tools varies and we believe this issue requires further Management Tools: Making a Practical Decision Using
study. AHP”, Proceedings of the 30th Annual IEEE/NASA
Software Engineering Workshop, 24-28 April 2006,
4. Conclusions and Future Work Columbia, Maryland, USA, pp. 76-84.
While the number of Project Management Software Tools [13] "Development 2.0: Borrowed infrastructures".
(PMSTs) is increasing, managers must choose a suitable JavaWorld. May 21, 2009.
tool for their projects. In this study, we chose a set of http://www.javaworld.com/community/
PMSTs and investigated them. We further identified criteria [14] "Applied Network Theory". O'Reilly Media. February
that can be used to compare these and other tools in the 11, 2003.
market. Finally, we present our findings in Table 2. http://www.xml.com/pub/a/ws/2003/02/11/udell
This study enables project managers and team members to [15] A. Sarma and A. van der Hoek, "Towards Awareness
get a quick understanding of the tools subject to our study in the Large" Proc. Int'l Conf. Global Software
and to assess the strengths and weaknesses of them. Engineering (ICGSE 06), IEEE CS Press, 2006, pp.
Furthermore, we aim to help project managers in choosing 127–131.
appropriate PMSTs by providing a set of criteria. [16] G. Booch and A.W. Brown, "Collaborative
This study is the first step in our fortcoming series of Development Environments," Advances in Computers,
studies. As the next step, we would like conduct survey vol. 59, 2003, pp. 2–29.
studies among project managers and project team members [17] Barry W. Bohem, “Software Risk Management:
on how they choose PMSTs. In addition, we would like to Principles and Practices” , IEEE Software Vol 8 No 1
identify their needs in a project management software tool. January 1991, pp. 32-41
The identification of these needs will help tool developers.
Another line of study may be development of a framework [18] Capers Jones, “Software Project Management
for PMSTs. With this framework, we will able to categorize Practices: Failure versus Success”, Crosstalk – The
the tools and further enhance our understanding of how Journal of Defense Software Engineering, Oct 2004.
these tools are actually used. Another study would be the [19] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GanttProject
identification and development of metrics for PMSTs. [20] Duncan Haughey, "A Perspective on Programme
Management", http://www.projectsmart.co.uk, April
5. Acknowledgments and Disclaimer 2001.
The views and conclusions contained herein are those of the
[21] Margo Visitacion, "Project Portfolio Management",
authors and should not be interpreted as necessarily
Forrester’s Ultimate Consumer Panel, March 13, 2006.
representing the official policies or endorsements, either
expressed or implied, of any affiliated organization or [22] Kastor A. and Sirakoulis, K. , “The effectiveness of
government. resource levelling tools for resource constraint project
scheduling problem”, International Journal of Project
Management, doi:10.1016/j.ijproman.2008.08.006.,
6. References 2008
[1] Jordi Cabot and Greg Wilson. “Tools for Teams: A
Survey of Web-Based Software Project Portals”,2009
http://www.ddj.com/development-tools/220301068
[2] http://www.assembla.com
[3] http://basecamphq.com
[4] http://www.dotproject.net
[5] http://ganntproject.biz
[6] http://www.liquidplanner.com
[7] http://www.aisc.com
 Table 2 – A Comparison of PMSTs Subject to This Study

MS Project (with
OpenWorkbench
LiquidPlanner

Artemis View
GanttProject
DotProject
BaseCamp

Primavera
Assambla

OpenProj

Server)
Task Scheduling b N.E. b b b b b b b b

Resource Management b b r b b b b b b b

Collaboration b b b b b b r r b b

Time Tracking N.E. b N.E. N.E. b b b N.E. N.E. N.E.

Estimation N.E. N.E. N.E. N.E. b N.E. b N.E. N.E. N.E.

Risk Assessment N.E. N.E. N.E. N.E. N.E. b N.E. N.E. b N.E.

Change Management N.E. N.E. N.E. N.E. N.E. N.E. N.E. N.E. N.E. N.E.

Project Analysis/Report N.E. N.E. N.E. N.E. b b b b b b

Document Management N.E. b b b b b N.E. r b b

Communication Tools N.E. b b N.E. b b r N.E. N.E. N.E.

Process Development
S.M N.E. N.E. N.E. N.E. N.E. N.E. N.E. N.E. N.E.
Method

Portfolio Management b r b r b b N.E. N.E. b N.E.

Access Control N.E. b N.E. N.E. N.E. N.E. b b b b

Quality Management N.E. N.E. r N.E. N.E. N.E. N.E. N.E. N.E. r

Web-based b b b r b b r r b b

Open Source / Licensed O.S. L O.S. O.S. L L O.S. O.S. L L

Issue Tracking r r b r r b r r b N.E.

S.M.: Scrum Meeting

O.S.:Open Source
L:Licenced
N.E.:Need Further Experimentation

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