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Please, please, please - this is needed by myself and probably more current and potential users, more and more each day. I need to have one central OmniPlan installed "file" sitting on a server that can be accessed by mutliple people with multiple priviledges, using OmniPlan Desktop. I need my designers that are strewn around the world, to be able to go in to their copy of OmniPlan and update their projects so that when I launch OPS it connects to the server and I get updates on everything that has gone on on all projects in the system...

So I as, super-admin create the overall multi-project file. Upload it to my WebDav-enabled dedicated server and then send out emails requesting a designer login to the system from their copy of OmniPlan. Then they see and can do what they need in OmniPlan and everyone who has access to whatever I have set, can see what's been done or not and can see overlapping respurces, or not, etc.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by DzynLab
Please, please, please - this is needed by myself and probably more current and potential users, more and more each day. I need to have one central OmniPlan installed "file" sitting on a server that can be accessed by mutliple people with multiple priviledges, using OmniPlan Desktop. I need my designers that are strewn around the world, to be able to go in to their copy of OmniPlan and update their projects so that when I launch OPS it connects to the server and I get updates on everything that has gone on on all projects in the system...

So I as, super-admin create the overall multi-project file. Upload it to my WebDav-enabled dedicated server and then send out emails requesting a designer login to the system from their copy of OmniPlan. Then they see and can do what they need in OmniPlan and everyone who has access to whatever I have set, can see what's been done or not and can see overlapping respurces, or not, etc.
A lot of users have asked for some kind of multi-user collaboration feature like this and we are seriously considering this for a later version of OmniPlan. I'll go ahead and add your suggestions to our feature request database. :-)
 
Excellent... Thanks!
 
This will be the killer app if it is multi-user aware...
 
For a long time I also wanted to have multi-user functionality built into OmniPlan. But then it occurred to me: why, exactly?

As a project manager, OmniPlan is a tool that *I* use to manage the project. Why on earth do my developers, designers, or other resources need to have the same view of the project as I do? Short answer: they don't, really.

What my resources need to be able to do is update THEIR part of the project when they need to. This means things like updating task completion. Let the project manager worry about updating and managing the project plan. That's his job.

Microsoft Project handles this by integrating with other applications. A project manager, for example, can assign tasks to a resource and have those tasks sent to that resource's e-mail account. The resource can then use Outlook to keep track of—and report on—progress for each task, including percent complete, etc., which can then be fed back into Project—all electronically, all automatically. Nifty; cool. But the resource doesn't have (or even need) access to the project file itself.

Now, that said, there are definitely situations where multi-user project files become necessary: when there are multiple project managers on a project, for example. It would be great to have multiple project files, each containing and tracking information for separate pieces of the project (and managed by different project managers), and then be able to have a master project file that can reference each of the other project files. This would be helpful for managing resources as they roll off one leg of a large project onto another. This resource information can by synchronized to all of the lower-level project files so each project manager can see what resource availability is.

I guess what I'm getting at is that OmniPlan, Microsoft Project, or whatever tool you use to manage your project, is a tool for a project manager. It doesn't really benefit your lower-level resources to have access to this tool. They may need to provide—or look up—information that is being tracked by the tool, but that's about it. Let's really think about what we're asking for when we say we want a server-based or multi-user accessible project file or service. We should be more specific about what it is we really want to accomplish. Let's discuss the actual tasks we want to complete without doing it in terms of a solution that we've already come up with.

The gurus here at OmniGroup already have laid a very rudimentary foundation for a solution to this. The ability to export the project file as HTML with calendars and task lists is a step in the right direction: a project manager PUSHing information out to his resources. What we need now is a way to PULL information from his resources back into the project file.

I hope this ignites a healthy discussion…

Last edited by partydrone; 2007-11-19 at 09:53 PM..
 
Obviously the best way to achieve a multi-user experience is not to necessarily give them edit access to the entire project, but only to the tasks to which they have been assigned, and allow them to view tasks that they need to know about, but not necessarily do.

Bonjour would be a great way to network the multi-user Omniplan software, since it's Mac-only anyway.

Each resource has an email address that notifies them when a task has been assigned to them, or there can be a notification in the Menu Bar that pops down. They can then go into Omniplan and view and edit the details the Project Manager deems necessary.

That said, an address-book integration would be great. There could be a group in the address book called "Omniplan resources" which could contain contacts and groups of contacts that Omniplan picks up. Want to add more resources into your Omniplan? Just add them to the Omniplan group in your address book. Already in Omniplan? Just add the new resources there and the changes will automatically be passed on to your address book.

Another thing that would really set Omniplan apart is a free "Resource" license of the software. If you have users in your business or organization that would never be project managers, you can give them a "Resource" license that only allows them to be assigned tasks, but never create projects, tasks, etc.

Basically what I am suggesting is that there be three licenses or versions of the software:

Personal Omniplan - $150 (upgrade: Manager - $100)
  • Create and manage unlimited personal projects and tasks.
  • View and collaborate on assigned projects and tasks across a network or VPN.
Manager Omniplan - $250
  • Create, manage, share and collaborate on unlimited projects and tasks across a network or VPN.
  • View and collaborate on assigned projects and tasks across a network or VPN.
  • Create and manage unlimited personal projects and tasks.
Resource Omniplan - Free! (upgrade: Manager - $250; Personal - $150)
  • View and collaborate on assigned projects and tasks across a network or VPN.
  • Create and manage personal projects with 20 or fewer items.

What do you think?
 
I think Logan has the right idea. The reason I'd like to see a multi-user version is because I have two project managers who utilize the same resources. It is imperative that they both know how much each resource has been utilized in other projects before they assign them to a new one. Not a big deal when you're talking about a half dozen projects; but when you've got 50 projects going on simultaneously and a dozen resources to work with it gets very complicated and time consuming to determine resource utilization. Being able to see resource utilization at a glance becomes huge from a scheduling standpoint as well as a staffing standpoint.

Another vote for a multi-user version!
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by spiggott View Post
I think Logan has the right idea. The reason I'd like to see a multi-user version is because I have two project managers who utilize the same resources. It is imperative that they both know how much each resource has been utilized in other projects before they assign them to a new one. Not a big deal when you're talking about a half dozen projects; but when you've got 50 projects going on simultaneously and a dozen resources to work with it gets very complicated and time consuming to determine resource utilization. Being able to see resource utilization at a glance becomes huge from a scheduling standpoint as well as a staffing standpoint.

Another vote for a multi-user version!
Its even simpler than that. One project manager, multiple projects, multiple resources leads to chaos with resource allocation unless all the projects are in the same file. This is clearly a sub optimal solution.

So although multi user would be fantastic. More important to most people is resource allocation over multiple projects in different project files.

In all likelihood you can't solve this without a central server configuration and if you have that adding multi user capability is no big deal.
 
 


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