LiquidPlanner Incorporates Project Uncertainty in New Project Management Tool
On-Demand project management service helps teams seamlessly collaborate, improve confidence in their schedules
LiquidPlanner announced a new on-demand project management solution that incorporates a probabilistic scheduling engine so teams can visualize project uncertainty and build more accurate project schedules.
Currently in a free public beta period, the project management tool takes into account the ways teams work. “Uncertainty exists in every project and has the potential to undermine project success. However, just because uncertainty exists doesn’t mean it can’t be effectively managed, and that’s precisely what LiquidPlanner is designed to do,” said Charles Seybold, CEO and co-founder of LiquidPlanner.
Most traditional project management tools employ single point estimates to calculate how long a specific task might take and adds these estimates to estimate a project’s completion date. LiquidPlanner’s “Liquid Approach” accepts estimated task ranges and uses statistical analysis to determine the probability of completing a task or project by a given date. The resulting dynamic project schedule gives users an idea of where project is most likely to miss a deadline and so they can remediate issues before a project is derailed.
The company says that “two-thirds of companies report that their IT projects fail to deliver on time, budget, or scope.” The top failure reason is the amount of time needed to constantly update data and adjust schedules.
According to Tony Baer, an authority on IT economics and a principle at the IT consulting firm onStrategies, “Providing the means to factor the uncertainty that inevitably accompanies every project, LiquidPlanner might finally prod even the most reluctant team member to enter realistic forecasts.”
Among the other key features in the debut of LiquidPlanner:
Collaboration: The Web-based application integrates a wide range of collaboration tools
Seamless task management: The workspace makes organizing and prioritizing tasks easy with point-and-click functionality
Trust-based project spaces: LiquidPlanner lets teams share project information securely and in real time
Advanced visual analytics: Task and project trajectories and dynamically generated glide cones are used to graphically display critical project information
LiquidPlanner will be free to users for the initial public beta period. Following the beta, users will be charged on a subscription basis. You can join the beta by creating an account at http://www.liquidplanner.com.
About the Author
James E. Powell is the former editorial director of Enterprise Strategies (esj.com).