Application of Erdas Apollo Software, Essay Example

Project management software is essential in order for a project to maximize organization and scheduling. With the work load in the project management environment being so high, it is important for a successful project manager to cover every basis of their task force, planning, and expectations. Having an open line of communications for all members of the project management team will be necessary for a quickly expanding business. The scale of new projects is increasing and an alarming rate and this makes the initial level of focus more crucial to the entire operation of business activities. (Meredith 2012)

In the selection process of choosing the appropriate software program that suits the interests of the project management team; many factors must be considered when running a comparison of one software program against another. These factors are the primary initiatives of the project management company and include the development of scheduling, budgeting, resource planning, and the monitoring of reports. In order for any project management software program to be considered for use in the company operations, it must have the ability to effectively support these initiatives on the company operating systems. (Meredith 2012)

We must first identify the selection of criteria for the considered project management software programs to meet. The project management software which is selected for the use of company operations will be the most effective in communications, budget control, planning, accounting, probability based simulation, early warning risk, customer service, human resources, information relay, and reporting. (Meredith 2012)

Being that the project management company is expanding at an unexpected rate; the needed software program must be a web based software program. This means that employees and project staff members will have access to the software program and its services wherever they may have internet access provided their unique log in credentials. This web based software program will be more efficient for the project management team as opposed to a desktop or single-user software program. Another important factor to consider when selecting a software program for the project management team is the cost of it. We must select the software program that will be the most cost effective in the long run, and that provides the greatest return on investment. Paying large amounts to fund a software program that ends up failing for the project management company would put the company in debt with no provided return on investment, resulting in a loss in profits due to an unfavorable investment.  (Meredith 2012)

We must also research and consider the customer reviews on considered software programs to get an idea of how well it worked for other project management firms. Evaluating the reviews of the software programs against the success of given project management firms will help to better assess which software program to select for our own project management firm. We can do this be using the status of given project management firms as performance measures for the software programs that are in consideration for selection. (Meredith 2012)

The final criterion to consider when evaluating software programs for use in the operations of our project management company is the complexity versus the simplicity of the user interface. We want a program that will easily be understood by all of our employees, project staff members, contractors, and our clients. If the user interface is so complex that the average employee would need months of training before mastery, then it not only sets back scheduling and planning, but it also leaves more opportunity for error which is something that must be kept at a minimum. (Meredith 2012)

With all factors being considered, the two software programs being compared against each other for selection of the project management company will be Apollo, Microsoft Team Foundation Service, and Planisware. Below is a graphic representation of each of this project management software program’s general information.  (Meredith 2012)

As we can see from the general information, Apollo is the only software program which is not hosted on the premises. This would most likely suggest that it is not as suitable for the project management company as the Microsoft Team Foundation Server or Planisware, which is supported on all three platforms; Web based, hosted on the premises, and features the software as a service for clients. While the Microsoft Team Foundation Server is written in PHP and Java script coding, Planisware is only written in Java script. This may suggest that Planisware is more simplified than the Microsoft Team foundation Server. Java script alone is more than adequate enough for our project management company as it consists of both text and objects. We can now evaluate the monetary features of each program in the table below. (Medina 2007) (Meyer 2010) (Jiang 2013)

Between Apollo and the Microsoft Team Foundation Server, Apollo only features time tracking. Contrary, Planisware features budget management, time tracking, and invoicing. All of these features are needed for the project management team. Considering the Planisware is the most simplified, and carries the necessary features, our project management firm would select Planisware over Apollo and the Microsoft Team Foundation Server. The graph below also shows a comparison between the features of Microsoft Team Foundation Server versus Planisware. (Medina 2007) (Meyer 2010)

References

Jiang, X., Gang, C., & Zhi, H. (2013). Application of Erdas Apollo Software at the Massive Spatial Data Management. Land and Resources Informatization, 4, 018.

Medina-Domínguez, F., Sanchez-Segura, M. I., Amescua, A., & García, J. (2007). Extending microsoft team foundation server architecture to support collaborative product patterns. In Software Process Dynamics and Agility (pp. 1-11). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.

Meredith, J. R., & Mantel, S. J., Jr. (2012). Project management: A managerial approach (8th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

Meyer, M. M., & Ahlemann, F. (2010). Project management software systems.BARC, Würzburg.