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Thanks for the excellent support that you have been providing to us on such good defect tracking tool. 
— Deepti Panickar, TravelEx.com
Interested in Agile Development? Click here to learn how Pragmatic Software uses a Scrum based development methodology named Pragmatic Agile Development (PAD).
Pragmatic Software’s award winning
products currently serve over 70,000
subscribers in over 24 countries.
Project Tracking and Communication
Software Planner is an award winning application lifecycle management (ALM) tool that helps Information Technology (IT) departments manage all components of software development including managing customer requirements, project deliverables, test cases, defects, and support tickets.
Coupled with collaborative tools like document sharing, team calendars, interactive dashboards, knowledge bases and threaded discussions, teams begin communicating more effectively and begin delivering solutions quickly and with high quality.
Used by over 70,000 users in 24 countries, Software Planner helps great companies like Acer Computers and Procter and Gamble manage their software projects with maximum effectiveness.
Project Tracking and Communication
The ability to track and maintain the status of a project is highly important. This can come in handy not only for internal purposes but for informing customers of any and all progress made.
Project tracking should be done online. All phases of the Software Lifecycle should be managed online, preferably via the web. This includes managing of requirements, tasks, issues, defects, test cases. sharing knowledge with discussion forums and your document repository.
Project tracking is everyone's responsibility. This goes hand in hand with communication. Many software projects fail to deliver on-time and on-budget and a factor in that is normally inefficient project communication. Studies have shown that software teams that consistently deliver on-time and on-budget communicate in an effective manner. These teams stay in contact constantly, but wisely use each other's time during the communication process and are careful not to waste other people's time.
Below are some tips for enhancing project communication when working in software development projects:
- Set up an online repository for documentation - For effective communication, all your project documents should be online, up-to-date, and available at everyone's finger tips. This includes requirement documents, detailed designs, test plans, project plans, status reports, user acceptance plans, post mortem documents, etc. Having all of these documents at everyone's disposal ensures that everyone is working on the same set of deliverables.
- Specify Clear Roles and Responsibilities - For effective communication, everyone on the team should know what their role is and what they are accountable for. Each role should be documented during the initial phases of the project and every team member should sign off on their responsibilities. Post these in your online documentation repository.
- Monitor Employee Performance - Each employee should have defined goals and should be measured against their goals monthly or quarterly (depending on project duration). Goals should be specific, measurable and achievable. Progress to goals should be based on objective measurement.
- Progress Reports - Progress reports should be created weekly. This can be as informal as creating a weekly status report for management review or as formal as creating reports using a project planning tool.
- Make Decisions based on Facts - All decisions should be objective and should not be self-serving. Decisions should be based on facts, performance and in the spirit of improving overall team performance.
- Be Careful of People's Time - It is good to have periodic meetings, but the presence of solid project tracking tools eliminates many of the long-winded meetings that teams have. Team members are most productive when they know their roles, responsibilities and have a way of showing progress online. This can greatly reduce the number of face-to-face meetings that are needed.
How is Software Planner different from other ALM products?
Single tool - Software Planner provides features for managing all phases of the software development lifecycle within a single integrated tool. Most ALM vendors require you to purchase separate products (or suites) that require separate licensing, which can be very costly.
Project Methodology Independent – Software Planner works well with any project methodology including Agile, Waterfall, Iterative, and Spiral. It does not force you into a specific methodology; it embraces your chosen methodology.
Feature Based Pricing – Some teams need to manage all phases of the lifecycle, while others just need to manage specific areas (like defects, test cases, customer specifications, etc). Software Planner allows you to purchase its features ala cart so that you pay for only the features you need.
Concurrent Licenses – Most ALM vendors offer only NAMED user licenses, requiring you to purchase a license for every person that uses the software. Software Planner provides concurrent licenses; you purchase only the number of users you wish to simultaneously connect to the software. Concurrent user licenses allow you to setup an unlimited number of users and normally require about 1/3 the licenses as the traditional named user license.
No Hassle Pricing – Software Planner’s competitive pricing is published on our website and does not change from one client to another. We offer consistent discounts based on long term commitments and volume purchases. For Enterprise clients, we offer up to 2 year financing to allow you to spread the cost of the product over multiple fiscal years.
Future Product Versions at no Cost – Our Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) clients receive future products at no additional cost. Our Enterprise clients in good standing (paid annual support) also receive major and minor versions at no additional cost.
Backed by Outstanding Support – Pragmatic Software’s support enjoys a 92% customer satisfaction rating. Our core competencies are built around providing excellent support. By providing searchable knowledge bases and an easy-to-use support ticket system, you can expect to receive a support follow-up with 1 to 2 hours during business hours. Our support engineers are polite, professional, and quick to react to any questions or issues you raise.
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