QG Software & 5pm Blog

Let’s start with a little history…

The concept of Project and Team Manager (PTManager) was created back in 2003. It was conceived out of frustration in finding “the” tool we needed. We had looked at least a dozen web based applications. It seemed they fell into a couple of groups. One was what I will call traditional PM apps (with Milestones, Gantt charts etc…) most were to complicated for our needs. Others were just to-do managers. Again, not what we wanted or needed.

So, what did we want… here are the top three.

• A quick and easy way to see where projects are, a “bird’s-eye” view.
• A quick and easy way for users to get information into the “system.”
• Flexibility in adding a user to a task or a project as needed.

All without having to take valuable time from the real work (ok, that’s four.)

We could not find what we wanted, they just did not “feel” right. I have a belief that project mgmt. has to fit the way you and your team works (or wants to work.) I have used PM apps off and on for 15 years. I have taken classes… read traditional PM books. There is some great stuff in all of that. But, our projects were just not that complicated. However, we still needed a tool. This is where we started to think about just writing what we needed. (More on this at a later post/date.)
Today the market for PM apps has exploded (gone all web 2.0 and AJAXY.) There are some very good choices and in many ways it is a pretty crowded market. I am honestly glad to see the choices.

But, with all the options that are out there, we still believe in the approach we came up with. Our goal and “motto” has been “Simple by Design.” Yes, I know sounds all Manifesto, Mission statement etc… But, when we started sketching out what became Project and Team Manager (PTManager) that was our approach.

It still is.

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Greg