Intranet Management Software Blog

There has been many post on the subject related to permission lately, and I want to show a hidden ‘gem’ in the admin panel of Claromentis Document Management which is going to help us monitor and manage permission better.

Complex Permission System

Claromentis Document Management System has comprehensive permission system, which means you can define permission by extranet area, role, group down to individual users. The permission can also inherited from the folder above as well as applied on the individual file itself.

Access Report

When you logging in to the system of course you can only see the document that you are allowed to see, but as you know from admin you can see all files.
As a document administrator you may be asked by your manager to create a report showing what a particular user can see or not see on the system.

They might be a business partners or contractors, while you want to make sure they have access to the information they need, you want to make sure there is no permission leak. You don’t want the corporate sensitive information exposed to this type of users.

What’s new in Claromentis

We created  a new functionality called  “Document Permission Report” and it is available from admin panel from Claromentis 5.6.3 onwards.

Under utilities in Document Panel click on “Document Permission Report”
Where you can select a user and get the permission report instantly, you can also export it to CSV format.

Screenshot

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I find the latest programme overview page, and the resulting additions to the project application dashboard page, to be really useful.

Above is the new programme overview, with the programme traffic light that the software sets according to the RAG lights in the individual projects.

If we look at the improved dashboard :

the difference now is is that on the right I can see the automated status lights for all the programmes I have permissions to, on the same page as the filterable list of projects.

These screens really do provide an extremely useful top down view of the projects and programmes across the company, enabling really rapid reviews at project meetings.

I will also be interested in whether clients find the automated calculation of the programme traffic light to be useful - I certainly do but it might be that programme managers would rather set it manually.

Prod-Project intranet project manager

Since I posted just a couple of weeks ago about the latest project management functionality for resource allocation management there are many new improvements – including our first look at resource calendars and the special project management view of resource profiles.
Whereas the normal intranet profile view provides a very configurable set of metadata about any user – such as career, location, interests and any other general data required by the company – the RAM view of that user provides information automatically gathered by RAM itself.

Project Resource Profile

This includes current loading graphs and tables of current tasks, Upcoming tasks, the users skills by category ( in relation to project task skills ) and a history of completed tasks.
This view is currently being continuously improved but already it provides great information for project  resource managers when deciding between alternate resources that RAM declares as available to work on a task.

Prod-Project intranet project manager

We are getting important requests from customers that now would like our new Project Management Application to deliver ever more powerful functionality so that it becomes a serious product in it’s own right – and no longer a functional  add on for our clients whose primary need is intranets and collaboration frameworks.

This is an interesting challenge for Claromentis – what percentage of our R&D should be devoted to project management software? Increased investment, combined with feedback from our existing client base, will generate a product appropriate to large scale deployments where the primary need is web based project management for complex programmes – as opposed to fit-for-purpose functionality targeted at existing intranet/extranet/document management customers.

Our current thoughts are to embrace this challenge and to aggressively build on our current release to provide a best in class programme management collaboration portal.

Feedback welcome! Is this a direction that we should pursue? Or should we focus back on enhancements to our core collaboration applications?

Prod-Project intranet project manager

With the Beta Programme well underway with clients, I thought it would be fun to look at the newest Project Management code - dealing with Resource Allocation Management.

I experimented with manual allocation of resources according to task skills - and I have to say that I was impressed with how easy it is to define tasks skills and allocate resources accordingly.

Prod-Project intranet project manager

I have commented previously that in their constant search for innovation our clients  need to move from an initial seed idea through to debate, momentum gathering and onto true collaboration with relevant and identified stakeholders – but then eventually onwards to actual execution.

After all if you don’t execute what was the point of the collaboration?

Gates must be crossed as we are now shifting into execution mode from the agreed objectives resulting from the collaboration phase. Claromentis offers all of the required applications in a single information framework.

It is tempting to then define a project just as “something that needs execution”. This sits comfortably with the sharply defined atomic resolution down to task bases management -  Gantt charts, Rag reports and  everything else that a normal project management software solution would provide.

After all, if I have a project assigned to me I am being made responsible for execution against some budgeted and time bound statement of work – and that involves task management, deadlines, resources and budgets. All the kinds of things that mainstream project management software provides.

But it does seem to me that with Claromentis project manager we are beginning to see a new trend, just because of all of the surrounding information and collaboration tools that exist in the framework that Claromentis provides.

So if we look at a basic project within Claromentis Project Manager, we see that access is provided to permission based forums, version controlled document management, links, attachments and notes – so that even as execution takes over we are encouraged, and have the necessary tools - to continue to collaborate.

A well defined project needs a goal – and from that comes the task based culture of idea execution. However by surrounding stakeholders with access to collaboration tools throughout the continuous process of project delivery we are recognising the demands of the real world to continue to innovate throughout the idea life cycle.

If executed properly and with the right tools this means that changes in scope can be seen for what they might be – learning experiences that impact the project goal -  rather than as we too often think of them – as the inevitable expression of change requests due to poor specifications.

We welcome these trends – collaboration is innovative, execution demands a different goal and associated mindset. By providing a unified set of tools Claromentis offers the continued re-evaluation of whether a particular project should even be a project and softens the hard boundary between collaboration and execution – enabling feedback loops that make a real difference to the delivery of projects in these fast moving times.

Prod-Project Prod-Project

Working on the first specifications of integrating InfoCapture from Process Manager into Project Manager this week – we realized how extraordinary powerful this will become.

Clients using our project management software will be able to specify that any project needs a particular form based workflow for any process at all. They will be able to use all of the powerful form specification, reporting, notification, assignment, workflow, SLA and filtering functionality that this powerful application provides.

We will be able to offer generic solution for project risk management for example – but more importantly clients will be able to specify any project at all to meet the bespoke needs of particular users in any project.

To make this story even more powerful – there will be no limits on the number of InfoCapture forms in each project.

Prod-Project Prod-Project, workflow

Recently a lot has been written about project based collaboration, ranging from thought provoking articles about their position in open/closed vs. flat/hierarchical analysis to simply promoting one tool over another. Vendors have really struggled to meet the varied requirements of different projects, while preserving all the advantages of a single information layer and a truly integrated application stack.

With Claromentis Project Manager the company has leveraged everything in the framework to really bring a user selectable range of deeply functional applications to bear on any project, all through the flexible and powerful permission system.

Project Manager Portal

It will be fascinating to watch developments here – as the company now has two flagship products that have extraordinary potential – InfoCapture and Project Manager. Both are related – indeed InfoCapture projects can be integrated in any Project within Project Manager, to report anything within a project and control resolution through any workflow.

With plans to make InfoCapture an integrated complex workflow engine for any Claromentis objects, and Project Manager providing such a deep range of project based functionality, it is a tough call as to which will become the flagship product for 2009.

Workflow illustration

Maybe they both will.

Prod-Project collaboration, e-forms, Prod-Project

The recent development plans for the Project management application are extremely thought provoking.

We are now delivering a true collaboration hub, where individuals defining a new project can very easily select powerful collaboration tools that are appropriate for their requirements. These elements form the collaboration hub.

They may select from a Gantt Chart based approach because task management is critical, or version controlled document management, news channels, forums and form based work flows for any conceivable set of requirements. The Claromentis framework provides all of the permissioned access required to ensure users have exactly the access they need, without becoming cluttered and overloaded and that clients can engage with staff, suppliers and partners as required.

This is truly exciting – we are delivering collaboration hubs within a programme managed framework. Every project has an overview area, and each user can specify their preferences for receiving information by email when information changes in the project. Because the Claromentis framework is so comprehensive we can assemble for anyone involved in collaboration exactly what they need, with a very deep functionality set that extends across all areas of customised information management.

Prod-Project online collaboration, Prod-Project