]project-open[ V3.2.Beta4 Released

Dear All,

The ]project-open[ development team is proud to announce the availability of ]project-open[. V3.2.Beta4 is the first release candidate for V3.2 and includes a vast amount of extensions and improvements.

The V3.2.Beta4 release is based on a VMware virtual machine with SuSE 9.3 Linux. RPM installers for OpenSuSE, Fedora and CentOS will follow this week. A Win32 installer will come out in Q3 2007, so we urge Windows users to consider the VMware installer meanwhile.

The most important new feature is the integration with GanttProject, an open-source project Gantt editor (http://sourceforge.net/projects/ganttproject/). This integration allows project managers to define and modify ]po[ projects using the graphical GanttProject editor.

For questions and suggestions please contact our support team at mailto:support@project-open.com or reply to this announcement.

Change Log:

Major Enhancements:
* GanttProject Integration:
Project Managers can now conveniently define and modify projects
structures with GanttProject and then upload the result into ]po[
("round-trip integration").
GanttProject is an open-source MS-Project clone written in Java.
The combination of GanttProject and ]po[ offers an open alternative
to MS-Project and MS-Project-Server.

* "Web 1.5" GUI Overhaul:
We have improved the GUI to allow users to move their GUI components
and to select/disable components. Also, we have added new icons and a
new CSS.

* Resource Planning and Resource Assignments:
You can now add resources to projects and task and determine resource
overload across projects.

* Calendar:
The new module shows project and task deadlines per day, week and month.
Calendars can be either "shared" or "individual". Support for group
calendars will follow soon.

* Bug-Tracker:
]po[ now includes a fully fledged bug-tracker that compares to industry
leading bug trackers.

* Expenses and Travel Costs:
The new modules allows you to capture consultant's travel costs and
other expenses per project.

* Reporting Engine:
]po[ now includes its own reporting engine, similar to Crystal Reports
or Jaspar Reports. A "reporting tutorial" explains step-by-step how to
write new reports. A graphical editor is not (yet) available.

* System Configuration Wizard
A new "SysConfig" wizard allows the first-time user to tailor the
]project-open[ installation for business sectors and company size,
reducing the overall complexity.

* "Petri-Net Workflow Engine":
]po[ now includes a fully-fledged workflow with graphical process editor.
The WF can be used for example to set and confirm project budgets by
senior executives, to priorize projects in a portfolio etc.

* Project Templates:
Project templates (creating new projects based on an existing
project template) allows you to standardize and accelerate the
generation of projects with similar schedules.

* Dynamic Fields for Project, Companies and Users:
We have greatly extended the "DynField" module to include DynFields
in reports and CVS exports. Also, DynFields are now specific to
object subtypes (for example: Type of projects).

* New "Delivery Note" Financial Document Type
Delivery notes are a step before issuing an invoice.

New Commercial "Enterprise Extension Modules":

The following modules are closed-source extensions of ]po[ covering the needs
of large organizations. These modules are available separately at the ]po[
shop at http://www.project-open.com/shop/.

* GAAP/IAS compliant Auditability
This module captures all changes to financial objects and projects.

* One-Time-Passwords:
Manages a list of TANs (Transaction Numbers) for one-time authentication
of users with special permissions (i.e. senior mannagers, accounting,...).

* Profit Center Management & Permissions:
The modules allows corporations to define fine-grain financial
permissions across departments (who can see/modify the invoices of
each department) and to calculate profit/loss per department.

* SAP Integration:
Import and export interfaces to SAP FI.

Minor Enhancements:

There were more then 500 minor enhancements in the last 6 months improving usability
and fixing bugs.

About ]project-open[:

]project-open[ (http://www.project-open.com/) is a project management and PSA (Professional Services Automatization) system for companies in the consulting, engineering, advertising and localization industries. It covers the entire project life cycle from sales (CRM-light), staffing, execution (timesheet, controlling, incidents, discussions, and file storage) to invoicing and payment. The P/O architecture is designed for mission-critical applications with a rock-solid infrastructure and a sophisticated role-based permission system.