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Wednesday, September 21, 2011

TeamSCOPE – Review

TeamSCOPE is a free project management tool, developed by a team at the Michigan State University. It is designed to run on Linux machines using the Debian variant, although there are versions for other operating systems of UNIX. It was designed and developed with communication in mind and as such it focuses on giving every member of the team excellent access to all the files, deadlines and information, easily and quickly. The system runs on web servers and is accessible from anywhere in the world, it creates a personal space for each user, as well as a community space, this is where people can store, transfer and copy files they need. If a document is changed, an email is sent to all other users informing them of these changes so they are always up to date. It also includes a calendar where events can be booked and publicized to the rest of the time, and this also incorporates resource management. Unlike many other free project management tools TeamSCOPE includes a notification system to tell you when other team members are online, and then offers a java chat service so you can talk to them in real time. TeamSCOPE is not with out its flaws however, it was originally developed in 1998, and is becoming outmoded, and its users are moving to other tools. This is still a great tool despite its lack of graphics and charts, it includes enough functions and power to keep the most demanding team happy, whilst still being simple enough to be used by the newest computer shy user. Overall I think that this tool would be an excellent introduction into the world of computer based project management systems, however once the users and administrators are proficient in its use, they may prefer a modern equivalent that are also easily available, if harder to get used to.

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