CeBIT 2010: Project Management from Small to Large

The ]project-open[ application got its start in 2003 as management software for translation services. The free system thereby filled a market niche, says Klaus Hofeditz, cofounder of the project. Other enterprise customers have joined on, such as the Swiss Kantonalbank in Basle, with 4,000 users, and the eastern European Moravia translation agency. The software has developed into a generic solution for the project-related business of service providers.

Users of ]project-open[ often start off small after downloading the software off Sourceforge, explains Hofeditz: "They use the timeline, then proceed to the file manager for exchanging data and use ]project-open[ further on for billing purposes. The software can grow with the organization." It also provides a calendar, knowledge management in wikis, a customer and provider database, and price lists. User access to any of these objects can be fine-tuned, which Hofeditz asserts can be valuable to larger customers.

The Web application is based on the OpenACS GPL framework from MIT and is written in the Tcl script language. The database in use is PostgreSQL. ]project-open[ provides APIs for REST and XML-RPC. As of version 3.4 release in the fall of 2009, the software also exports documents in Open Document Format. The application is available in 15 languages, including Russian and Hungarian, thanks to the user community.

The core of the application is not under a pure open source license. Although the use is free, ]project-open[ requests a license contract with providers. Enterprise customers also have cost-based options such as one-time passwords and reporting.
The fall of 2010 will see the release of ]project-open[ 4.0, with improved usability through a move to Ajax technology. The software is available for download in Linux and Windows packages and a VM image.