Abstract is a Python/Plone consulting company that needed a project management tool to handle both small, agile projects as well as large, more structured projects. They evaluated several options like OpenERP, Scrumdo, and Zest but found they all lacked key capabilities. So Abstract developed their own open source tool called Collective Simple Management that allows temporal project planning, activity tracking, document management, ticketing, and notifications while supporting both Scrum-style iterations and higher-level epics for planning. It also provides customized views and reporting for both developers and project managers.

1. Simple Management
Abstract's way to manage agile projects
PLOG 2013 Giorgio Borelli - Simone Deponti

2. Who is Abstract?
Python / Plone consulting company
~20 employees
Abstract's projects
low budget projects big projects
two men team ~5 men team
2 to 5 man days up to 500 man days
almost destructured structured
Abstract - PLOG 2013

3. WHAT COULD WE USE?

4. OpenERP
https://www.openerp.com/it/
We use it for accounting and HR
management.
While it has a plugin for project
management it doesn't have any
document management capabilities.
Abstract - PLOG 2013

5. Scrumdo
http://www.scrumdo.com/
More focused on product development than
consulting, it doesn't have time tracking
and it's not as open as we'd like it to be.
We love some of its features and its quick UI.
Abstract - PLOG 2013

6. Zest - Extreme management
http://plone.org/products/extreme-management-tool
We used it until now, we can
customize it easily but its data
structure is too deeply rigid for us.
Abstract - PLOG 2013

7. WHAT WE NEEDED

8. Use cases.
● temporal planning of the project
● collecting data about the activities
● document management
● ticketing system
● notifications and alerts
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9. Project metadata.
project is not just a title and a deadline
● customer
● budget
● real start and end dates
● resources
● repositories & environments
● milestones
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10. Scrum style iterations.
very short iterations
elastic definition of deliverables
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11. Epics.
Mutuated from scrumdo, allow a higher level
planning that is useful to "get the big picture"
when managing big projects.
Could also be used to present the customer with a
more familiar "waterfall-like" planning.
Abstract - PLOG 2013

12. Developer POV.
The dashboard is the only page he'll have to visit
daily
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13. Project manager POV.
Has access to a serie of advanced reporting tools
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14. The (bright?) future.
Compass (holistic view)
Graph party!
Interaction with desktop-based timetrackers,
Google docs, email
plone.app.widgets
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15. Reference.
collective.simplemanagement
https://github.com/collective/collective.simplemanagement/
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16. Thank you!
Giorgio Borelli
giorgio.borelli@abstract.it
Simone Deponti
simone.depontii@abstract.it
Abstract - PLOG 2013