Project Management
Almost by definition, innovation relies on good project management. In addition to selecting the right projects through portfolio management methods, one major way to improve productivity in New Product Development is to emphasize "doing projects right", by executing them better and faster.
Irrespective of whether the innovation concerns a new product, service or a new process, best practices in program and project management will reduce product cycle time, cost and risk and increase quality through better coordination, communication and collaboration of all stakeholders throughout the entire product life-cycle.
Planning: Resource Management:The IFT offering is the only software solution to provide in one single integrated solution "best in class" New Product Development practices and functionality:
1. Portfolio and Idea Management
n At strategic level: alignment, product & technology roadmapping, financial planning, capacity planning
n At tactical level: idea & initiative mgmt, financial value, priorities, balance, budget & resource management
2. Stage-Gate Process
n Business Case, Evaluation and Scoring, Go/Hold/Kill, resource allocation, deliverable tracking
n Repeatable, reliable, measurable, auditable
3. Project Management
n Execution: planning & scheduling, matrix resource management, cost control, risk & progress monitoring
......Key Capabilities
The IFT solution integrates a web-based fully functional project management tool in addition to bi-directional integration with Microsoft Project. It can fully support simple or sophisticated requirements:Methodologies:
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.n Fully configurable project templates compliant with recognized methodologies: PMBOK, Stage-Gate, Six Sigma, Prince 2, etc.
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n Centralized definition of key milestones and deliverables
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n Configurable change, risk and issue management
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n Version control for homogeneous communication and consolidation of project data
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n Flexible work-flow definitions for project validation and scope changes 
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n Single or multiple project planning with inter-project dependencies
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n Top-down and bottom-up multi-level planning with comparison and user controlled synchronization
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n Work-package or sub-project break-out & integration
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n Full simulation and versioning with visual comparison
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n Fully functional scheduling engine with all interactive graphic functions: gantt, critical path, tree structures (WBS, OBS, etc), Pert, load charts, etc.
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n Integration of partner/sub-contractor schedules
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n Bi-directional integration with Microsoft Project from
a single click browser interface, as an alternative to the native planning and scheduling engine
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The IFT solution provides simple and sophisticated resource management capabilities to match the process and maturity of different organizations:
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n Task or effort driven planning and scheduling
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n Planning and resource allocation by skills in a top-down mode or by individual resource
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n Resource request management with skills and availability search engine
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n Configurable work-flows for request and approval resource allocation and for time reporting validation
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n Full support for matrixed organizations to managed shared resources under different department responsibilities
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n Flexible progress reporting and time tracking for all types of activities: projects, administration, etc.
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n Multi-level configurable workflow for resource allocation and time-tracking approval
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n Management of internal and contractor resources
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n Multiple and variable rates for resource cost estimation
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n Standard and configurable views of resource loading and availability consolidated by project, department, skill set, etc.
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