The Outlook-integrated project management software InLoox has been recently installed at the Technical University of Darmstadt. Staff members at the Corporate Management and Logistics department use InLoox for time and resource planning, time tracking, communication and documentation of all major projects. More and more universities and colleges rely on InLoox when it comes to project management, e.g. the Munich University of Applied Sciences, the Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences or the Ruhr University of Bochum.
The Corporate Management and Logistics department of the Technical University of Darmstadt deals with several large projects from the fields of research, teaching and academic self-administration. The core subject matters are the fields of corporate management, transport logistics and logistics. What is important to the team is to keep the overview of the project landscape, to keep all team members updated on the latest project developments and to plan new projects in a time-saving way. When the team coordination via Microsoft Outlook was no longer sufficient for these objectives, the team started to look for a professional project management system.
The solution was supposed to enable the team members to complete the department’s projects in an even more efficient way and to weight the personal working times of the project staff in a clearly laid out manner. From the very beginning, it was clear that the software was supposed to be integrated seamlessly into Microsoft Outlook so that the group ware could remain the team’s communication central. When researching online, the team found the project management software of the Munich-based producer InLoox, a specialist in Outlook-integrated business solutions. “The direct integration into Outlook and the team features make it comfortable to use the software and offer the necessary functionality for our requirements. We decided to use a server solution based on MySQL which can be easily installed and which allows a simple installation and the programming of our own interfaces to other software applications”, says the Group Manager of Logistics Management, Jan Tränkner.
After having tested the project software thoroughly, the team was sure that InLoox was the solution they were looking for. The implementation of InLoox started in the summer of 2011. During one month, InLoox was installed on all of the clients and all current projects were entered into the system. By now, the project time planning with activities and milestones is the feature that is used the most at TU Darmstadt. With this feature, even large projects can be clearly structured and users can always keep an overview of dates and deadlines. The possibility to communicate responsibilities, competences and due dates is often used, too.
Jan Tränkner’s initial conclusion is a positive one: “The project administration provides a significant increase in transparency when we work on projects. The progress of our projects is properly documented and information is available for the whole team. InLoox has become a part of our daily work. The project coordination has become much easier, especially for large project teams.”
Soon, the changeover from InLoox 6 to InLoox PM 7 will take place at TU Darmstadt so that project teams will be able to use the latest InLoox features, such as backward scheduling, individual working time calendars or time tracking with a stop watch.
The Corporate Management and Logistics department of the Technical University of Darmstadt deals with several large projects from the fields of research, teaching and academic self-administration. The core subject matters are the fields of corporate management, transport logistics and logistics. What is important to the team is to keep the overview of the project landscape, to keep all team members updated on the latest project developments and to plan new projects in a time-saving way. When the team coordination via Microsoft Outlook was no longer sufficient for these objectives, the team started to look for a professional project management system.
The solution was supposed to enable the team members to complete the department’s projects in an even more efficient way and to weight the personal working times of the project staff in a clearly laid out manner. From the very beginning, it was clear that the software was supposed to be integrated seamlessly into Microsoft Outlook so that the group ware could remain the team’s communication central. When researching online, the team found the project management software of the Munich-based producer InLoox, a specialist in Outlook-integrated business solutions. “The direct integration into Outlook and the team features make it comfortable to use the software and offer the necessary functionality for our requirements. We decided to use a server solution based on MySQL which can be easily installed and which allows a simple installation and the programming of our own interfaces to other software applications”, says the Group Manager of Logistics Management, Jan Tränkner.
After having tested the project software thoroughly, the team was sure that InLoox was the solution they were looking for. The implementation of InLoox started in the summer of 2011. During one month, InLoox was installed on all of the clients and all current projects were entered into the system. By now, the project time planning with activities and milestones is the feature that is used the most at TU Darmstadt. With this feature, even large projects can be clearly structured and users can always keep an overview of dates and deadlines. The possibility to communicate responsibilities, competences and due dates is often used, too.
Jan Tränkner’s initial conclusion is a positive one: “The project administration provides a significant increase in transparency when we work on projects. The progress of our projects is properly documented and information is available for the whole team. InLoox has become a part of our daily work. The project coordination has become much easier, especially for large project teams.”
Soon, the changeover from InLoox 6 to InLoox PM 7 will take place at TU Darmstadt so that project teams will be able to use the latest InLoox features, such as backward scheduling, individual working time calendars or time tracking with a stop watch.
