Method123

Q: I downloaded your project management software a number of months ago and it expired before I had the chance to buy it. How am I able to trial it again? A: When the free project management software trial expires, you are not able to download and install it immediately without purchasing it. However every time we release a new version, we refresh the trial database so that you can download and install the latest version for free. So if you have not used the trial version of MPMM for a number of months, there may be a new version available which you will be able to download and trial for free again.  We generally release a new project management software edition every 6 weeks or so. The MPMM Support Team

Q: Please advise if this software would be suitable for non/not for profit organizations and their project planning. Many of these products are geared more towards the profit world. A: Yes this project management software is definitely suitable for the non-profit industry. In fact, a number of large non-profit organizations use it now in the UK and USA. Your type of organization will use the same project management process as commercial organizations do for running projects, by initiating, planning, executing and closing them in a structured fashion. The MPMM Support Team

Q: We are a UK based charity. Is there anyway we can buy MPMM Project Management Template professional from a UK supplier or dealer? A: At the moment, the only way to purchase MPMM is through our website. We have streamlined the purchase process to make it as easy as possible for you to download and install the product immediately upon purchase. In approximately 6 months, we will create a reseller channel that provides resellers throughout the UK and USA initially. At this time, you will be able to buy the MPMM Project Management Software through local suppliers as requested. The MPMM Support Team

How to Undertake a Feasibility Study using a Project Management Template Welcome to our newsletter for Project Managers Seeking Excellence. In this edition, you will learn the ‘ins and outs’ of feasibility studies and you will be given the opportunity to enter our June prize draw. How to undertake a Feasibility Study... So what exactly is a Feasibility Study and when do I complete it? Simply put, a Feasibility Study is an exercise which involves identifying a range of alternative solutions to a particular business problem or opportunity to be addressed by the project. Project Managers usually undertake a Feasibility Study early in the Initiation phase of a project, to identify a range of alternative solutions and determine which solution is most likely to satisfy the requirements of the customer. To get the best out of your Feasibility Study, complete these 4 steps: 1) Identify the Problem . Before you begin identifying all possible solutions, you first need to first investigate eac...

Q: Your project management tools look beneficial, but I have to ask, what is your refund policy if I am not happy with your products? A: We have done everything possible to give you a free trial period so that you do not need to ask for a refund. You can trial the entire project management software suite for 14 days. If you want an extended trial, then you can trial it for free for another 14 days. For this reason, we have a refunds “only in exceptional circumstances” policy. Almost 100% of users who purchase the product are happy with it, as they have had ample opportunity to trial it first for free in their current project management environment. The MPMM Support Team

Q: Can I replace the branding on the project management templates and software with my own company's branding? A: Yes you may do this. In fact, we highly recommend it, as it personalizes the product to your own, and it enables your teams to feel more comfortable with the project management software tool set. However please note that you will need to retain the copyright notices on all content that we have provided, as it helps us to protect the intellectual property. You may of course add your own copyright notices if you wish. The MPMM Support Team

Q: Does my purchase grant me license to use these project management templates freely and reproduce the documents for only my use, or does your copyright prohibit reproduction? A: You should firstly read the project management software license terms to familiarize yourself with the detailed terms and conditions of this project software tool set. In summary, you can take and customize the project management templates as you wish. In terms of distribution, you will need to read our license terms, as it depends on the project management situation that applies. The MPMM Support Team

Q: What is the real difference between the Educational edition project management tools process and the Professional edition project management process ? A: The two processes are exactly the same. The differences between the Educational and Professional editions are primarily related to the project management software functionality you get. With the Professional edition you can completely customize the software, whereas the Educational edition is read only. One main difference between the two project management processes is that the Professional edition includes a lot more depth and coverage, whereas the educational edition is more limited in the number of project management processes included. The MPMM Support Team

Q: I have seen your program and I think it is an interesting program. I am currently taking a course at my University to learn the  project management life cycle and become a project management professional. After this course, I would like to become a trainer and consultant. If I buy the Educational section of the program now and later on decide to buy the professional program, would you give me a credit for what I have already paid? A: If you write to us and explain your situation, then we will consider giving you a rebate on your earlier educational edition purchase. We cannot guarantee this, but we usually accept update rebates, as it is always good to have you using the professional edition which gives you the maximum benefit for your project manager professional career. The MPMM Support Team

Tender Processing Project Management Templates One of the most difficult decisions a Project Manager has to face is selecting the right supplier to partner with, to complete a project - it is all part of Supply Chain Management. To select the right supplier ‘fairly and squarely’, a lot of hard work and effort needs to go into running a formal Tender Process early in the project lifecycle. By completing the Tender Process in a formal manner, the Project Manager removes any potential bias by ensuring that only the supplier with the highest likelihood of meeting the project’s requirements is selected. The key to running a successful Tender Process is to document in detail how it will be undertaken before you initiate it. If you create a comprehensive document identifying all of the tasks required, then it’s simply a matter of executing those tasks to select your supplier. Your Tender Process document should include the following 10 steps: Create a SOW . The “Statement of Work” (SOW) de...

Q: Do you have a project management process for the oil & gas industry? Have you any business case studies in this area also? A: You can use our project management process for any industry and any size of project. We currently have a suite of customers who use this project management process for the oil and gas industry. Yes there are a couple of case studies in this industry included. Download a free project management software trial to check them out. The MPMM Support Team

Q: Do the templates rely on using MS Office products, including Word, Excel, Project, Powerpoint and Visio? If so, are they updated with each new MS Office release (e.g. 2007)? A: To view and customize the content included in MPMM, you do not need to have Microsoft Office installed. However in saying that, you do need to have Office installed if you want to extract the project management templates outside of the tool. It is fair to say that more than 95% of our customers currently use Microsoft Office for customizing the project management processes  using the project manager tools and templates included. The MPMM Support Team

Q: I need a suite of project management tools, but I am not sure whether I should buy the project management kit of templates from Method123.com or the project management methodology from MPMM.com? A: You have correctly identified that MPMM also includes all of the project management templates included in the project management kit offered by Method123. So if you just want online project management templates, then that is the solution for you. However if you want to have a complete project management methodology which tells you which templates to use, when and how, then MPMM is for you. The MPMM Support Team

Q: I am currently studying for my project management professional certification with PMI and I wondered whether MPMM would help me to do this? A: Yes this project management software tool is very good for project management training . It will give you all of the information needed to understand the core project management principles you need. However we have varied the terminology slightly, so you will also need to study the PMI materials to give yourself the best chance of passing your project management life cycle certification exam. Good luck. The MPMM Support Team

Q: How customizable are the project management templates included in MPMM? A: In trial mode, you will be able to view all of the project management templates included. However you will need to buy a license to use MPMM to be able to export then into Microsoft Office. You can then use the “export” feature to export any template into Word or Excel and customize the online project management templates in any way you wish. The only restriction is that you should not remove the copyright notice so that our intellectual property is retained. You can of course add your own copyright notice if you wish, to protect customizations you make. They are also perfect for Project Management Consulting and any Project Management Professional. The MPMM Support Team

Project Management Tools for Supplier Management Most Project Managers will agree that outsourcing to external suppliers is a key risk area within the project. To ensure that you procure the right products (i.e. goods and services) from the right suppliers at the right time, you need to create a Procurement Plan using online project management tools . Creating a comprehensive Procurement Plan for Supply Chain Management can be daunting as it lists all of the products you need, the timeframes involved, the process for selecting preferred suppliers, the process for delivering the product and last but not least; the process for managing the suppliers performance! To help you do this, we have listed below the 3 key steps needed to create a detailed Procurement Plan for your project. 1. Identify your requirements . First, list all of the products you need to obtain from external suppliers. For each product define its purpose, the quantity needed, your budget and the reason for outsourcing ...

Q: Is MPMM ' Project Management Tools ' web enabled so that it can be accessed via the internet? A: Currently it is not web based project management software , but we do have plans to make it so in the future. Actually, all of the content within MPMM is stored in HTML format, so making it web enabled is not so difficult. The biggest challenge is that we will need to create administrator functionality so that the system can be administered by super users at your end, and this will take us some time to complete. We are also creating a server version, so that it can run in a citrix or other client server environment. The MPMM Support Team

Q: I have downloaded MPMM and installed it on my laptop from home, but we do not have an internet connection at work. I am now ready to buy this project management software tool . How can I do it without internet connectivity? A: You can purchase the MPMM project methodology without an internet connection. Firstly, you should contact our support department at support@mpmm.com and they will give you specific instructions for payment. This will involve making payment through manual means, such as paying by check or bank wire. After receiving payment, our project management tools support team will issue you with a serial number that can be provided to you over the phone. You can enter this serial number into the project management software to license and activate the software manually. The MPMM Support Team

Q: How can I buy MPMM if I do not have a visa or master card? A: We have a suite of different options available to purchase the MPMM  online project management methodology in case you do not have a visa or mastercard. Firstly, if you want to access the license key to use MPMM immediately, then you can enter one of a number of alternative cards such as: AMEX, Maestro, Solo, Visa Delta and JCB cards. If you decide that you want to buy MPMM off-line, then you can either fax us your card details, send us a check, wire transfer the payment, send a money order or pay by western union. In this way, there are a variety of ways to access the complete project management template process included in MPMM. The MPMM Support Team

Q: How can I use MPMM to set up a Project Management Office (PMO)? A: Many PMOs use MPMM to help them to put in place a project methodology for their organization. MPMM describes briefly how to set up a new Project Management Office and how to grow and improve it. However we are currently building a new methodology for Project Management Offices. This new methodology is called MPOM which is short for the “Method123 Project Office Methodology”. This methodology will include more than 2000 project office life cycle content pages, project management templates and tools as well as a suite of practical examples for a online project management office. See http://www.mpom.com/ The MPMM Support Team

Q: What are the trial version limitations? A: As you have rightly pointed out, there are a few limitations with the project manager trial version. The first limitation is that you are only able to use it for 14 days. In saying that, we have now implemented an extended trial in which you can use the software for another 14 days after the first trial period has expired. The second limitation of this project management software tool is that you can only read the content; you cannot export it into Microsoft Word or Excel. Likewise, you cannot export the project management templates or project management process into Microsoft Office. And the last limitation is that you cannot share methodologies with others. Immediately upon purchase, these features are made available. The MPMM Support Team

Undertaking Quality Management by creating a detailed Communications Plan using Project Management Templates In this article we’ll describe how to undertake Quality Management and creating a detailed “Communications Plan”. How to undertake Quality Management Quality is defined as “the level of conformance of the produced deliverables to the customer's requirements”. Quality Management is the process by which the quality of each deliverable is assured and controlled for the project, using Quality Assurance and Quality Control techniques. This comes in a set of online project management templates . The Quality Management Process entails using a variety of review techniques to assess the level of quality of deliverables and processes and implementing a set of actions to raise the level of quality within the project. The following steps are undertaken: List the quality targets from the Quality Plan Identify the types of quality measurement techniques required Measure deliverable...

Q: How do I download and install MPMM? A: We have used a similar download and install process to that used by Adobe. You firstly download and install the project management software trial. You can then access the program for a period of 14 days for free. If you need more time, then we have recently released a new project management tools mechanism in which you can get another 14 day trial extension for free. After this period expires, you will need to purchase this project management software in order to continue using it. The MPMM Support Team

Q: Does your project management software provide reporting capabilities, such as a digital dashboard or other graphical ways of reporting project management status information? A: MPMM is a project management methodology. It is a toolkit that helps you to structure your projects correctly and it guides you by telling you how to complete every step in the project management life cycle . While it is a project management software tool, it is not a reporting package. There are a wide suite of reporting packages out there including Primavera, which help you to track project data live and report it to your project managers and sponsors. The MPMM Support Team

Q: How Do I become a Project Management Supplier? A: If you would like to supply MPMM to your new and existing client base, then you can join as a Reseller. This involves completing a simple form and agreeing with our terms and conditions. Resellers enjoy a special discount on purchasing MPMM products, so that they can then resell our project management solution at whatever price they wish. As a reseller, you get to use the "MPMM Certified Reseller" brand and logo to help boost your product sales. You can also create and upload customised online project management methodologies into MPMM and resell these methodologies to your clients. You can also become an affiliate for Project Management Templates . Join the reseller program today. The MPMM Support Team

We are currently considering the integration of an SDLC (software development life cycle) within the MPMM Product set. Although an SDLC differs from a PMLC ( project management life cycle ), the two are closely related. In fact more than half of our clients use MPMM to run software development and information technology projects, for which an SDLC would be extremely useful. We already have our own SDLC in-house within Method123 Ltd, so we are considering releasing it externally. If we do, then the SDLC released will include all of the phases, activities and tasks needed to build project management software applications from start to finish. The six SDLC phases we would release are called: Analyse, Design, Develop, Test, Implement and Support. The MPMM Support Team