PM-Appers!+Evaluation+Methods

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And so the search begins...

Surveying Needs and Available Applications
Evaluation was a large part of our project and involved many steps. There are many PPM apps and we needed to narrow that list down to two. Wherever should we start? We worked as a team to develop the criteria we would use to evaluate a list of 34 popular browser-based PPM apps. The original 34 were determined from our personal experience and in large part from Rob Rawson at www.timedoctor.com. From this information we filtered this list based upon the criteria we deemed as most important for client and our objectives.

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We surveyed our classmates to best identify their experience with PPM apps and their needs they would like to have fulfilled in a PPM app. Our questions were questions that we had asked one another and we were anxious to see if our classmates were searching for a PPM application to fill the same needs we were.

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==Subject Matter Experts == If you are working with a SME asking the right questions is important to leverage their knowledge. Some useful questions to ask a SME when choosing a PPM are:
 * 1) Can you tell us a little bit about the project you are working on? What led to the need for such a project? What are your goals and objectives? What are your research methods?
 * 2) Have you discovered a PPM application which integrates with Google Apps? Is Google Apps integration business requirement in your search for a PPM application? Why or why not?
 * 3) What is your experience of the quality of “pay for” vs. free PPM applications? Are there features that are so important they are worth paying for?
 * 4) What are the three PPM evaluation criteria/features do you consider most important in an education project?

Remember to be considerate of your SME’s time and offer options for discussing your questions, including the method of the meeting, the date/time and permission to use their quotes in your reports.

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