Software September: news roundup 2

5pm and SpiderScribe.net

I think we’ll see more and more software companies do what 5pm has done and incorporate links to other products, rather than try to be all things to all people. The team at 5pm has added the ability to connect to SpiderScribe.net for mind mapping. SpiderScribe.net is from Disarea, the same company that make 5pm, but instead of trying to incorporate mind mapping into 5pm they have produced a separate tool. That way, if you want it, you can have it. If you just want mind mapping, you can just have SpiderScribe.net.

5pm now integrates with Google Apps and has a free iPhone app, so you can stay connected to your projects wherever you are.

LiquidPlanner

You have to love LiquidPlanner. They have taken social software to the extreme with LiquidPlanner 3.0. “There is a social design revolution going on in business software,” says Charles Seybold, co-founder and CEO. “Just like we learned to design cars around drivers, we are learning to design collaboration software around teams. This effect is accelerating as a new generation of project managers who prefer Facebook and iPads over Microsoft Project start to gain more influence in the workplace. LiquidPlanner 3.0 is focused on social project management – it’s about people working together to get things done.”

The new release includes drag n’ drop for priorities and projects, the ability to ‘shuffle’ tasks like on an iTunes playlist, and posting integrated comments and documents.

Clarizen

Just a few days ago Clarizen launched version 5.3 of their tool which includes their new InterAct centre. This “promotes the next level of maturity and success for organisations by allowing users to manage initiatives, projects and tasks within Clarizen all via email.” Unstructured email communication now becomes the focus for action. It works with all email clients and doesn’t need any plugins or additional interfaces. This will make Clarizen easier to use for non-project managers, as it moves the conversation into the software.

There is lots of other new stuff including a timer feature. It’s also now compatible with single sign on technology.

Mikogo

Mikogo is a free (for now) web conferencing and desktop sharing tool. It’s now available for Linux, which means you can use the product to collaborate online even if the team uses a mix of Windows, Mac and Linus computers. After a period of beta testing, Mikogo Version 4 was released.

The company’s mission was always to provide a free product, but they do need more than a pat on the back to pay the bills. Consequently they are introducing a paid-for model for businesses. Mikogo will stay free for private use.

The team are currently working on mobile apps and hopefully these will be released shortly.

Projectplace

Mattias Hällström

The gamification of project management continues, with Projectplace introducing a ‘Like’ feature. The company believe this will “stimulate project commitment through positive reinforcement” and “boost productivity”.

“Since many Facebook users have really embraced the Like feature we decided to implement a similar function in Projectplace’s Conversations tool,” says Mattias Hällström, founder and head of R&D at Projectplace. “With this feature the Project Manager has a well-recognised and powerful tool to encourage desired behaviour in the project to improve performance.”

AceProject

AceProject is going through a major revamp and the new version will soon be in beta testing if it isn’t already. The team has added a global search box (think searching Outlook in Windows 7). There is also the added feature of being able to have multiple projects open at the same time, which is a definite step in the right direction for busy project managers. The whole interface looks a lot cleaner and easier to navigate.