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I tested version 3.1 of the software on a Windows 32-bit platform and admired the interface's ease of use. Unfortunately, the browser-based client performance was a bit sluggish and, in some instances, unstable. However, Action Plan comes with a standalone executable client (for Win32 and Macintosh platforms) that is faster and more stable than the applet version running within the browser.

New to Action Plan is the ability to add constraints--for example, as soon as possible, as late as possible, fixed date, no later than a specific date, and no earlier than a specific date--to each task. You can also import subprojects into bigger projects, while maintaining hyperlinks to the original projects. Version 3.1 adds quarterly and yearly views of projects to the previous version's weekly and monthly views. Other new features include date and time stamps for task notes and improved support for importing Microsoft Project MPX files.

I liked Action Plan's templates for plannning different projects. The product's model of planning projects is centered around the task model. A task is created within a project, and the task can have several attributes associated with it, such as time constraints, dependencies, percent complete and cost. The software lets you specify any combination of these attributes. In the task list view, each attribute is represented by a vertical column, and tasks appear in horizontal rows. Access to this information is restricted based on user login. Action Plan would benefit from the ability to tie its access control to the underlying operating system's access control.

Active Clients Action Plan's server-side component is composed of a database (which is transparent to the user), a Web server and an LDAP-compatible directory server. The database holds project-related information, such as tasks, deadlines and schedules; the directory server maintains user information if you do not have an existing LDAP server.

On the client side, the software is made up of two parts: the Action Plan client and the Hotsheet client. The Action Plan client lets you set up your projects and assign tasks, while the Hotsheet client provides a view of the tasks assigned to different personnel.

When a user updates his or her task(s) in the Hotsheet client, the task status is updated immediately within the project and the new information becomes available to all users.

You can use the Hotsheet client to access your tasks without being distracted by full-blown project management. I particularly liked the feature that let me e-mail task information to myself. In the lab, I set up Hotsheet to send me daily e-mails of tasks that had been modified, so I could stay on top of changes.

Other capabilities include e-mailing recently assigned and overdue tasks. Action Plan does not offer any options for pagers or faxes. Netmosphere should consider adding integration for PIM (Personal Information Management) software (such as Sidekick, Outlook or Eudora Planner), as well as PalmPilot synchronization.

Planning Projects Within an Action Plan project, several personnel roles are predefined, including Project Director, Lead Analyst, Subject Matter Expert and Business System Owner. Team members are individually assigned a set of specific tasks needed for a successful project implementation.

During testing, I developed a project for writing this article. The project included Netmosphere as a team member, and its task was to deliver the software. My tasks, in turn, included reviewing the documentation, installing and testing the software, and writing and submitting the article. Each task had time constraints and was interdependent on other tasks. All these constraints were effortlessly captured by Action Plan, and it took me only a few minutes to create the tasks. Controlling task dependencies was as simple as point, click and drag between the two tasks. When the software arrived few days late, Netmosphere's task of delivering the software was displayed in red, alerting me to a missing deadline. I shifted my final deadline by choosing Shift Project from the tool menu, and Action Plan logically rescheduled all tasks--and properly shifted the dependencies.

To test Action Plan's ability to manage more complex projects, I created test projects with hundreds of tasks and assigned multiple team members. Action Plan's ease of use and performance did not falter. For more complicated projects, you can build a number of smaller subprojects. Version 3.1 introduces the ability to import subprojects into other projects, and includes a hyperlink to the imported project. Changes to the imported subprojects are updated in real time in the larger project. I used this feature with some sample projects, and updates were instantaneous.

If you like Action Plan's distributed Web-based access, multiplatform compatibility and ease of use, but are looking for more functionality, you can build your projects in Microsoft Project and read them into Action Plan. You can also perform the conversion in the other direction and write out MPX files that can be read into Microsoft Project. However, if you are locked into a Win32 platform, you may want to take a close look at Microsoft Project before you commit to Action Plan.

For IT project managers concerned more with meeting deadlines and less with learning new software, Action Plan 3.1 includes a set of 10 templates that you can use as an excellent starting point for a project plan, as I did with my first project. These templates include Y2K Enterprise Plan, Y2K Project Detail Plan and Vendor Software Package Implementation, among others.

Ahmad Abualsamid is a senior partner with 1Internet Corp. of Chicago. Send your comments on this article to him at ahmad@execpc.com.