Changepoint's client portal site allows customers limited interaction with the system. Logged-in clients can submit requests for new projects or changes to existing projects and defect reports, and track those submissions as they move through the planning process. Clients can view and modify those requests, but cannot see the same level of detail that an IT manager or staff member sees. Although clients can view their requests' status--percent completed and estimated timelines, for example--they can't drill down to see specific project-related data, such as resource rates and individual IT staff time spent on their project, or technical knowledge-base items shared between IT project team members. Such information is not considered essential to the client's role within Changepoint.
Changepoint's security model is extensive--overwhelming, really. Although pleased that we could have such granular control over field-level access, we found the process' tediousness disheartening. For instance, the list of access rights includes privileges to which you're not licensed. If you're trying to choose an entire category, such as "manage clients," but are unlicensed for even one item in that group, you're denied access. We'd like to see this process smoothed out a bit.
All aspects of the application, including much of the interface's look and feel, can be customized for your organization, but this process takes many hours. Still, being able to adapt the application to your own business will speed up the adoption process, so it's worth the time. Both Changepoint PM and Portfolio Edge are highly customizable, likely owing to their implementation architecture. Artemis is customizable in many ways, but interface manipulation isn't something that's easily done within that product's J2EE architecture.
Approval of project- and nonproject-related time and expenses is easily configurable in Changepoint PM, as are other accounting tasks. The client can be designated as an approver on charge-backs, which smooths the collaboration between IT and its clients. One- and two-level approvals can be configured. Only PM includes expenses and charge-backs--one way this product excels over the competition. During testing, after entering the time I spent on different projects during the week, I logged on to PM as the approving manager and saw the approval waiting on my dashboard.
All the products we tested are diligent about the breadth and depth of support for managing requests. It is this core functionality that helps executives align IT with the business, so we were not surprised to find that all three products performed these tasks well. In PM's case, the software manages all types of requests--planning, work, change, defects--and gives teams access to specific queues. Planning requests can be routed through your approval process and may include any number of IT and non-IT users from whom you can gather data, documents or input. Furthermore, using PM to organize the requests by time period (yearly, quarterly and so on) helps the CIO determine which projects to include based on cost, risk and a host of customizable variables.
Subsea cable alternatives can provide a level of comfort for those concerned about disruptions. Realistically, they will continue to play a small, but critical role in the short term.
Maintaining existing network infrastructures often incurs huge technical debt before newer technologies are adopted over time.
Amid ongoing regional uncertainties, telecom infrastructure in the Middle East has expand to include terrestrial low-latency network infrastructure, which offers resilience and agility in navigating political complexities without relying solely on undersea networks.
