Resource Planner

Resource Planner (RPM) is a different kind of PM tool. The following screen shot says everything you'd want to know about RPM

The operative word in the above screen shot is all. The program is actually a database of all the projects you and/or your company have undertaken. The next screen shot shows the main menu in RPM. The first four items in the menu pertain to the program itself. The other items have to do with saving, retrieving, and merging other files created with RPM.

The data entry and editing screen is a worksheet or matrix with the resources listed across the top and the phases (activities) of a project down the side.

The program may have been something special when it was originally written. However, once you see how it works, you should be able to duplicate most of the functionality of the program in a Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet. HP Palmtop users can also create a custom database that will handle this kind of information with relative ease. The resources could be designed as check boxes instead of being typed in. With check boxes you could generate subsets of some of the resources and get an idea of how they are being used. The only thing that a custom database won't do that RPM (and a comparable 1-2-3 spreadsheet) can do is perform simple sums of the resources that involve costs and times.

In short, about the only reason for using RPM on the Palmtop would be to avoid writing your own spreadsheet or database to do the same thing.

Resource Planner is available as shareware from:

South Pointe Software
816 Peace Portal Drive
P.O. Box 880
Blaine, WA 98230-0080
or
1-1812 Southmere Crescent
South Pointe
White Rock, BC V41 6W9

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