Project Management
Software
Inhalt
Why Blue Ant?
Advantages 2
Editions 4
Functions
Overview 6
Planning 7
Resources 10
Work-time recording
12
Tickets 14
Travel costs
16
ToDo lists
18
Documents 20
Knowledge 22
Project billing
24
Portfolio 26
Controlling 28
Administration 30
Reports 32
Interfaces 34
Add-ons 36
Architecture
System requirements
38
Technology 39
Service
Training 41
Parallel consulting
41
Support 41
Partnerships
Sales partnership
43
Cooperation partnership 43
References
44
Blue Ant videos
46
Contact
47
Advantages
Why Blue Ant?
Six good reasons
Blue Ant is the result of 50+
man years of practical project
management experience. We
have distilled the most success
ful methods into a software
solution which will also advan
ce your projects.
Norman Frischmuth
Managing Director proventis GmbH
Advantages
Flexible integration
Blue Ant can be easily integrated into your existing IT environment through a variety of interfaces and web standards.
More efficiency
The availability of relevant in-formation at a glance speeds up the decision-making process. In addition, Blue Ant’s fast and trans-parent consultation, approval and information processes increase the efficiency of your project manage-ment.
Data at the push of a
button
Blue Ant offers easy, web-based access to all relevant project data, regardless of time and location.
More quality and cost
control
Blue Ant’s results-oriented re-porting allows your projects to be controlled ‘live’. As a result of the continuous use of Blue Ant, potential cost reductions can be identified quickly, thereby enhan-cing the quality of your project management (e.g. in terms of ISO certifications).
Effective resource
management
Resource management across multiple projects helps you opti-mise planning processes, allowing the targeted use of employees. Possible future ‘bottlenecks’ can be identified and avoided at an early stage.
Less effort
Continuous use of Blue Ant redu-ces the administrative burden of your project work within a short time. The lower costs which result lead to an accelerated return on investment (ROI).
Editions
Every company has special requirements for its project and resource management. So Blue Ant offers three professional solutions, tailored to fit your
individual needs.
The right solution
for your company
Editions
Standard
Edition
Enterprise
Edition
Cloud
Edition
Blue Ant module
Master data administration Rights management Configuration via web Multi-lingual feature Interfaces MS Project synchronisation LDAP/ActiveDirectory Web services SSO MS Exchange
Customizing / additional modules Solution pilot phase
Overview of functions
Planning Travel costs
ToDo lists Documents Knowledge Project billing Interfaces Add-ons Administration Controlling Portfolio Resources Work-time recording Tickets Reports
Planning
Blue Ant provides all project managers with a uniform plat-form for planning and managing their projects. Seamless integration with multi-project management also supports planners when searching for resources, planning utilization
and coordinating absences.
Plan ahead.
Planning
Short overview
• Quick creation of projects using wizards and tem-plate management
• Classic and agile planning methods • Configurable conflict reports
• Creation of baselines based on current planning and/or any baselines
• Unlimited cross-project linking of activities in a multi-project structure
• Interactive GANTT view
• Linking of documents with activities
• Free definition of cost and investment types • Budgeting in time periods (month/quarter/year)
Planning
• Quotes based on the project plan or freely-defined items
• Linking of quote items with activities • Invoice proposals with payment deadlines • Invoice proposals by means of serial function
• Project status change with workflow and rights • Freely-configurable status reports including
submission cycle and sending of emails • Own report generator
Resources
An optimal use of resources not only ensures the success of individual projects, but also has a positive effect on the entire project landscape. Blue Ant helps you identify mistakes
in utilization planning at an early stage and take appropriate counter-measures.
Efficient planning.
Resources
Short overview
• Individual work-time calendar and work-time models
• Cost rate definition for employees
• Cross-project resource/operational planning • Skills definition for employees
• Resource search by skills
• Fast, cyclic reservation of resources with the reservation plan
• Simulation of employees
• Request and approval of project resources • Resource planning by the resource manager • Holiday and absence management including the
approval process
Record simply.
Process efficiently.
Determining actual work performed in a project is essential for effective project management. Blue Ant
supports the user with simple and flexible recording options.
Work-time recording
Short overview
• Quick and precise work-time recording (e.g. with the stopwatch)
• Percent complete recording
• Simultaneous display of project and ticket work-times
• Recording of start and finish time or duration • Recording of estimated overtime and
remaining effort
• Completion reporting of the week‘s work-times including completeness check
• Reasons for non-billable work-times and their consideration in accounting
• Clock in/clock out recording
Tickets
Manage easily.
Connect practically.
Operational procedures such as ad hoc tasks, internal orders, change requests, and error messages cost time and capacity and have to be dealt with promptly in every company. For easy ticket management and a meaningful connection to day to day business, Blue Ant provides seamless
Tickets
Short overview
• Free workflow configuration including assignment of persons responsible, teams and notifications • Display of Service Level Agreements and
billing types
• Configuration of escalation and warning mechanisms
• Creation and editing of tickets via email
• Full integration in work-time recording, project planning, evaluation and controlling • Seamless integration of all Plan and Actual values
in resource management • Billing of tickets
Travel costs
Record comfortably.
Process precisely.
In addition to work costs, material and travel costs are also incurred in projects. Blue Ant provides the necessary
work-flows and approval processes for professional and rapid processing.
Travel costs
Short overview
• Applications for receipts, costs (e.g. business trips) and investments
• Quick and easy recording of receipt and travel costs by employees
• Filing of documents
• Expenses management for each employee • Individualization of combined receipts and
receipt types
• Individual work-flows for different combined
• Free configuration of supervisory authorities for request checking and approval
• Country-specific expenses rates expenses, mileage rates, VAT rates and benefits in kind
• Simple calculation of receipt and travel costs • Booking export, import of receipts
Increase quality.
Maintain standards.
Compliance with quality standards and an overview of open points – ToDo lists guarantee the complete documentation
of necessary processes and also provide support in the monitoring of the project implementation plan.
ToDo lists
Short overview
• Linking of ToDo lists and ToDos with activities • Assignment of ToDos and reminder functions to
team members or groups • Automatic forwarding of ToDos
• Free status definition for ToDos
• Extension of ToDos with customer-specific fields • Central control of ToDo lists and ToDos
Documents
Record seamlessly.
Manage easily.
Key results and concepts are reflected in documents. Document versioning in Blue Ant enables you to maintain an overview and project-based storage guarantees quick access
Documents
Short overview
• Free filing structure in projects and templates • Integration into projects at the push of a button • Storage of any documents
• Linking with activities
• Storage of documents in tickets
• Free assignment of editing rights • Versioning of all documents
Knowledge
Gain an overview.
Identify knowledge.
Knowledge is the key production factor of your projects. Using knowledge maps and profiles in Blue Ant, you can
Knowledge
Short overview
• Free definition of the knowledge tree • Creation of target profiles
• Skills and defined characteristics for each employee
• Saved history of skill changes
• Knowledge maps in the form of bar diagrams, line charts or spider charts
• Resource search by skills and availability
• Resource requests using skills
• Utilization mountain for each position (skills profile)
Project billing
Create easily.
Bill efficiently.
Project services are not provided for their own sake, but to achieve a goal. Stringent costing and billing form the foundations of sustainable project management. This applies
Project billing
Short overview
• Selection of all billing-related services (times, re-ceipts, tickets, material costs etc.)
• Adaptability of recorded work-times and rounding and capping functions
• Warning in the absence of the release of billable work performed in the billing period
• Fixed or automated project billing • Partial billing of tickets
• Freely definable invoice layout per client
Portfolio
Present clearly.
Use strategically.
Programs or portfolios cluster projects for controlling and serve multi-project management. Project environments are cultivated
Portfolio
Short overview
• Creation of ad hoc portfolios and scenarios • Extensive selection criteria for creating portfolios • No limit to the number of portfolios
• Tabular and graphic portfolio illustration • Data export to HTML, PDF or CSV
Controlling
Break down precisely.
Manage efficiently.
Process complex issues quickly and clearly in order to make the right decisions – this is the essential aim of controlling. Blue
Controlling
Short overview
• Reports and evaluations at the push of a button • Ad hoc forecasts and analyses
• Comprehensive, cross-project utilization views • Easy rescheduling and extension of projects • Different views of, for example, company, project
or employee levels
• Free report configuration including calculation formulae
• Creation of reporting templates
• Inclusion of individual issuing of reports • Allocation of report templates to user groups • Direct linking of evaluations to individual projects
Administration
Design flexibly.
Administrate easily.
Software solutions must not only work well, they should also be easy to administrate. Blue Ant customers value the fact that
Administration
Short overview
• Intuitive operation
• Optional language and format settings (date, time, duration)
• User-defined configuration of views and tables • Complete adaptation of all texts, fields etc. to your
corporate language
• Freely-definable menu items • Individual fields in the entire system
• Optional rights assignment for users and/or user
Procedure models and norms
• GPM/IPMA • ISO 69901 • PMI/PMIBOK • Prince 2 • V-model • Individual processes
Reports
Complex interrelationships.
Displayed simply.
In addition to numerous standard reports, Blue Ant gives you the option to integrate custom reports and evaluations. Whether table, text or graphics, with the interface to the open
source BIRT report generator, complex data can be clearly and comprehensibly created in the form of reports.
Interfaces
Integrate flexibly.
Manage easily.
Your business is constantly changing and adapting to the demands of the market. Blue Ant supports you with add-ons that can be
provided by you yourself or by our partners for your individual requirements.
Interfaces
Available Interfaces
Standard
Edition
Enterprise
Edition
Cloud
Edition
Microsoft Project interface
Export of all data to PDF, HTML and MS Office Export of quotations, plan and current data to SWOT
Import/export of activities including specific fields (MS Excel)
Import/Export of work-time/receipts (SAP, Navision, Sage, Datev, MS Excel) MS-Exchange Server 2007 SPI/2010
LDAP/ActiveDirectory or database connection for comparison of resource data, company divisions, user group assignment and user authentication SSO access via Open SAML and Windows Domain with NTLM2 Web services for sub systems (SAP, Navision, Sage, Datev, MS Excel) Data exchange via XML & E-Mail
Direct links to Blue Ant functions
Integration of Wikis, forums and other web applications Full integration into Projectplace (Social PM)
Add-ons
Use simply.
Expand flexibly.
Your business is constantly changing and adapting to the demands of the market. Blue Ant supports you with add-ons
that can be provided by you yourself or by our partners for your individual requirements.
Add-ons
App für iPhone und Android
• Work-time recording on projects and tickets • Percent complete recording
• Overview of all recorded work-times for the account in use
You can find the »Blue Ant iPhone App« in the iTunes store, and the »Blue Ant Android App« in the GooglePlay store.
Architecture
System requirements
Server
Operating System
• Windows from 2008R2 Server 64 bit • Linux 64 bit
• Unix 64 bit • AIX 64 bit
• Sun Solaris 64 bit
Databank System
• Oracle from version 10 • MAXDB version 7.8
• MS-SQL-Server from version 2008R2 • PostgreSQL version 9.2
Web Server
• Apache Tomcat 7
Runtime Environment
• Java SE Development Kit (JDK) from version 7
Hardware (approx. 50 users)
• 2,8 GHZ Dual-CPU or higher • 8 GB RAM or higher
Client
Web-Browser
• Microsoft Internet Explorer from 9.0 • Mozilla Firefox or related, current version • Apple Safari, current version
Monitor resolution
• 1.280x1.024 pixels recommended
All up-to-date requirements can be found on our website.
Architecture
Technology
Multi-lingual basic system
• XML/XSL-Parser for creating HTML, PDF, CSV • Session management (storage and user control,
AutoLogout)
• Navigation via Browser (Menu, Favorites, Help, Login/Logout)
• Data export/Data import (XML)
Rights management
• Definitions of rights profiles to mask elements level (masks, text fields, buttons, navigation) • Granting of rights for individuals and groups • Pre-caching of frequently used rights elements
User management
• Automated registration • Group management
• User monitoring (active user view)
Master data management
• Customising of master data via browsers
• Management of master data in multiple languages All up-to-date requirements can
Blue Ant Service
Blue Ant service
Tailored training & support
The closer we adapt Blue Ant
to suit your needs, the more
you benefit. We assist you with
training and ongoing support,
so that you can focus on what
matters: the efficiency of your
projects.
Thomas Eichler
Head of Training & Consulting
Blue Ant Service
User training to expand and consolidate your knowledge
General user training: if you already have project ma-nagement know-how and are familiar with our multi-project management software Blue Ant, we invite you to take part in our regular user training courses, in which individual Blue Ant functionalities are presented and consolidated with exercises.
Parallel consulting
Project management know-how through parallel consulting
We provide process-oriented and practical project management advice so that you can use Blue Ant optimally. In our Project Shops we offer qualification for project heads, employees and managers through training, consulting and coaching. In addition, proven-tis experts support you with PM consulting for your company-specific projects.
Support
Competent service
Purchase or Cloud customer - our trained support team will help you with any questions about Blue Ant. We ensure the technical availability of your system and provide on-site maintenance.
Training
Training to make the start with Blue Ant easier
To introduce you to Blue Ant, we offer a variety of trai-ning courses. Are you interested in a train-the-trainer course with the aim of building a Blue Ant core team in your company? Do you want to get a more in-depth insight into the administrative part of the Blue Ant or learn more in an online training course about Blue Ant? We can help you. Simply contact our sales team.
Webinars about current Blue Ant topics
Our monthly webinars inform you quickly, effectively and flexibly about current project management issues, related to Blue Ant‘s PM functions. Our webinars are presented live on the Internet.
Up-to-date with update training
At our monthly update training you will learn about what‘s new in Blue Ant. In brief hands-on exercises, you will learn how to use the new features, after which you will be able to take full advantage of the latest Blue Ant version.
Partnership
Growth market
Project management
Real partnerships produce
synergies of lasting mutual
benefit, which we look forward to
developing with you.
Daniela Boldt
Partner Management
Partnership
Successful partnerships are an essential
part of our corporate philosophy
For increased market development in the European Economic Area, we are looking for partners who want to support our growth.
We offer the following partner programmes:
Sales partnership
As a Blue Ant Sales Partner, you will have the
opportunity to handle acquisitions and sales support for Blue Ant customers. You will receive a commis-sion on the sale of licences, and the procurement of training, services and support which you undertake on your own initiative. If necessary, we will provide an introduction to Blue Ant and regular short courses for new versions. There is no charge for the distribution partnership.
Cooperation partnership
In cooperation partnerships, you take over the support of the customers completely, from acquisition right through to installation and training. A pre-requisite for cooperation partnership is the appropriate training and certification of at least one of your employees. Regular update training sessions will keep you up to date with new developments.
Naturally, our partner management will support you every step of the way!
Any questions?
Contact proventis Partner Management: Tel.: +49 (0)30 293 63 99 - 19
References
References
We are convinced that we are able to monitor our
projects better…in many respects.
Thomas Jahn, Resource manager
Oberfinanzdirektion (OFD) Lower Saxony (Regional Tax Office), Germany
„
„
Blue Ant supports the methodical planning of
pro-jects and provides management with a quick and
qualified overview of all business units.
Gabriele Schwarz, CEO
teamgnesda, Gnesda Real Estate & Consulting GmbH, Austria
„
We are convinced that we are able to monitor our
projects better…in many respects.
Jürg Achermann, Managing Director FROX Communication, Switzerland
Videos
Explore the most important Blue Ant functions
on video.
proventis GmbH
Neue Gruenstrasse 25-26 D-10179 Berlin
Any questions?
Please contact us!
Telephone Tel.: +49 (0) 30 293 63 99 - 0 Fax: +49 (0) 30 293 63 99 - 50 contact@proventis.net Sales Holger Eckert Tel.: +49 (0) 30 293 63 99 - 13 sales@proventis.net Partnermanagement Daniela Boldt Tel.: +49 (0)30 293 63 99 - 19 partner@proventis.net Marketing Simone Wesche Tel.: +49 (0)30 293 63 99 - 10 marketing@proventis.net Cologne branch Am Hof 20-26 50667 Cologne
Get to know Blue Ant.
Free of charge and with no obligation.
www.proventis.net/en/test-now.html
