Yes - 100% of the pmPoint functionality is designed and built to run on Windows SharePoint Services (WSS - the "free" version of SharePoint) but pmPoint also happily runs on Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS).  Some of our customers start running pmPoint on WSS and then later upgrade their SharePoint environment to MOSS.  In this upgrade scenario pmPoint will run uninterrupted.

See pmPoint System Requirements.

As you probably know, to operate SharePoint you require Windows Server and SQL Server on the server side and an internet browser on the client side.  So once SharePoint is installed and running properly that is all the software pmPoint requires.  pmPoint does include advanced reporting, graphing and charting but these do not require any companion products to be installed (once the Windows Server is running the Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5).  pmPoint builds these extra capabilities right into your SharePoint platform.

See pmPoint System Requirements.

Yes - you can import a project file from Microsoft Project and thereafter manage the project schedule inside of SharePoint using pmPoint.  You can also export the project from SharePoint to Microsoft Project from time to time as desired (e.g. some customer just wants an up-to-date Microsoft Project file).   There are no plug-ins needed on the client machines to operate this MS Project integration.  Once pmPoint is installed the Microsoft Project link works from a standard browser.

This Microsoft Project link while powerful is optional - in other words you can manage tasks with dependencies within pmPoint with or without Microsoft Project. For example with pmPoint you can do schedule recalculations from inside SharePoint

No - the cross project reporting and resource tracking functionality is delivered on the SharePoint platform using pmPoint - and Microsoft Project Server is not required.

Yes - you can get started with pmPoint Online and pay as you consume - per user, per month.  At any stage you can migrate your pmPoint installation to your in-house SharePoint deployment.

See pmPoint Online.

Yes - pmPoint can be installed in 20 to 40 minutes. Have your system admin email BrightWork for a copy of the comprehensive install guide.

You can be started in under an hour in 3 simple steps if you are already familiar with SharePoint and understand basic work and project management. 

1. Create a Project Office site (to manage multiple projects) using one of the pmPoint Program Management templates.
2. You can then create and populate individual projects underneath using one or more of the pmPoint Project Management templates.
3. Show team members where to find and manage their work and then you can easily manage projects to success in the SharePoint project sites.

Yes - BrightWork has developed a well-defined and proven 6-step deployment approach to properly plan for and then accelerate the delivery of project management capabilities using SharePoint and pmPoint. This approach also ensures that BrightWork customers are self-sufficient in the use and maintenance of the pmPoint solution after the initial deployment.

The deployment can be as simple or an involved as you like to start with. We recommend that you build a picture of where you'd ideally like to get to with your project management and then start small and quickly. Our agile deployment approach advocates small but quick iterations to get immediate benefit and quick feedback.

Yes there is a short training guide that runs through the essentials of the product for those who want a fast start and who are already familiar with SharePoint and project management.

There is also more detailed role based training for Team Members, Project Managers, Program/Senior Managers and Project Office Teams and pmPoint administrators. All training is available in three formats: (i) a training document, (ii) a training slide deck, (iii) a training class delivered as a webcast. All the training materials are free to all customers.

Many customers are being introduced to the SharePoint interface (like it or hate it!) so it does not make sense to add a different interface for project management on SharePoint - as it frustrates users and slows deployment. When you deviate from the standard SharePoint interface and architecture then simple user tasks like using datasheets and even finding a report becomes difficult because you are not using the SharePoint Quick Launch and similarly simple customization tasks like adding columns and creating useful views are all made unnecessarily difficult. pmPoint is built starting with standard SharePoint lists, web parts, sites and site collections. pmPoint uses the standard SharePoint interface where available and any additions are added right into the SharePoint interface where we figured the SharePoint team might have added them!

pmPoint ships with many customizable templates to give your group a very fast starting point. In the current release of pmPoint, there are (a) two Work Management templates, (b) six Project Management templates, (c) five Program Management Templates and (d) three New Project Request templates.

Yes - while pmPoint delivers many extra project management features on top of SharePoint, these extensions were all originally built right on standard SharePoint features. This means that your group gets all the normal SharePoint features customizable in the normal fashion and the extra pmPoint features are also customizable using the normal SharePoint customization interfaces.

pmPoint comes with many out of the box reports for work and project management. All of these reports are extremely configurable from a simple settings page, allowing you to create new reports using the pmPoint reporting webparts as a fast start. Advanced users have access to a Report Editor that provides an interface to update the XML definition file that drives each report. These reports can also be updated in the code editor of your choice.

Yes, pmPoint has an online support forum. The answers in this support forum will often point directly to the relevant section in the online help or a short movie in the Demo Center or a piece of a training module in the Training Center.

Yes … pmPoint supports the normal project management capabilities you would expect from a mature project management product, such as: Project Management, Program Management, Portfolio Management, People Management, Vendor Collaboration, Process Management and Cost/Budget Management

pmPoint supports two main approaches to task management. Firstly pmPoint supports a simple tasking process using the pmPoint task list. This approach allows you as a project manager to add tasks without defining dependencies and parent child relationships. You can however still see the tasks added in a time sequenced Gantt chart if needed.

Secondly pmPoint supports a more formal work breakdown structure with tasks, dependencies and automatic date recalculation. pmPoint also supports the optional ability to import / export from Microsoft Project. All of these features are available in the pmPoint “Project Schedule list”.

pmPoint is not just a tool for project managers. pmPoint supports the four main project roles typically involved in project management: (i) Team Members, (ii) Project Managers, (iii) Program Managers / Senior Managers and (iv) Project Office teams.

Many BrightWork customers follow use pmPoint to follow well-defined, formal project management approaches such as the PMI®, PRINCE2®, MSF (Microsoft Solutions Framework), SCRUM, SEI-CMMI®, etc. The flexibility of pmPoint on SharePoint means that these customers are well catered for with the addition of the pmPoint project and program management templates. Many other BrightWork customers do not have a formal project management model or process in place. We have developed a simple “1-2-3 project and program management process” to assist these customers and give them a faster starting point, as they evolve their own project management approaches.

pmPoint understands that whilst projects are the lifeblood of many organizations, many of these same organizations have a need to manage work outside of the formal structure of projects and all that such a structure entails. pmPoint comes out of the box with Work Management templates to manage non-project work. These templates can be housed in a SharePoint environment with the organizations projects, thus enabling an organization to manage all types of work and projects in the one SharePoint environment.

pmPoint understand that some organizations want to introduce controls with regard to new projects being approved, especially when they have a lot of existing projects already underway. To this end pmPoint includes New Project Request templates each of which can be easily customized to fit local approaches. The more evolved of these templates supports more detailed project estimates and resource forecasts.

Yes pmPoint has added graphs, charts and key progress indicators (KPI's) right into the base product and thus by extension right into SharePoint. These extensions only require Windows SharePoint Services (WSS - the "free" version of SharePoint) as the default platform. They do not require for example SQL Reporting Services, Excel Services or any other charting software to be installed or configured. You get these extra capabilities "free" with pmPoint.

The following are just some of the capabilities not available in the base SharePoint platform but that are a part of pmPoint:

• Navigation aids – BrightWork Tabs and Web Hierarchy View
• Templates to manage single projects and to manage across projects (like the Project Office template)
• Enhanced Project Management lists – like the Project Statement list, and the Issue Indicator fields
• Visual indicators – like the ones in the Project Statement and on the Project and Project Office Home pages
• Project Schedule list – that has the tasks, sub-tasks, dependencies, re-calculation and MS Project import/export
• Project, My Work, Work and Issue Reports – at a project level and at the cross project level
• Graphs and Charts – that can graph or chart information from one list or from many different lists across many sites
• Resource reporting – the ability to sweep across many sites to see what work capacity is or is not available

These and many other optional capabilities baked right into the base SharePoint platform make pmPoint a robust platform for managing projects today and a great choice for evolving the way you mange projects going forward.

From 1995 to today the company has built process driven project management products on top of the industry leading collaborative platforms of the time. It is believed that we are the only company to have developed and delivered a commercial software product on the following leading collaborative platforms (Lotus Notes to Microsoft Exchange 2000 Webstore to SharePoint 2001 to SharePoint 2003 to SharePoint 2007) with the same basic product mission (process driven project management). We are now very happy to be on the SharePoint platform with our product set.

At BrightWork our sole product focus is pmPoint. BrightWork eat, sleep and drink and are completely dedicated to "practical work and project management on SharePoint".

The product contains many web parts but delivered in service of a total solution focused on work and project management. BrightWork has been singularly focused on delivering a process driven project management solution since the companies inception in 1995. The product has been carefully crafted as a project management solution in consultation with our loyal base of customers.

BrightWork has participated on every JDP (Joint Development Program) that the SharePoint team have run starting this relationship back in 1998 and BrightWork are now on the TAP (Technology Adoption Program) for the new SharePoint 2010 and Project 2010 products. BrightWork was asked to present at the Microsoft Project Conference in September 2009, where we showed pmPoint working with Project 2010 and SharePoint 2010 (at least six months before these products release).

BrightWork and pmPoint are well known for the introduction of the "walk the process line" thinking. You can read more about BrightWork thinking in this space on the Manage Projects on SharePoint blog. It is believed that BrightWork are the first and only company to have developed and delivered a commercial software product on the following leading collaborative platforms (Lotus Notes to Microsoft Exchange 2000 Webstore to SharePoint 2001 to SharePoint 2003 to SharePoint 2007) with the same basic product mission (process driven project management).

pmPoint ships a new release twice a year, every six months or so.  The product is engineered so that customers can skip a release if they are too busy and can upgrade directly to the latest release from an older release. 

As well as English, pmPoint currently supports German and Norwegian language packs, with Spanish, Dutch and French available in May/June 2010.

BrightWork has been cited on the last two Gartner Group PPM (project and portfolio management) market updates - commonly known as the Magic Quadrant.

See Magic Quadrant for IT Project and Portfolio Management.

You can read short testimonials, case studies and webcasts from successful customers on our website.

Our pricing policy is value based - so that you always know that a Workgroup of 100 users costs the same, no matter how many servers your SharePoint team adds to the environment. A pmPoint license may be deployed on any number of servers. (From experience we see IT departments deploying more rather than less SharePoint servers, especially with SharePoint 2007, thus making server based pricing of 3rd party add ons very expensive over time). Organizations can start small and then may upgrade to higher tier license packs over time as needed to cover an increased user population - by just subtracting the difference in the license pack prices. In all cases, users outside the corporation / legal entity have free read access. We also provide discounts to not for profits and educational organizations.

Firstly you might start by reviewing some short demos in the Demo Center. Secondly you then may wish to try out the product in full on our TrialZone with a set of guided exercises from our "Short Training Guide". Thirdly you are welcome to take all the product training sessions for free. Finally if needs be you can sign-up for a free 30-day private site for you and your group using pmPoint Online.

Yes - you can expect very responsive people helping you through the evaluation process as you have support needs and questions. You will meet a very responsive team just like the rest of the teams at BrightWork who will be there to support you as a customer. Just email info@brightwork.com with your requests.