Bamboo's Online Applications Group is Pleased to Announce the Release of BambooPM

First of all, I would like to thank all of our developers, both external and internal, for all of their help and hard work in adapting and readying PM Central for a SaaS launch. It's thanks to the tireless efforts of our development team that I'm able to announce today that BambooPM^TM is here and ready to go. With that being said, let's take a few minutes to see what BambooPM is all about...

What it is BambooPM?

BambooPM is a truly collaborative software application for SharePoint project management that is provided as a service (Software as a Service, or "SaaS"). Leveraging Project Management Central (PM Central), Bamboo's popular on-premises SharePoint project management application, we focused our design on five key goals: simplicity & ease of use, flexibility, automated communications, self-service user administration, and affordability.

How is it easy to use?

Project management is often a distributed function. So while we have included the robust task management and scheduling capabilities that a certified PMP might expect and demand, we also committed ourselves to deploy these features in way that would be friendly and intuitive to virtually anyone from any department.

 How is it flexible?

Commonalities exist, but organizations and project teams each have their own unique approach to project management. Whether teams use an agile methodology or a more traditional approach, BambooPM is adaptable to fit your organization's preferred project management process.

 What about Automated Communications?

Project managers face enormous communication challenges to keep projects on track. In addition to updating project teams about deliverables and dependencies, project managers must provide regular updates to management and other stakeholders. BambooPM has a built-in real-time project dashboard, providing automated displays of project health, status and risk, and which allows you to eliminate the majority of redundant status reports. We have also added a number of advanced Web Parts for SharePoint that enhance communications and collaboration beyond what SharePoint includes "out-of-the-box," such as our popular Alert Plus Web Part." Equally important, because Microsoft SharePoint is already in use by tens of millions of people worldwide, new users can start collaborating with BambooPM right away, and without extensive or costly training.

What about administering users in BambooPM?

Built-in self-service user management puts user administration completely in your control. There is no need to contact an external administrator or support desk in order to add project team members. You can perform user administration tasks fast, based on your organization's needs, with a simple administration tab in your SaaS project management area.

How much will all this cost?

At $ 29.99 per user, BambooPM is incredibly affordable, providing hosted project management built upon Microsoft SharePoint, including setup, automatic configuration and support. Better still, because this is a SaaS solution, you'll have no additional costs for administration or managing your SharePoint project management environment.

What are the differences between BambooPM and Bamboo's PM Central?

BambooPM is based upon Bamboo's PM Central, and was designed to represent the same functionality developed for a different environment. Our online applications such as BambooPM were developed and configured specifically for organizations that have not deployed SharePoint on-premises, but who want the power of true collaboration through SharePoint without having to administer and manage servers in-house. Once established, your online account with Bamboo will also allow you to self-provision other online applications such as BambooRM, a SharePoint application that allows you to collaboratively define and manage project or product requirements.

If you already have SharePoint in-house and want to add the power of collaborative project management to your on-premises environment, Bamboo's PM Central software provides the same project management functionality, and can be installed directly in your existing on-premise SharePoint environment.

  * Can be achieved by extending your URL and adding forms-based authentication using HTTPS and SSL

**      SharePoint security for active directory users only

Can I move my data from BambooPM to PM Central on-premises?

At present, there is no automated migration tool for this process. However, data from BambooPM can be exported, and that data may then be used with Bamboo's List Bulk Import tool to be read into Bamboo's PM Central.

What about new versions of PM Central on-premises and BambooPM?

The SaaS environment in which BambooPM operates demands less frequent updates than might be the case in order to support up-time requirements. As a result, updates may be less frequent than with PM Central or other individual Bamboo software components. However, these updates/upgrades will be added over time as they are fit into the SaaS model.

Can I trial PM Central from BambooPM?

You can trial the SaaS version of PM Central. There is a difference in some of the features offered in the SaaS version due to security requirements, and a standardized look and feel in a SaaS environment. To trial Bamboo PM Central go to http://store.bamboosolutions.com/sharepoint-project-management-pmcentral.aspx

Who can I contact with questions about product functionality and sales?

Please email your questions to our team at: onlineapplications@bamboosolutions.com.