A Scrum Planning Board is the newest addition to Axosoft’s project management software, OnTime 10, which was released this week. The update also includes a new plug-in for the TortoiseSVN open-source version control management software.
The Scrum Planning Board brings project management to OnTime by illustrating each task, requirement, defect and incident in the system on a card. As cards are moved by a simple drag-and-drop mechanism throughout the workflow stages, an automatic e-mail alert is sent to the project manager or appropriate team member informing them of the item’s status change. A star-based rating system is also included for developers to see how their customers have rated their features.
“The combination of things in the Planning Board is very unique to OnTime,” said Axosoft CEO Hamid Shojaee. And of competition from other Scrum Boards out there, “this ups the ante quite a bit,” Shojaee added.
Task assignments can also be automated and made to follow workflows that can be customized in OnTime, Shojaee said. “For example, you can define it so that when a ‘New Bug’ is reported, it is automatically assigned to ‘Joe Gray,’ the test engineer who ‘Verifies’ the bug,” he said. Subsequent tasks, such as closing or rejecting an item, can also be automated.
“What’s really great about the power of workflow in OnTime is that you can define the workflow,” Shojaee said. “Another popular rule might be that only project managers can ‘Reject’ items.”
Other features (for added team visibility) in OnTime include options to manually enter hours worked and completion percentage of a project, plus a color strip on the item’s card indicating priority, status and workflow step.
Additionally, OnTime Version 10 includes a new TortoiseSVN plug-in, which now enables developers to update files and make changes to their Tortoise Subversion-based code repository and link them directly to defects, tracking, and features within OnTime. Tortoise SVN is version-control software for Windows that provides an easy user interface for Subversion, and it includes all the features of Subversion.
Enhancements to e-mail, such as copied e-mail alerts, are also included with OnTime. More-flexible Work Log entry forms and new Security Role permission for the User Dashboard have also been included.
The product is offered in a hosted cloud environment or installed on premises. A one-user license is available for free and teams can try the product for 30 days.
