Rational Project Conductor
IBM Rational Project Conductor is a project and resource management solution for the Software and Systems Delivery (SSD) platform.
Overview
Rational Project Conductor is built on the Jazz technology platform. Jazz is a scalable, extensible team-collaboration platform that integrates tasks across the software lifecycle.
Rational Project Conductor is built on client-server architecture. After the Rational Project Conductor Jazz Team Server is installed, from the supported Web browsers, users can complete the following tasks:
- Plan and schedule programs and projects.
- Manage human resources based on competencies, cost, skills, and proficiency.
- Create project risks and associated work items to track ProgresS.
- Create project budgets and calculate the forecast with the actual budget.
- Manage and record team work by entering and approving timesheets.
- Adapt to the project processes including agile and traditional project management.
Rational Project Conductor and the Jazz technology platform are developed on Jazz.net, where developers and users participate and communicate in discussion forums, newsgroups, and the development process. The Jazz.net community site includes articles, forums, wikis, blogs, current documentation, and other troubleshooting and support resources.
Project life cycle management
With Rational Project Conductor, users set the objective of a project and break it down to high and low level tasks with the work breakdown structure model. This model provides both macro-and micro-level view of the project. Depending on whether a project is effort-based or duration-based, the data that is entered for each task is rolled-up to the project and indicates the progress of the project.
The work breakdown structure is composed of work items and is created by the program or project manager. Developers can access and update the statuses of these work items directly from the Web client, Eclipse IDE client, or Visual Studio client of Rational Team Concert. Developers and the project manager can use this integration to communicate and collaborate.
Rational Project Conductor integrates several aspects of the project life cycle management, including requirements definition, project schedules, project financials, project risks, process definition, resource and profile management, and timesheet submission and approval.
Process customization and extensibility
Rational Project Conductor users can customize how the product works by using processes. A process is a collection of roles, practices, rules, and guidelines that organize and control the workflow for a project.
The project process is defined in a project area. All the work that team members do within the system happens within the context of a defined process. User roles and permission for completing operations are defined in the process.
Typically, a process is based on templates that can be modified to meet project and team requirements. Teams can begin with a simple process and evolve it as the project progresses.
Integrations
Rational Project Conductor can integrate with the following products:
IBM Rational Focal Point â Communicate information about business decisions made at the portfolio level to project managers.
IBM Rational Team Concert â Integrate the development life cycle with the project management life cycle:
- In Rational Project Conductor, create programs and projects that have equivalent project areas in the Jazz Foundation. Modify the project areas in Rational Team Concert.
- Create the development life cycle process template, attach it to a project area in Rational Team Concert, and use that process template in Rational Project Conductor.
- In both products, create and modify work items.
IBM Rational ClearQuest - Import records created in Rational ClearQuest into Rational Project Conductor by using ClearQuest Connector and ClearQuest Bridge.
IBM Rational Insight - View, create, and customize Rational Project Conductor reports in Rational Insight. Rational Insight includes a few ready-to-use Rational Project Conductor reports.
Microsoft Project - Import and export projects to and from both products. The assignments and tasks are automatically mapped.
IBM Rational Project Conductor version
- v1.0: Released November 2009