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| New IT project planning service SCOPE iT Inc., a provider of IT project planning software services, today announced the latest version of its flagship product, SCOPE iT v.5. SCOPE iT is a web-based software service that helps CIOs and CFOs develop more accurate IT project plans, including cost estimates, resource requirements and time schedules. According to the 2004 Standish Group Chaos Report, $55 million annually is wasted on failed IT projects, which represents 22 percent of an average organization's IT project budget. SCOPE iT is designed to reduce that number and can help double an organization's project success rate, saving up to 10 percent or more of its IT project budget, while improving compliance with governance initiatives and frameworks such as Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX), ITIL, CMMI, COBIT and Six Sigma. This latest version of SCOPE iT -- v.5 -- provides important up-front project planning capabilities -- including estimating, forecasting, resourcing, scoping and scheduling -- that complement project management and PPM applications. SCOPE iT v.5 includes a number of new features tailored toward large enterprise organizations, including support for project portfolios, user definable cost categories and enhanced management, organization and customization capabilities. "Improving project success rates can have an impact on an organization's bottom line, " said Matthew Hotle, vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner Research. "As companies look to increase their percentage of on-time, on-budget IT projects, accurate scoping, estimation and planning can result in considerable improvements." SCOPE iT is being used today by more than 100 users in a variety of organizations, ranging from mid-size companies and local government agencies through large Fortune 500 class organizations. Current customers include notable private and public organizations such as Wells Fargo, Bechtel, Honeywell, CalPERS and the Ohio State Department of Taxation. "SCOPE iT addresses our need for a comprehensive, yet easy-to-use IT project planning solution, " said John Painter, director of the Project Management Office at Vegas.com, a reseller of Las Vegas facilities and attractions, including hotel rooms, shows and events. "SCOPE iT enables us to save time, save money and improve our IT success rate." Key features of SCOPE iT include its activity-based methodology, central best-practices knowledgebase and ready-to-use, customizable templates that enable support for any type of IT project. SCOPE iT also establishes a standardized, repeatable planning and estimation process that can be quickly and easily deployed throughout an organization. "While CIOs are always interested in extending their IT dollars, we have found that CFOs have become increasingly interested in SCOPE iT as well, " said Henk Keukenkamp, SCOPE iT founder and CEO. "This latest version of SCOPE iT will provide a huge boost to organizations looking to improve their project success rates and maximize their return on IT spending. More accurate up-front project planning can help a company realize tangible cost-savings, while improving its conformance with governance initiatives and frameworks such as SOX, ITIL, COBIT, CMMI and Six Sigma." Three versions of SCOPE iT are available: 1) SCOPE iT Planner, which allows multiple users to collaboratively develop plans and estimates across a variety of IT project types and stages; 2) SCOPE iT Planner Pro, a premium version of Planner which contains advanced account management features; and 3) SCOPE iT Open Planner, a free, single-user version of Planner which enables comprehensive ballpark plans and estimates. SCOPE iT Planner and Planner Pro are available under an annual subscription model. Prices vary depending on the number of users and mix of product versions. A SCOPE iT Planner annual subscription starts at $2, 950 per user. For a typical enterprise class deployment, the cost is under $200 dollars per user per month. SCOPE iT Open Planner is available at no charge via SCOPE iT's website athttp://www.scopeit.com. write your comments about the article :: © 2006 Networking News :: home page |