Free Project Management Software

Although this blog is concerned with free project management solutions, there are, of course, times when a suitable freeware solution simply does not exist. Since another focus for this blog is agile tooling, I wanted to share an RFP I recently encountered. Designed for organizations assessing commercial agile tools, the RFP was put together by Danube Technologies, which publishes the Scrum-oriented management tool ScrumWorks Pro. If you find yourself in the position of comparing potential tools for your organization, then it’ll be a tremendous asset for you. If you’re just looking for a free tool, this RFP is still helpful in that it’s a great resource for issues to consider, from how well the tool jives with your chosen management method to how secure your data will be.

For the next week, I’ll post a chunk of criteria for you to take a look at. But be sure to check back later this week, when I’ll post a downloadable Excel document of the entire RFP for you to use at your organization.

For the first installment, here are the sections on Platform and Deployment, Licensing and Cost, and Product Evaluation.

Platform and Deployment

• For security purposes, is your tool provided as an on-premise install?
• What operating systems do you support on the server-side?
• What operating systems do you support on the client-side?
• Please list any prerequisite software packages your tool relies on.
• For an on-premise deployment, what server-side software prerequisites are needed to run your tool?
• What database platforms do you support?

Licensing and Cost

• Please describe the licensing models you offer (subscription, perpetual, concurrent/floating).
• Are the license fees different for an on-premise vs. hosted deployment?
• What are the licensing fees?
• What volume licensing discounts are available?
• If you offer a perpetual license model, describe your support/maintenance contracts.
• Do you charge extra for certain components, modules or add-ons? Please detail any fees for add-ons.
• Please break down the total cost of ownership (including support contracts, if applicable) at year one, three, and five.

Product Evaluation

• Is a time-limited free trial of your product available? Are there limits on the number of users I can trial with?
• Can I try your tool with my data or do I need to use sample data you provide?
• For security reasons, is your trial available as an on-premise install?
• In addition to your commercial tool, is there a freeware edition of your tool? Is the freeware edition limited in some way (e.g., number of users, projects, teams, etc.)?
• Can data from a freeware or trial edition be preserved and transferred to a commercial upgrade of the tool if we decide to buy it?