in-STEP BLUE is a project management software program developed and sold by microTOOL GmbH, based in Berlin, Germany. It is designed to assist

project manager A project manager is a professional in the field of project management. Project managers have the responsibility of the planning, procurement and execution of a project, in any undertaking that has a defined scope, defined start and a defined f ...

s in developing plans, assigning resources to tasks, tracking progress, managing budgets, requirements, changes and

risk In simple terms, risk is the possibility of something bad happening. Risk involves uncertainty about the effects/implications of an activity with respect to something that humans value (such as health, well-being, wealth, property or the environme ...

s as well as analyzing workloads. The tool automatically stores all project results in a central repository shared by all users. Individual

project management Project management is the process of leading the work of a team to achieve all project goals within the given constraints. This information is usually described in project documentation, created at the beginning of the development process. Th ...

methods can be supported as well as the agile method

Scrum Scrum may refer to: Sport * Scrum (rugby), a method of restarting play in rugby union and rugby league ** Scrum (rugby union), scrum in rugby union * Scrum, an offensive melee formation in Japanese game Bo-taoshi Media and popular culture * M ...

, official methods like the British PRINCE2, the German V-Model XT (Version 1.4), the Swiss HERMES method and methods for the

automotive industry The automotive industry comprises a wide range of company, companies and organizations involved in the design, Business development, development, manufacturing, marketing, and selling of motor vehicles. It is one of the world's largest industry ...

according to

ISO/IEC 15504 ISO/IEC 15504 ''Information technology – Process assessment'', also termed Software Process Improvement and Capability Determination (SPICE), is a set of technical standards documents for the computer software development process and related bus ...

, also known as SPICE. The software is available in English and German and has more than 34,000 registered users worldwide.

Features

In-Step BLUE supports process-based IT-project management with these features: ;

Project management Project management is the process of leading the work of a team to achieve all project goals within the given constraints. This information is usually described in project documentation, created at the beginning of the development process. Th ...

project portfolio management Project portfolio management (PPM) is the centralized management of the processes, methods, and technologies used by project managers and project management offices (PMOs) to analyze and collectively manage current or proposed projects based on num ...

and

resource management In organizational studies, resource management is the efficient and effective development of an organization's resources when they are needed. Such resources may include the financial resources, inventory, human skills, production resources, or i ...

: :The tool supports project planning and

task management Task management is the process of managing a task through its life cycle. It involves planning, testing, tracking, and reporting. Task management can help either individual achieve goals, or groups of individuals collaborate and share knowledg ...

by structuring the specific project in phases, iterations,

milestone (project management) Milestones are tools used in project management to mark specific points along a project timeline. These points may signal anchors such as a project start and end date, or a need for external review or input and budget checks. Some contracts for pr ...

work package A work-breakdown structure (WBS) in project management and systems engineering is a deliverable-oriented breakdown of a project into smaller components. A work breakdown structure is a key project deliverable that organizes the team's work into ...

s and activities based on the process used. The

project plan A project plan, according to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK), is: "...a formal, approved document used to guide both ''project execution'' and ''project control''. The primary uses of the project plan are to document planning ass ...

gets continually updated. Editable product templates for project results are provided and versioned. Individual ToDo-lists are assigned to the team members. The progress of the project, time, cost and effort planning can be reported and monitored at all times as

time tracking A timesheet (or time sheet) is a method for recording the amount of a worker's time spent on each job. Traditionally a sheet of paper with the data arranged in tabular format, a timesheet is now often a digital document or spreadsheet. The time c ...

is integrated. The collaboration software can be accessed by all team members via

LAN Lan or LAN may also refer to: Science and technology * Local asymptotic normality, a fundamental property of regular models in statistics * Longitude of the ascending node, one of the orbital elements used to specify the orbit of an object in sp ...

internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

. In case an organization wants to collectively manage several projects running at the same time, the tool supports cross-project views, reports and evaluations. Available resources of an organization can hence be allocated to several projects. ; Requirements management and

change management Change management (sometimes abbreviated as CM) is a collective term for all approaches to prepare, support, and help individuals, teams, and organizations in making organizational change. It includes methods that redirect or redefine the use of ...

: :All

project stakeholder Project stakeholders are persons or entities who have an interest in a given project. According to the Project Management Institute (PMI), the term ''project stakeholder'' refers to "an individual, group, or organization, who may affect, be affect ...

s‘ requirements and changes are documented by use of forms, analyzed and prioritized with the tool. Converted into tasks they are visible in the project plan. in-STEP BLUE provides graphic requirements modeling with the UML and standardized documentation. Automatic document versioning guarantees

requirements traceability Requirements traceability is a sub-discipline of requirements management within software development and systems engineering. Traceability as a general term is defined by the IEEE Systems and Software Engineering Vocabulary as (1) the degree to whic ...

from documentation to

test case In software engineering, a test case is a specification of the inputs, execution conditions, testing procedure, and expected results that define a single test to be executed to achieve a particular software testing objective, such as to exercise ...

s to implementation. ;

Configuration management Configuration management (CM) is a process for establishing and maintaining consistency of a product's performance, functional, and physical attributes with its requirements, design, and operational information throughout its life. The CM proc ...

and document management: :All activities and project results are versioned and automatically stored in a central product library. To alter a document it has to be checked out and in again. All changes to a configuration item can be seen in the revision history. Baselines can be used to mark significant states within a series of several changes. ; Risk management: :Identified potential risks can be recorded with the tool. Filter functions support the assessment of risks. When the risks are assessed, counter measures can be planned and integrated in the project plan. ;

Quality management Quality management ensures that an organization, product or service consistently functions well. It has four main components: quality planning, quality assurance, quality control and quality improvement. Quality management is focused not only ...

: Requirements can be linked with test cases and release processes. The tool supports the planning, scheduling and controlling of

quality assurance Quality assurance (QA) is the term used in both manufacturing and service industries to describe the systematic efforts taken to ensure that the product(s) delivered to customer(s) meet with the contractual and other agreed upon performance, design ...

measures. It tracks all documents relevant to an evaluation and offers automated

workflow A workflow consists of an orchestrated and repeatable pattern of activity, enabled by the systematic organization of resources into processes that transform materials, provide services, or process information. It can be depicted as a sequence of ...

s for reviews and QA-cycles. Individual evaluations of tests and test cases can be implemented. ;

Process management Process management may refer to: * Business process management ** Business Process Management Journal ** Dynamic business process management ** International Conference on Business Process Management ** Social business process management * Manag ...

:In organizations running several projects process standards can be established. The tool enables the user to tailor the process to best fit a project’s specific needs. Process standards can be deduced and further improvements gained from successful projects. Process maturity can thus be improved according to

CMMI Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) is a process level improvement training and appraisal program. Administered by the CMMI Institute, a subsidiary of ISACA, it was developed at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). It is required by many U ...

. ;Integration with

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...

programs :in-STEP BLUE is integrated with

Microsoft Office Microsoft Office, or simply Office, is the former name of a family of client software, server software, and services developed by Microsoft. It was first announced by Bill Gates on August 1, 1988, at COMDEX in Las Vegas. Initially a marketin ...

Word A word is a basic element of language that carries an semantics, objective or pragmatics, practical semantics, meaning, can be used on its own, and is uninterruptible. Despite the fact that language speakers often have an intuitive grasp of w ...

and

Excel ExCeL London (an abbreviation for Exhibition Centre London) is an exhibition centre, international convention centre and former hospital in the Custom House area of Newham, East London. It is situated on a site on the northern quay of the ...

for corporate documentation. Since version 4.8 it offers features for integration with

Microsoft Visual Studio Visual Studio is an integrated development environment (IDE) from Microsoft. It is used to develop computer programs including websites, web apps, web services and mobile apps. Visual Studio uses Microsoft software development platforms such a ...

2010 and

Microsoft SharePoint SharePoint is a web-based Collaborative software, collaborative platform that integrates natively with Microsoft Office. Launched in 2001, SharePoint is primarily sold as a document management and storage system, but the product is highly confi ...

History

Version 1.0 of the process and

configuration management Configuration management (CM) is a process for establishing and maintaining consistency of a product's performance, functional, and physical attributes with its requirements, design, and operational information throughout its life. The CM proc ...

software in-Step was launched in 1997. Since many companies introduced

process-based management Process-based management is a management approach that views a business as a collection of processes, managed to achieve a desired result."''Process-based Management''" Barron's Business Guides: Dictionary of Accounting Terms, Jae K. Shim et al., B ...

according to the

Capability Maturity Model The Capability Maturity Model (CMM) is a development model created in 1986 after a study of data collected from organizations that contracted with the U.S. Department of Defense, who funded the research. The term "maturity" relates to the degree of ...

(CMM) to improve their software development, the tool was designed to assist project teams in complying with process-based project management. Especially users of the standard for German federal administration and defense, the V-Modell 97, took up the software. In 2002 in-Step integrated core tasks like project, requirements and configuration management resulting in a multi-user-tool. Version 3.0 was released in 2004 and offered new editions for requirements-oriented development, for agile projects according to Extreme Programming and for projects according to PRINCE2. When the new standard for the German federal administration V-Modell XT came out in 2005, a V-Modell XT Edition was launched with features for tailoring the process, project planning and

. In 2008 in-Step

Edition and in-Step SPICE Edition for Automotive were completed. In 2010 in-Step

HERMES Hermes (; grc-gre, Ἑρμῆς) is an Olympian deity in ancient Greek religion and mythology. Hermes is considered the herald of the gods. He is also considered the protector of human heralds, travellers, thieves, merchants, and orato ...

Edition for the Swiss project management method was launched. In 2014 in-Step got a new name: in-STEP BLUE as another tool with features for requirements engineering was launched: in-STEP RED.

Articles (in German only)

* Martina Hafner: ''Projektmanagement-Software. Terminliche Abhängigkeiten im Projekt sichtbarer machen''. www.elektronikpraxis.vogel.de. 14. April 2009. * Hendrik Härter: ''Projektmanagement-Tool. Komponente für Anforderungsmanagement mit UML und BPMN''. www.elektronikpraxis.vogel.de. 26. Oktober 2007. * Stefan Ueberhorst: ''Microtool flexibilisiert das Projekt-Management''. www.computerwoche.de. 27. März 2007. * Mey Mark Meyer: ''PM-Software: in-Step. IT-Projektmanagement mit Vorgehensmodelle''n. In: GPM-Magazin PMaktuell. 2/2006, S. 50–52. * Stefan Ueberhorst: ''in-Step erleichtert Arbeit mit dem V-Modell''. www.computerwoche.de. 6. August 2004.

External links

*{{Official website, http://www.microtool.de/en/in-step-blue-project-management-software/
microTOOL Blog
Project management software

Features

History

Articles (in German only)

See also

External links