(BW)(MARIN RESEARCH INC.)
Project Observatory 2 Provides a One-Stop Solution for the Project Management Office(PMO).

Computer Editors

Larkspur, CA. October 24, 2000 -- Marin Research, Inc. today announced the availability of Version 2 of its Project Observatory(Tm) system for Program and Project Management Office (PMO) organizations. "Project Briefings(Tm)" and extensive resource management tools highlight the new release.

"Our goal is to provide a one-stop information facility for the Project Office team and its management community.", according to Gary M. Cole, President and CEO of Marin Research, Inc., "To do this we provide an integrated facility to collect, organize and present both project and resource information. This facility also integrates with our Project Gateway(Tm) Repository systems, with Microsoft Project(R), and legacy databases."

Version 2 adds over a hundred new features and options to an already powerful product set. Two principal areas of enhancement are in the resource management and Briefing facilities.

Resource & Skill Management
Version 2 tracks availability, skills, professional interests, locations, current commitments, reservations, status reports and historical trends for individuals and groups.

"Being able to find the right resources for each job is a critical success factor which has become increasingly difficult as more and more specialties emerge.", Mr. Cole states, "Project Observatory combines skills, availability, and geographic factors to identify the best candidates for each assignment and provides a reservations workflow which allows candidates to be pre-allocated for upcoming projects."

Project Briefings tell the whole story
Version 2 introduces "Project Briefings", a new technique for communicating project information to an executive audience. A briefing is a computer generated walk through generated on request for a project, program and or organization. It is delivered as a visual "slide show" to explain the current situation of selected project or team in a step by step manner which managers can rapidly assimilate.

"Project management information is multi-dimensional.", Cole continues, "A briefing explains a project as a story, moving from performance, to status, to trends, to resource requirements in a logical fashion. Where problems exist, they are highlighted and explained in depth so that the user can grasp the situation."

Additional Features
Project Observatory Version 2 include a variety of new visualization methods including computer generated animations, an extensive new document management facility, automated metrics and archiving, and multi-currency support for global enterprises.

Pricing: A Project Observatory license costs $25,000 for systems supporting up to 250 projects. A 1000 project license is priced at $62,500. Evaluation software may be obtained upon request. The product is available worldwide through Marin Research's network of distributors.

Training: Training is available from both Marin Research, Inc. and Praxis Management International.

Hosting: Project Observatory systems are available in ASP and Hosted environments from Connectria, Inc. (www.connectria.com) under a relationship announced earlier this year.

System Requirements: The Project Observatory system requires a Lotus Domino server (version 4.6 or above). Users require Web Browsers (Netscape 4.5 or later, Internet Explorer 5 or later). The system also supports Notes clients (versions 4.6 or later).

About Marin Research, Inc.

Marin Research, Inc. specializes in project management technology and services. Its products, Project Gateway(Tm) and Project Observatory(Tm), are installed in over 400 sites worldwide and are localized for distribution in Japan by Hitachi Systems and Services Inc.

More information about Marin Research Inc. and live access to the Project Observatory 2 System is available on the firm's world wide web site.
CONTACT: Gary M. Cole
MARIN RESEARCH, INC. (415)-461-9784
100 LARKSPUR LANDING CIRCLE,SUITE 114
LARKSPUR, CA 94939
www.marinres.com

A Technical White Paper describing the system is at Observatory White Paper (PDF 1.5mb)

INDUSTRY KEYWORD:PROJECT MANAGEMENT, PMO, RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
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