Distributed Java applets for project management on the Web

The rapid evolution of our data communications infrastructure is making distributed projects increasingly viable. Without a common infrastructure, computer-supported collaborative tools for distributed teams have been prohibitively expensive to build and maintain. However, the increasing availability of the Internet is enabling companies to develop cost-effective collaborative solutions. Traditional desktop project management software is designed as a single-user tool that lets the project manager track tasks, milestones and deliverables. As teams spread over geographic distances with multiple centers of control, the communication, coordination, and tracking of ongoing project activity become key issues for project success. This article looks beyond the traditional planning focus of project management applications to a network-centric focus on collaboration. It describes the implementation of ActionPlan, a 100 percent Java-based application from Netmosphere that supports real-time collaboration among Java thin clients to facilitate distributed project management.