LiquidPlanner

Infobox Company
company_name = LiquidPlanner, Inc.
company_
company_type = Privately-held
foundation = 2006
location = flagicon|USA Bellevue, WA
industry = Software
products = Project management software
company_slogan = Trust your schedule. Stay connected. Get it done.
homepage = [http://liquidplanner.com]

LiquidPlanner, Inc. is a project management software company based in Washington. The firm was founded in 2006 and launched their first release to a public beta in 2008.

LiquidPlanner is a platform-independent, web-based project management system which uses ranged estimates (e.g. 3-5 days) to express the uncertainty in the estimate for performing a given task. [cite web
url=http://searchsoftwarequality.techtarget.com/news/article/0,289142,sid92_gci1299733,00.html
date=February 21, 2008
title=Software project management tool clarifies project uncertainty
work=SearchSoftwareQuality.com
accessdate=2008-02-27]

History

LiquidPlanner was founded by Charles Seybold and Jason Carlson, both former senior managers of Expedia. The company employs alumni of Microsoft, Expedia, and Intel. [cite web
url=http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,141949-c,sites/article.html
date=January 28, 2008
title=DEMO: Presenters Bet on Predictive Capabilities
author=Ephraim Schwartz
work=PCWorld
accessdate=2008-02-27] LiquidPlanner launched a public beta at the [http://www.demo.com DEMO 08 conference] .cite web
url=http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Messaging-and-Collaboration/Project-Management-Startup-Could-Fit-The-Bill-For-Google/
date=February 3, 2008
title=Project Management Startup Could Be a Fit for Google
author=Clint Boulton
work=eWeek
accessdate=2008-02-27]

Software

Built using Ruby on Rails, LiquidPlanner claims to be the first SaaS-based project management solution to allow users to express uncertainty in their task estimates using ranges. It then uses a probabilistic scheduling engine that is claimed to build more accurate schedules. [cite web
url=http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/012808-liquidplanner-adds-probability-to-project.html
date=January 28, 2008
title=LiquidPlanner adds probability to project planning
author=Chris Kanaracus
work=NetworkWorld
accessdate=2008-02-27]

Several authors have noted that estimating in ranges (e.g. 3-4 days, 1-3 hours) is preferable to single point estimates (e.g. 1 hour, 2 days).cite web
url=http://outofthetriangle.wordpress.com/2007/09/12/accurate-estimates/
date=September 12, 2007
title=Accurate Estimates
author=David Daly
work=Outside of the Triangle
accessdate=2008-02-28] cite book
last=McConnell
first=Steve
authorlink=Steve McConnell
title=Software Estimation
publisher=Microsoft Press
location=Redmond, WA
date=2006
pages=6-9
doi=
isbn=978-0-7356-0535-0 ]
Steve McConnell states "simplistic single-point estimates are meaningless because they don't include any indication of the probability associated with the single-point." Project management and scheduling methodologies such as PERT generate best-case/worst-case ranges. However the preponderance of popular project management software does not readily accept ranges as inputs for estimates.

LiquidPlanner accepts ranges as estimates and infers a probability distribution from that range.cite web
url=http://outofthetriangle.wordpress.com/2008/02/20/pm-interviews-bruce-p-henry/
date=February 20, 2008
title=PM Interviews: Bruce P. Henry
author=David Daly
work=Outside of the Triangle
accessdate=2008-02-28] It then uses the distributions and the relationships between tasks and people to calculate a distribution for the project as a whole. By exposing the uncertainty in estimates the developers of LiquidPlanner claim that the uncertainty can then be managed.cite press release
title = LiquidPlanner Redefines Project Management
publisher = LiquidPlanner, Inc.
date = January 28, 2008
url = http://www.liquidplanner.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=89&Itemid=54
accessdate =2008-02-28] It then tracks the evolution of these estimates over time.cite web
url=http://webworkerdaily.com/2008/02/28/liquidplanner-sophisticated-online-project-management/
date=February 28, 2008
title=LiquidPlanner: Sophisticated Online Project Management
author=Mike Gunderloy
work=Web Worker Daily
accessdate=2008-02-28]

Some feel that while the service is fairly comprehensive, that comes at the cost of complexity and a busy interface. Though this is disputed by others.cite web
url=http://outofthetriangle.wordpress.com/2008/02/06/liquidplanner-a-revolution-in-managing-uncertainty/
date=February 6, 2008
title=LiquidPlanner: A Revolution in Managing Uncertainty?
author=David Daly
work=Outside of the Triangle
accessdate=2008-02-28] cite web
url=http://dondodge.typepad.com/the_next_big_thing/2008/01/liquid-planner.html
date=January 30, 2008
title=Liquid Planner and Huddle at DEMO
author=Don Dodge
work=The Next Big Thing
accessdate=2008-02-28]

Project managers create workspaces and invite users to participate in a way similar to LinkedIn or Facebook. The workspace can contain multiple projects and keeps a running narrative of tasks, comments, documents, and other project collateral.

References