January 2008 - Handshake-Principle leads to success – ProSTEP iViP Recommendation on Collaborative Project Management
January 2008 - Darmstadt – With the data exchange model (PSI 1-2) the second and last part of the ProSTEP iViP Recommendation on Collaborative Project Management (CPM) is now available. This model complements the reference model (PSI 1-1) released at the beginning of 2007. With the CPM Recommendation series there exists for the first time throughout the world a broad standard for the support of cross-company project work. First experiences deploying the CPM method are promising. Dag Plischke, coordinator of the ProSTEP iViP CPM project group, underlines: „Users of our method value particularly an increased level of commitment to agreements, a better-quality cooperation and higher planning liability. In conclusion, projects can be conducted much more effectively with the CPM methodology“.
Of particular importance is the handshake-principle: any important agreement is only considered as binding if both parties explicitly agreed to it. In addition the existing chain of interactions between the project partners is organized in such a way that it ensures a balance between the needs for security and information of the different partners. „This point raised a lot of scepticism and long discussions were necessary“, Klaus Kubitza of BMW remembers. „Because on the one hand the intended processes were meant to provide effective cooperation, and on the other hand they were supposed to protect core competencies from being revealed“. Dr. Thomas Naumann (Daimler AG) adds: „The formal approach of the Recommendation is very interaction-driven and proofs to be very efficient through its well-regulated planning“.
About two dozen companies and institutions – among them automobile manufacturers und suppliers, system providers, corporate consultants and research institutes – worked for three years on the present Recommendations for cooperation in cross company project structures. Particular focus was put on substantiating the CPM methodology through appropriate pilot simulations. Four demonstrators based on the systems RPlan (Actano), cProjects/cFolders (SAP), MS-Project/SharePoint (Microsoft/Campana & Schott) and Project Link (PTC) were developed for this purpose in order to verify the practicability of the Recommendations.
The ProSTEP iViP CPM Recommendations PSI 1-1 (Reference Model) and PSI 1-2 (Data Exchange Model) – illustrating the steps necessary for converting the reference model into software systems – are available for download free of charge on the website of the ProSTEP iViP Association at: www.prostep.org.
