Open Workbench

There are sometimes at work when we have to develop and undertake projects that take very long. They might be somewhat simple, and just require a lot of working, such as creating and implementing a filing system, or they might be incredibly complex and require tons of planning and resource management, such as opening a branch for the company.

And there are times where we have personal projects that also need long term plans. For example, when writing a thesis or when we plan a wedding, or when we build a house.

In those cases, the planning and implementation requires a lot of items, such as a schedule, a resource managing program, a budget, a contingency plan.

Fortunately, there is software available that can help us plan everything and have all of these factors in a condensed way that’s easy to understand and manage. The one that comes or is usually sold with most PCs is Microsoft Project.

However, not being a fan of Microsoft myself, I looked for an option, and I fond Open Workbench. Personally, I found it so much better.

Open Workbench is a project management software that allows you to plan all your projects in a very easy way. It was developed by Applied Business Corporation in 1984. In 2000, Nikku Corporation purchased Applied Business Corporation along with Open Workbench. And in 2005, CA Corporation purchased Nikku Corporation and is the current owner of Open Workbench.

One of the main advantages of Open Workbench is that it still continues to be a piece of free software, despite all the acquisitions its owners have been through. Of course, it also works greatly. Otherwise, it would have fallen out of favor long ago even if it’s free.

There are a few differences between Open Workbench and Microsoft Project, but the main one is that Open Workbench will generate the duration of the tasks based on the available resources, whereas Microsoft Project will estimate the resources needed based on the desired duration of the tasks. To me, that’s a big advantage, since I prefer to work with the resources I have, rather than with the resources I’d like or need to have. Because of this, I feel that Open Workbench gives me a much fairer estimate of the duration of a project than Microsoft Project. Also, I think Open Workbench gives a much realistic critical path with I can use to shorten the total duration of the project.

I really recommend Open Workbench instead of Microsoft Project. It has been very useful for both work and personal projects. And it’s free, so if you don’t like it, you lose nothing.