ConceptDraw Office 1.1 Project Management Suite

Reviewed by Robert Pritchett

CS Odessa, LLC

1798 Technology Drive, Suite 244 

San Jose, CA 95110-1399 USA

1 (877) 441-1150

1 (408) 441-1150

Fax:1 (408) 441-1138

CS Odessa, Ltd. 

29 Frantsuzskiy Blvd. 

Odessa, 65044 Ukraine

Fax: +38 (048) 728-6661

info@conceptdraw.com

Released: Nov 11, 2008 Update. Original release – June 17, 2008.

$500 USD

Try before you buy

Comes With: CD and hard-copy manual.

Requirements: Mac systems - Mac OS X 10.4.10 or later, G4 or later, 1GB RAM, 650 MB hard drive space, DVD-ROM.

Windows systems – XP/Vista and similar hardware requirements.

FAQs

Training

Strengths: Brings three great technologies together into one toolbelt.

Weaknesses: I'm still looking for the "bring it all together" app. They claim they use InGyre technology to copy/paste between apps. It's not seamless yet.

Previous Reviews:

February 2008 - Odessa Tools

September 2007 Project 3

Reviews and if you look closely, they have reviews back to 2005 from us, however, we retired the link, so it is time we did this review.

Introduction

After 15 years, CS Odessa celebrates with the 1.1 release of ConceptDraw Office –

Company 15th Birthday.

The unique business software solution that combines business productivity methods and data visualization with project management technologies.

ConceptDraw Office covers all aspects of managing business processes, including creative work, team management, project planning, information management, tracking and reporting.

A mind mapping and brainstorming tool for use in creative work environments with daily workflows.

The professional business graphics tools to enable the creation of effective visualization of information and processes with professional and impressive presentation.

The project management software designed to enable you to efficiently plan and implement a number of projects simultaneously.

What I Learned

Screenshot Tour

They seem to have taken the Mac OS X Core Animation function to heart with the screenshot tour.

As you can see from our Other Reviews listed above, we've been here before –

How it works

Training pack (zip file)

So What's New?

Version 1.1 includes the following;

Flexible Export to Power Point from ConceptDraw MINDMAP - With extended export options, you can now export your mind map as an Outline or as a Map/Slide Show to design professional PowerPoint presentations.

New Ribbon Interface library in ConceptDraw PRO  - Allows specialists to design "Ribbon-style" user interface for software applications.

What's Missing?

Real integration on the order of Adobe Creative Suite bridging software. They claim to be using InGyre technology - http://prmac.com/release-id-2014.htm, but I guess I'm looking for real integration instead of a copy/paste function. There are three apps bundled together in one package. There is no "overall screen" these work under, as far as I can tell. Perhaps that will be made available in the next release. We've been watching this mature over the last 15 years. CS Odessa has made some fantastic progress recently.

The reason why the hard-copy manual is twice as large as the electronic version, is because it is printed twice, repeating chapters all over again on page 219. Oops!

Conclusion

When involved with Project Management, there is a lot of teambuilding and development going on, no matter the size of the project. CS Odessa has brought together 3 legs of the Project Management stool and made it function cross-platform. This does a great job competing with Microsoft Project and Visio (which by the way, still has not been made available to the Mac and makes this app all the more valuable).