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Virtual Project Workspace Environment

Take Advantage of a Virtual Project Workspace Environment from Hydra Management

VKP now one of UK 's most active workspaces

Today the University of Leeds' VKP software application is one of the UK's most active online virtual workspace environments; supporting in excess of 2000 users, 267 discreet projects within 16 virtual buildings, 365 organisations and over 1,000 external users.

VKP is an online software application that uses collaborative tools to bring partner organisations closer together and to enable cross-organisational teams to share resources. VKP facilitates the re-use of knowledge and the dissemination of information to targeted audiences. It has been used to support activities including co-authoring research bids and policy documents.

The VKP is available as a hosted solution from the University of Leeds, it is quick and easy to implement and offers a complete range of collaborative tools including document management, version control, discussion groups and video conferencing.

Heath Gray, former Director of Marketing - Hydra Management, said: “ The VKP allows customers to make the most of their knowledge assets and to work ever more effectively with their partners. Customers can create a fully searchable document store where if desired, read-only access to documents is available to any member of the public; a folder structure shared across clients with defined access permissions and version control; an expertise matcher that allows VKP users to collect and search for expertise across all the initiative's partners and; the use of secure discussion boards where topics can be discussed in confidence by a selected group. Additional VKP benefits include improved sharing of information through automatic e-mail notification when documents are updated and the development of new knowledge resources and content.”

PMG acquires the underlying technology to VKP

The underlying technology to VKP was purchased by Hydra Management in 2003, through the acquisition of Symularity, and powers its knowledge and collaboration software application, Hydra Collaborator. Hydra Collaborator is an integrated component of Hydra Management's suite of program and project portfolio management software applications.

Gray comments: "The achievement of the University of Leeds ' VKP clearly demonstrates the success of the underlying technology. It is proven in a range of commercial sectors as well as clients in higher education and government, for example the Leeds Initiative, National Cancer Research and Keyworth Institute."

"We took the decision to acquire and embed this technology into Hydra to greatly enhance our capabilities to support all three key areas of collaborative working - team formation, intra- and extra- organisation collaboration support and knowledge management - in a single user-friendly and intuitive application. I believe the combination of Symularity's web-based technology and Hydra Management's wealth of experience in Program Management enables us to gain first advantage in a move to project and program collaborative working.”

“The acquisition of Symularity represented an important step in the development of Hydra Management. Our research told us that organisations were beginning to look for a single application that included Benefits, Project, Program, and Resource management, as well as Collaboration and Document Management - especially those that are geographically dispersed or have multiple external relationships in projects.”

“It's true there are many software tools out there that enable web-based team working by providing an environment that supports the access and sharing of information and limited communication facilities. And it's true other software tools enable the indexing and retrieval of electronic information. But to ensure a true collaborative working process, organisations either need to deploy a number of separate software applications, or further extend and 'bend' their existing toolset.”

“In today's competitive arena, the appropriate selection of team members, tight management of projects, archiving of outcomes and interaction with people outside the core organisation are becoming critical for success. Fully integrated with Hydra, Symularity's web-based collaborative working software offers a totally customised solution. The platform enables better team formation, collaboration and knowledge management across multiple locations, within the organisation and with third parties. Customers simply select software components such as expertise matcher, organisational memory, conferencing, email, discussion groups and document management.”

“Industry Analysts, The Butler Group, believe this technology will help organisations to: reduce operational costs through faster team creation and lower meeting expenses; more effective project management by the use of common calendars, event-based notification and Q & As; improve customer/partner retention by integrating them into the process of the organisation and creating higher 'switching' costs; and improve employee retention by providing a flexible working environment that encourages the formation of interest groups and helps to create a more collaborative culture.” said Gray.

Purchasing a VKP

The VKP software can be purchased directly from the developers, PMG, offering you a dedicated collaboration and knowledge management environment. The suite of facilities offered within your own VKP could include: an industry leading program and portfolio management solution; an expertise matcher to capture, access and share knowledge within your organisation; publicly available directories describing activity within the VKP; project workspaces, incorporating document management, discussions, team expertise, contact book and a comprehensive collaboration suite; personal workspaces, providing access to personal documents and discussions, profile management, a personal calendar and email and; contact relationship management software. Additionally, a dedicated VKP could be enhanced with bespoke development specific to the requirements of the organisation. The VKP has been designed to enable independent VKPs, by agreement, to share information and services.

Background to VKP

The VKP was born from a pioneering collaboration in research and development at the University of Leeds that involved expertise from Computer Science, Information Science and Social Science. Funded by OST, the EU, industry and the region, as well as the University of Leeds, prototype versions of the VKP, then known as the Virtual Science Park (VSP), were built and operated during the late 1990s. The VSP attracted a wide range of tenants from industry and public agencies. Commercial re-engineering of the software was made possible when venture capital investment was secured from The Forward Group.

Further development work has been made possible through a Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) funded Good Management Practice Project, which was originally known as KiMERA.

The purpose of this HEFCE funded project was to develop good practice in knowledge management to support enterprise and reach-out activities from the University of Leeds . As part of developing an infrastructure to support these activities a software platform was developed in partnership with software supplier Symularity (now owned by Hydra Management ). It was based on the analysis of user requirements for software and processes to support knowledge management, knowledge transfer and the creation of reach-out communities. The University of Leeds was awarded further funding from HEFCE to develop the concept of the Virtual Knowledge Park and to extend its use throughout the Higher Education sector; thus disseminating best practice and allowing other Higher Education Institutions to realise the benefits of enhanced collaborative working.

Corporate Profile

The Hydra Management Ltd. is a software company that exclusively focuses its resources on developing, selling and supporting Project Portfolio Management and Collaborative Management solutions through its consultancy and software divisions. The solution, Hydra, is designed specifically to address today's complex web of business issues: managing people, knowledge, projects, programs and performance, across locations, in unity. Hydra is suitable for companies of all sizes, from complex mid-sized organisations to large multinational organisations. Hydra Management supports over 50,000 users with customers including, Fortis Bank, Panasonic, Barclays Bank, Barco, Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, Chelsea Building Society, The Skipton Building Society, Experian and many more. For more information, visit www.hydra-management.com.