Milestone Generation Techniques

• US 20100185474A1
• Filed: 01/21/2009
• Published: 07/22/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 01/21/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Frank, Kevin
• Granted Patent: US 8,219,435 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/7
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063114 Status monitoring or status determination for a person or group

Abstract

Various technologies and techniques are disclosed for generating project milestones. A method for programmatically determining a status of a particular task is described. Project management data for a particular task is retrieved from a data store. Milestone indicators are retrieved from a key word data store. An analysis is performed of the project-related files to determine an actual status of the particular task, using the milestone indicators and project management data as part of the analysis. When the analysis reveals that the project-related files reflect a different status for the project than the project management data reflects, one or more notifications are raised.

Claims

1. A method for programmatically determining a status of a particular task comprising the steps of:

retrieving project management data for a particular task from a data store;

retrieving a plurality of milestone indicators from a key word data store; and

performing an analysis of the project-related files to determine an actual status of the particular task, using the milestone indicators and project management data as part of the analysis.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the analysis step includes analyzing the project-related files to determine if any of the milestone indicators are contained in the project-related files.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

when the analyzing step determines that the particular task is not being worked on at all, raising a warning to notify one or more users.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

when the analyzing step determines that the particular task is out of scope in comparison to the project management data, raising a warning to notify one or more users.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

when the analyzing step determines that the particular task is actually completed, designating the particular task as completed.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the project management data includes a task name.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the project management data includes a completion deadline.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the retrieving the project management data, the retrieving the plurality of milestone indicators, and performing the analysis steps are repeated for a plurality of tasks.

9. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for causing a computer to perform steps comprising:

analyzing project management data for a project along with a plurality of folders containing project-related files for the project, using key word data with milestone indicators to assist in determining a status of the project; and

when the analyzing step reveals that the project-related files reflect a different status for the project than the project management data reflects, raising one or more notifications.

10. The computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the key word data is stored in a database.

11. The computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the key word data is stored in a text file.

12. The computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the notifications are generated automatically.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the notifications are generated in a report upon request from a user.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the project management data includes details about one or more tasks being monitored.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the project management data includes deadlines about the one or more tasks being monitored.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the folders are located on a single computer.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the folders are located across multiple computers that are connected together over a network.

18. A method for programmatically determining a completion status of a particular task comprising the steps of:

retrieving project management data for a particular task from a data store, the project management data including a task name and a completion status;

retrieving a plurality of milestone indicators from a key word data store, with at least one of the milestone indicators including one or more key words that represent a completed status of the particular task; and

performing an analysis of the project-related files to look for the key words that represent the completed status of the particular task, and when the key words are found in the project-related files, designating the particular task as completed.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the particular task is designated as completed by updating the completion status of the project management data.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the particular task is designated as completed by notifying one or more users that the particular task has been completed.