The Open Source Initiative implements first project management software system
Adopting open source for effective project management
The Open Source Initiative (OSI) has been a pillar of the open source community since 1998 as the steward of the Open Source Definition and maintainer of a robust list of open source licenses.
When the OSI team went about looking for the right choice for them, they based their search on a company with similar culture and business values.
OpenProject values open source software, transparency in code and intention, as well as kind and ethical business practices. In fact, OpenProject is an affiliate of the OSI.
Interview with the Open Source Initiative
I reached out to Nick Vidal, Community Manager, at the OSI to learn more about how they are using it.
How long have you and your team at Open Source Initiative (OSI) been using OpenProject? It hasn’t been very long, right?
Nick Vidal: Very recent, we began using OpenProject in August 2023.
What made you choose OpenProject out of all the options out there today like Notion, Monday.com, etc.?
Nick Vidal: Well, at the OSI, we strive to use open source software as well as other initiatives to strengthen and grow awareness for open source in the broader community.
I love that. We see many of our customers use OpenProject for that reason. It’s the best option on the market for an open source project management software solution. Did you use something else before?
Nick Vidal: We did not! We were starting with a blank slate, and we hired a new program manager recently, so it was a good time for us to make a selection and get started.
OpenProject is also a sponsor of OSI, so we reached out to the team and they were fantastic - they helped us onboard quickly and seamlessly.
Very good to hear. Onboarding can be daunting. So, what is your favorite feature so far?
Nick Vidal: It’s nice to have everything laid out where we have a good overview of what’s happening. And the ability to assign members to tasks and work packages is fantastic.
I start my day with a notification from OpenProject about what’s happening just for me each day. It’s refreshing and takes out a lot of the guesswork.
Also, we love the Gantt charts, calendar, deadlines, and timelines. This helps us prioritize tasks and work together to reach a goal on time.
For example, every year we run the open source board of elections process. This is a very important process because we have to make sure that everything is accounted for, set up correctly, and there are no biases. This year, the OSI decided to take a new approach to planning and preparing for the elections. Having a strong project management system in place to help us keep track of everything by a certain deadline is huge for us.
Is everyone on your team is using OpenProject to track and work on this project? What if you need to work with external folks?
Nick Vidal: Yes, everyone from our team is on it. And what I really like is that you can invite external folks, to the company or another team, to collaborate on certain parts of projects as a guest. They signup for an account, but they have certain permissions where they can only see what you need them to work on.
They can make comments, ask questions, and complete the task.
That’s so nice because it’s all in one place so you can see the process and progress. You can see who was involved. There’s timelines associated with it in the commenting, which again, you can do on google documents, but it’s like, it’s not tied into a management system.
Nick Vidal: Our team is really loving OpenProject, and we can’t wait to see how we use it next.
It was great to chat with you, Nick. Thanks for sharing with us.
