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All new Copper 2008.

Posted by admin on September 4, 2007 in News, Project Management Software Leave a comment

We just launched the new version of our Project Management Software, Copper 2008.

The origins behind this latest version can be dated back five or six years ago when we first started looking at building a web-based collaboration tool for a (now defunct) design studio. Back then, as now, we wanted a simple tool that did 20% of what the other tools like MS Project did, but did it in a fashion that was inclusive, intuitive, and helpful. That we were a design studio capable of building a nice interface was a handy piece of luck, given our latest interface is perhaps still a key differentiator to other products on the market.At that time I had really keen ideas on what a good collaboration tool would do, but budgetary and time constraints meant that our early versions were always light on with features. Our first license sold in November 2002, for $99. Now, our flagship Enterprise version starts at $2999 and is world-class as evidenced by its amazing customer-base.

Over the years however our ‘customer requests’ list has slowly been eclipsed by our ‘offered features’ list, and we’ve come to build a product that people rely on daily to run their consultancies, just as we do. I’m sure (as our early ’soft launch’ figures would suggest) that some of you will come to discover this tool thinking it was a spring chicken, offered by a fledgling silicone valley company interested only in the opportunity for that next round of funding!

However I’m proud to say we’ve been profitable and self-funded since that very first license sale, and to this day the CEO reviews every single piece of feedback offered. In short, I’m proud of our customer base, and proud of our little team’s effort in bringing this new version to fruition.

For the first time in six years I can truly say that we’re offering a product with unique features not found in any other software tool. For example the latest version offers a ‘business defrag’ a function by which you can review and manage your entire resource pool workload, creating the same kind of incremental efficiencies for your business as Norton did with your hard drive 20 years ago.

Add this to the formidable set of features that gel together beautifully and you’ll forgive me doting on my little six year old as I send it out into the world, they grow up so fast!

For more info or a demo visit http://www.copperproject.com

Here is the launch email with pics etc

– Ben Prendergast

Mellifluous May

Posted by admin on May 12, 2007 in News, Project Management Software Leave a comment

Well I’m feeling a little guilty here, I’ve been hard at work keeping new features flowing but clearly you’re needing some love in your inbox, so here it is.The last few months have been among our strongest on record (thanks to you), and I’d like to thank all who have come on board or continued to show their support!

We’ve been busy building the structures for new features, and have a couple of new products in development that are really going to boil some of your potatoes.
But on to the news!

30 DAY TRIALS A simple request, you wanted more time to review our editions, so we’re now offering full 30 day trials on all our products. Tell your friends one month of efficiency is on us! Sign up here. http://www.copperproject.com/demo.php

NEW ENTERPRISE EDITION REPORTS, RESOURCING The word was past down from our last survey, “build us a report writer!”. So we did. Our new reports module is now in beta, and you can now produce reports relating to clients or projects, or relating to particular resources. You can save these reports for reprodution, export them to CSV, or have them run periodically and be emailed right to your inbox. We’ve also made some changes to resource management widget, and you can now quickly allocate a resource without having to specify the hours they will work on a task These features are now available to our Enterprise customers now so get in touch and we’ll send you the update.

NEW REFERRAL PROGRAM Do you know someone that could use Copper in their business? If so, we’re offering no questions asked referals. If you refer someone to the Copper product and if they purchase either a server license or sign up for a hosted account, you’ll receive a 20% commission (server-license) or once off $25/$50/$100 bonus (Hosted account). No strings.

ELEMENT ON THE RADIO Australian customers might be a fan of the Byte Into IT show on Melbourne’s RRR, as was/is CEO Ben Prendergast, heard here paying his respects to the doyens of the Australian IT media, replete with unabashed self-promotion. http://media.libsyn.com/media/rrrfm/Byte-Into-It-20070509.mp3

– Ben Prendergast

Element @ Apple

Posted by admin on April 4, 2007 in News, Project Management Software Leave a comment

You know, it’s not every day someone publishes your mug on their webiste, let alone the Apple site, and with a company review no less.

Click here to see the article: http://www.apple.com/au/pr/casestudies/2007/01/element_software/

Thanks especially to the Apple retouchers for some splendid photoshop work.

– Ben Prendergast

March Musings

Posted by admin on March 15, 2007 in News, Project Management Software Leave a comment

1. All New Standard 2007, $29/mth
2. New Enterprise Update
3. 20% off licenses until the end of March

NEW STANDARD 2007 EDITION ($29/MTH) We’re really excited about this release. Our survey uncovered a hidden user-group, those that have less than ten users, but needed full functionality. Well, we agonized over a free version (truly we did) however this is much better (for you, and our accountants). Starting TODAY we have the Standard 2007 version which includes groups, timesheets, invoicing, budgeting, central files, and basically EVERYTHING in the Corporate version, for $29/mth. http://www.copperproject.com/buy.php

NEW ENTERPRISE UPDATE The Enterprise version is now at 3.1 which means a number of those unavoidable pesky bugs have been squashed and we have a really solid product on our hands. The new version now includes a quote function, so you can build up a project timeline and quote to PDF within minutes (and of course still invoice on completion). If you’ve been waiting for this functionality head over to the sight and check it out. http://www.copperproject.com/demo.php

20% OFF CORPORATE & ENTERPRISE LICENCES UNTIL THE END OF THE MONTH That’s right, if you’ve been waiting for a special deal, seachange, heartful exchange of goodwill, this is it! Use the coupon code ‘SilverTime’ for a 20% discount on your Corporate or Enterprise license, but only until the end of March.

– Ben Prendergast

Four Short & Curlies

Posted by admin on February 15, 2007 in News, Project Management Software Leave a comment

1. Element Software featured by Apple
2. Fly, Enterprise, Fly.
3. A new pricing model to be decided…by you!
4. Erstwhile a new product approacheth

ONE. Replete with many a saucy photo, this month bears witness to our CEO espousing the virtues of Apple products on the Apple website, along with a delicately placed plug for our litte Copper products. To put a face to a name, and otherwise dispel all myths, click the link below: http://www.apple.com/au/pr/casestudies/2007/01/element_software/

TWO.. Our Enterprise edition is performing splendidly, thankyou. It seems we’ve hit on the perfect mix of features for the team requiring a little more flexibility with their producitvity solution. However, March will see the release of an update (what already? – Ed) to include a new Reporting module and other goodies taking our flagship product another step forward. We’re also now offering Enterprise edition 14-day trials so if you’d like to pop the hood get on over to http://www.copperproject.com/demo.php

THREE… As per our yearly survey, we’re nearing the release of a free Copper product, however in order to move ahead we need your help arriving at a suitable pricing model. Whether you’re a customer or not, please click here and vote for the model that suits you best. Thanks in advance for your help!

FOUR…. Tally ye not! A new product doth approach! Yes, it’s weird when old English is employed to spruik a new web 2.0 software product, however all will make sense in good time. All we can say is that it will be financial in nature, will be web-based, and it will be beyond awesome for those who require a product of its type. Feeling lucky you feisty braggard? Well if you can guess what it is we’ll give you one free when it’s released!

– Ben Prendergast

Copper Enterprise launches

Posted by admin on December 15, 2006 in News, Project Management Software Leave a comment

It’s here. Our premium project management product, Copper Enterprise 2007, designed specifically for those requiring more sophisticated functionality than our popular Corporate edition.

We’ve included a raft of brand new features, and hundreds of refinements, to allow you to collaborate more efficiently than ever.We’ve continued with our simple philosophy; to create the most elegant yet flexible project management system available for commercial teams. No overbloated functionality. No ugly interfaces. Just a beautiful tool that ensures your team just gets things done.

The new version is available now in two options. $2999 (100 users, with 12 months free updates) or for $299/month fully hosted.

Here are six key new features in 2007!

1.New, more efficient, wide-screen Interface. After reviewing the results of our yearly survey, we’ve produced a new interface that offers even greater efficiencies over the Corporate edition. We’ve increased the width of all pages, introduced a new compact navigation/breadcrumbs/action bar, and have added quicker data entry features throughout.

2. New Enterprise Timeline and Related Projects. Sub-projects, phases, super-tasks, sub-tasks! Whatever you call them, we’ve added a new feature called Related Projects to handle them. This new feature accompanies our new Enterprise timeline. Now you can display a timeline for a client’s entire project portfolio, or simply link interrellated projects giving further visibility and control over how projects and resources interrelate

3. New Resource Management.Another groundbreaking change to Copper is its new resource allocation feature. With it you can see at a glance what a resource is doing over the coming period, and allocate work as required, providing finite control over project and task alllocation for resources. View a users calendar we see which tasks and projects are starting and finishing for that period, view a users hours logged in the new timeline (including a comparison to what was committed). This new feature provides new visibility for resource and project efficiency, allowing you to quickly review and refine a project timeline.

4. New Import/Export features.Throughout Copper we’ve also added new import and export features. You can export a project to an MS Project XML File, import your contacts with vcard support, and export your entire database for external analysis. For Mac users, you can now sync your entire Springboard for convenient task tracking.

5. New Administration features.We’ve added new adminstration features such as LDAP integration, database backup, label editor, a refined permissions interface, and more. With these features you can further tailor Copper to suit your needs.

6. Futureproofing. Free of Charge Perhaps the best feature! All Enterprise customers receive 12 months of free updates and email/phone support. We’ve already started on our first update, with new Report options, extra integration options, and new accounting features in development. But we need your input to continue the inspired work, so there has never been a better time to come aboard!

– Ben Prendergast