Collaborative project management is one of those buzz phrases that races through the IT industry every so often. Basically it just means plain old teamwork, usually done over internet or intranet because the team members are separated by distance or need to work in the field or from home.

The key to good teamwork and team management is not only making sure that the leader knows what everybody is doing but ensuring the other members do as well. It doesn't matter how big or small a project is, its success invariably depends on letting the left hand know what the right hand is doing. More and more businesses are turning to project management software to help them do the job. By having a server-based system that each team member can log into over a secure link, the team leader or project manager can keep a handle on problems as they arise.

That is what Enact sets out to do and manages to achieve in relatively simple but sophisticated manner. The initial installation and setting up of the server and client software takes just a few minutes, although setting up a project takes much longer. That's not a fault of the software - just the nature of the beast, because each project has to be approached methodically.

One of the biggest problems with enterprise-based project management solutions is the high cost, which has invariably prevented small to medium sized businesses using it. However, Enact's Workgroup Edition has been targeted at teams of five to 25 people and priced accordingly. At US$1500 or around AU$2100 it is priced reasonably for SMB's that are going to need a sophisticated SMB tool.

Enact comes with the complete box and dice including application software, database, web-server and application server and the server can be run on a basic Windows XP Professional desktop. While the Java-based interface can be a bit buggy and slow at times, it is generally clearly set out and easy enough to use.

You can use a wider range of platforms for the clients from Solaris to Mac and Windows and that gives it added flexibility. You can have various classes of user ranging from administrator and project manager to an ordinary team member, with each type of user assigned a different level of access.

Each stage of a project is tracked including the timetable and budgets with any problem areas 'red lighted' as soon as they show up. An integrated email notification system lets the project planner know when any changes have occurred and everybody involved in a project can be notified the same way.

Because everything is updated dynamically in real time the team leader can generate reports on-the-fly.

Overall, Enact shapes up well against some much more expensive enterprise tools.