Category: Information Technology, IT

Agile Large Scale Scrum or LeSS, Cross Team Collaboration

Agile Large Scale Scrum or LeSS, Cross Team Collaboration

Top 10 Conditional Calculations in Microsoft Excel

Top 10 Conditional Calculations in Microsoft Excel

Agile Product Backlog Refinement before Sprint Planning

Agile Product Backlog Refinement before Sprint Planning

ProjectTemplatesSoft for Project Management Templates & free upgrades

ProjectTemplatesSoft is an established Etsy shop specializing in professional-grade project management tools and documentation templates. Based in the UK, the shop focuses on providing structured frameworks for methodologies like PRINCE2 and Agile, catering to project managers, consultants, and business owners who need “ready-to-use” industry-standard assets. 

Plan On a Page POaP example template in Microsoft PowerPoint (35+)

You can view the full current inventory and read customer reviews directly on the ProjectTemplatesSoft Etsy Shop Page. 

Example of many POaP Plan On a Page templates for tailoring in MS PPT

Full Overview

The shop’s primary value proposition is bridging the gap between complex theoretical frameworks (like PRINCE2) and practical, everyday project execution. Their products are designed to be fully editable and professionally formatted to save users hundreds of hours of manual document creation. 

Example Agile Sprint Burn Down Chart template in MS Excel
  • Platform Focus: Primarily Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Word.
  • Target Audience: Project managers (PMs), PMO leads, small business owners, and consultants.
  • Key Methodology Support: PRINCE2 (Project in Controlled Environments) and Agile Project Management.
  • Unique Selling Point: Includes annotated walkthrough guides and practical examples within the templates to help users “tailor” tools to their specific projects. 
Example of many MS Excel Budget Finance tracker templates to tailor

Detailed Breakdown of Template Offerings

The shop provides a wide range of assets, typically categorized by project phase or methodology: 

1. Waterfall & PRINCE2 Specifics

These templates focus on structured, sequential project delivery.

  • PRINCE2 MS Excel Plans: Fully annotated and editable project plans that follow the PRINCE2 methodology.
  • Waterfall Project Planners: Comprehensive tools that often include Gantt charts and resource cost trackers.
  • Document Bundles: Frequently includes “FREE Upgrades and additions” and a variety of MS Word templates for formal reporting and governance. 
Example template charts for the MS Excel Budget / Cost trackers

2. Project Control & Tracking Tools

Highly functional spreadsheets for day-to-day oversight:

  • Gantt Chart & Timeline Trackers: Automated trackers for visualizing project schedules.
  • Resource & Cost Trackers: Specialized Excel sheets for monitoring budget vs. actual spend and personnel allocation.
  • Action & Task Trackers: Simple but effective tools for logging team responsibilities and deadlines. 
Example of many MSP MPP Microsoft Project Plan templates to tailor

3. Agile & Lean Assets

For teams operating in iterative environments:

  • Agile Project Templates: Specific documents for sprint planning and backlog management.
  • Kanban Boards: Visual task management layouts within Excel or Google Sheets environments. 
Example Agile Burn Up Chart template in MS Excel

Why Users Choose ProjectTemplatesSoft?

  • Expert Craftsmanship: Reviews highlight that the seller is knowledgeable and provides active support for project management questions.
  • Comprehensive Documentation: Unlike basic planners, these often come with Word walkthrough guides, ensuring the buyer knows how to actually use the tool in a professional setting.
  • Cost Efficiency: Buying a pre-built, professional bundle is significantly cheaper than hiring a consultant to build a PMO toolkit from scratch. 
Documentation Templates Walk-through provided

You can view the full current inventory and read customer reviews directly on the ProjectTemplatesSoft Etsy Shop Page. 

Agile Scrum Epic vs Feature vs User Story

Agile Scrum Epic vs Feature vs User Story

Frameworks for making better decisions, setting priorities

Frameworks for making better decisions, setting priorities

Project Management Templates bundle with free upgrades

Mark Whitfield’s Project Management templates are a comprehensive, editable suite of over 200 documents designed for Agile, Waterfall, and PRINCE2 methodologies, based on over 30 years of project delivery experience. Available through his website (click banner link above), Etsy, Flevy and Eloquens, these templates are designed to be used across the project lifecycle—from initiation to closure—and include lifetime free updates and additions. 

Many POaP Plan On a Page examples

Full Overview of Mark Whitfield Template Bundle

The bundle, priced at around £38.00 (as of April 2026), provides tools for MS Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and MS Project (.mpp). 

1. Planning & Scheduling

  • MS Project (MPP / MSP): Includes full PRINCE2 7th Edition, Agile Scrum, and SDLC (Software Development Life-cycle) plans.
  • Excel Detailed Plans: Includes Gantt chart tracking for users without MS Project.
  • Plan on a Page (POaP): Over 30 PowerPoint examples for executive summaries. 
Example Plan On a Page POaP

2. PRINCE2 & Governance

  • Full set of over 200 documents including Project Initiation Document (PID), Business Case, Work Packages, Risk Management Strategy, and Configuration Item Records.
  • Reporting: Highlight reports, exception reports, and end-stage reports. 
PRINCE2 Delivery Plan in MS Excel Example

3. Tracking & Risk Management

  • RAID Logs: Comprehensive trackers for Risks, Assumptions, Issues, and Dependencies (includes simple and detailed versions).
  • Finance Trackers: Simple and full project finance trackers (forecasting, actuals, variance, rate lookups).
  • RACI Matrix: Resource Responsibility Assignment Matrix. 
Many Project Budget / Financial Tracker examples

4. Execution & Delivery

  • SDLC: Detailed Software Development Life-cycle plans.
  • Deployment/Runbook: Execution and release planning documents.
  • Agile: Burn down and burn up charts. 
Example Agile Scrum Burn Down Chart

Detailed Timeline by Project Life Cycle

Templates provide detailed MS Project (.mpp) and Excel schedules that map out the standard project life cycle over time. The plans include notes and color-coded tasks (black: standard task, blue: artifact creation, brown: decision/event, purple: artifact update). 

Example MS Excel Delivery Plan

1. Project Startup / Initiation Phase 

  • Tasks: Project Mandate, Project Brief preparation, Appoint Project Board, Define Project Approach.
  • Key Templates: Project Brief, PID, Business Case, Project Board Structure. 

2. Planning Phase

  • Tasks: Develop the PID, Create Detailed Gantt Plans, Create Budgeting/RAID Logs, Setup Communication Strategies.
  • Key Templates: Detailed MS Project Plans (Waterfall/Agile), RACI Tracker, RAID Log. 

3. Project Execution / Control Phase

  • Tasks: Weekly Status Reporting, Risk Management, Managing Product Delivery, Stage Assessments.
  • Key Templates: Highlight Report, Issue Register, Daily Log, Financial Tracker. 

4. Project Close Phase

  • Tasks: Handover, Project Evaluation, Lessons Learned, Finalize Costs, Close Project.
  • Key Templates: End Project Report, Lessons Log, Benefits Realization Plan. 

Summary of Key Features

  • Fully Editable: Designed to be tailored to specific project needs (PRINCE2 Principle 7).
  • Access: Compatible with Desktop, Tablet, Smartphone, and Cloud (Microsoft Teams/SharePoint).
  • Support: Free lifetime upgrades (and additions) to the latest template package after purchase. 
  • Click on link in website banner above to purchase full templates bundle

Project Management Templates bundle with free upgrades.

Tandem Computers ( HPE NonStop ) Overview & Detailed Timeline

Tandem Computers, founded in 1974 by James (Jimmy) Treybig, revolutionized the computing industry by pioneering fault-tolerant computer systems. Designed specifically for online transaction processing (OLTP) in banking, stock exchanges, and telephone switching, Tandem’s “NonStop” systems provided near-zero downtime by utilizing redundant, modular processors and a “shared-nothing” architecture. 

Tandem remained an independent, rapidly growing company until it was acquired by Compaq in 1997, later becoming part of Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE). 

Overview of Key Technologies

  • NonStop Architecture: The core design featured multiple independent processors, each with its own memory and I/O bus, interconnected by a redundant inter-CPU bus called the Dynabus.
  • Guardian OS: A message-based operating system designed to detect faults immediately (“fail-fast”) and mirror process states to a backup processor, allowing seamless failover.
  • NonStop SQL (1986): The first fault-tolerant SQL database, known for linear scalability.
  • ServerNet (1995): A high-speed, scalable, point-to-point network system that replaced the Dynabus and influenced modern InfiniBand standards. 

Detailed Historic Timeline by Era and Year

The Founding Era (1974–1979) 

  • 1974: Tandem Computers is founded in Cupertino, California, by Jimmy Treybig, formerly of HP. Initial venture capital investment comes from Kleiner & Perkins.
  • 1975: Design of the Tandem/16 (T/16) is completed.
  • 1976: The first T/16 NonStop system is shipped to Citibank.
  • 1977: Tandem goes public; sales begin rapid, exponential growth.
  • 1978: Introduction of the ENCOMPASS database management system.

The Growth and Competition Era (1980–1989)

  • 1980: Inc. magazine ranks Tandem as the fastest-growing public company in America.
  • 1981: NonStop II is introduced, supporting 32-bit addressing to allow for larger applications.
  • 1982: Competition intensifies as Stratus Technologies enters the fault-tolerant market. Tandem faces its first quarter of declining growth.
  • 1983: Introduction of the NonStop TXP, the first entirely new implementation of the TNS architecture with cache memory.
  • 1985: Attempted entry into the PC market with the MS-DOS-based Dynamite PC, which fails commercially and is withdrawn.
  • 1986: Introduction of the NonStop VLX (32-bit datapath) and the revolutionary NonStop SQL database.
  • 1987: Introduction of the low-cost NonStop CLX for small office environments.
  • 1988: Tandem acquires Ungermann-Bass, Inc. to strengthen networking capabilities.
  • 1989: Introduction of the NonStop Cyclone, a high-end ECL-based processor aimed at mainframe markets. 

The Open Standards & MIPS Transition Era (1990–1996)

  • 1990: Tandem introduces the Integrity line of fault-tolerant Unix systems.
  • 1991: Cyclone/R (CLX/R) is released, marking the start of the migration from proprietary stack machines to MIPS R3000 RISC microprocessors.
  • 1993: Introduction of the NonStop Himalaya K-series using faster MIPS R4400 processors.
  • 1994: NonStop Kernel (NSK) is extended with Open System Services (OSS), a POSIX-compliant Unix environment.
  • 1995: Introduction of ServerNet, designed for extremely low-latency inter-processor communication.
  • 1995–1997: Partnered with Microsoft on the “Wolfpack” project, which becomes Microsoft Cluster Server. 

Acquisition and Integration Era (1997–Present)

  • 1997: Compaq acquires Tandem Computers for roughly $3 billion. The Himalaya S-Series is introduced.
  • 1998: Compaq acquires DEC, leading to a shift in engineering strategy towards Alpha/Itanium instead of MIPS.
  • 2001: Compaq terminates Alpha engineering, committing to Intel’s Itanium (Merced) processors.
  • 2002: Hewlett-Packard acquires Compaq. Tandem becomes the core of the HP Integrity NonStop Server division.
  • 2005: The first HP Integrity NonStop servers (TNS/E) based on Itanium processors are released.
  • 2014: Completion of the migration to Intel x86 architecture (NonStop X). 

Note: Following the split of HP into Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) and HP Inc., the NonStop product line continues to be developed and supported by HPE.

Tandem Computers Overview and Detailed Timeline