1. Software and Hardware Requirements
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Software and Hardware Requirements

This document provides a description of the system installation topology along with hardware, operating system, and software requirements. The document is addressed to IT System administrators. Epicflow is a Multi Project Management system developed by Glow Management B.V.

System overview 

According to the topology description presented in figure 1, no additional software installation is required on the Customer side but Plugin for MS Project or Andriod/iOs application on a cell phone. Application server and core of the Epicflow are located on Glow Management side and available via the Internet. 

In a typical configuration, we host the Epicflow system on our application servers. On the server, we create your own environment accessible via https://<your_comany_name>.epcflow.net. The app and web users can access this server via secured internet lines. For the servers we use advanced protection to keep your data safe. For MS-project users, an Epicflow add-on will be provided to MS-project and it will be synchronised with the Epicflow system on the project user’s request. This synchronisation works in both directions. The data that is synchronised is limited to project-related data revealed from the MS-project files.

The main topology description is given below. In this document, we describe the system requirements for the following users:

  • App users: Access to Epicflow via Android or IOS app
  • Web-users: Access to Epicflow via a web browser 
  • Project users: MS-project users who sync their project plans via the Epicflow MS-project plugin
  • System administrators: Administrators who have to grant access to the organisational network for Epicflow

NOTE: 

 

  • MS Project Plugin is required only for Project Managers who are responsible for the planning and further control process with the allocation of appropriate resource for project fulfilment. All other users will work with the system either via iOS/Andriod application or Web-browser. 

 

Figure 1: Topology

Epicflow Requirements

In this paragraph, we list the appropriate system requirements for each type of users.

Requirements for Mobile App Users

This refers to the users who can log in to the Epicflow system via a smartphone application and basically using it for the personal workflow control by means of task fulfilment verification. 

Operating Systems:

  • iOS version 8.0 and higher*
  • Android version 4.0 and higher*  

*For all platforms, we recommend that you upgrade to the latest Operation System available for your smartphone. 

Software:

  • Download the IOS app “Epicflow” in the app store
  • Download the android app “Epicflow” in Play Market

Hardware: 

  • N.A.*

*There are no direct requirements for Hardware but they can be derived from requirements to Operation System

Data:

  • Minimal bandwidth requirements 3G or wifi with 5 Mbit/s
  • Data usage: 1 MB per day*

*Based on c.a. 500 tasks per user and 4 login sessions per day.

Web User Requirements

This refers to the users who can log in to the Epicflow system via web-browser and basically by using web-UI of the system for the workflow planning and pipeline control or for work with personal tasks. 

Operating Systems:

  • N.A.

*Epicflow can run on any operating system that supports the specified browsers 

Browser: 

There are the following requirements for using the Epicflow WebGUI and reviewing projects, tasks, and workload statistic:

  • Microsoft Internet Explorer versions 9, 10 and 11
  • Chrome v49
  • Safari v7 or higher

(The minimum screen resolution is 1024×768) 

*Any other browser not listed above can be used as well, however, the company gives no guarantee of the correct system operation.  

Hardware: 

  • N.A.
    *Epicflow can run on any operating system that supports the specified browsers 

Data:

  • Minimal bandwidth requirements 5 Mbit/s, 10 Mbit/s or higher is advised*
  • Data usage: 30 MB per day**

*You can ask permission to use our test server to test the performance. The average page will reload completely in 2 seconds with a 100 Mbit/s internet connection, within 5 seconds with a 10 Mbit/s, 10 seconds with 5 Mbit/s. 

**Data usage strongly depends on user behaviour. This figure is based on the averages.

MS Project User Requirements

This refers to the users who utilize MS Project for project management.

Communication with the system is established via Plugin for MS Project.   

Software requirements:

  • MS-project 2010, 2013 or 2016
  • Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5
  • Epicflow MS Project plugin **

*Additional information can be received by the following link: 

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/8z6watww(v=vs.110).aspx

** Will be provided pre-configured by Epicflow

 Operating Systems:

  • any MS-Windows system that supports the .Net framework and runs MS-project*

* There are no direct requirements for the Operation System but some limitations can be derived from requirements to Prerequisite files installation. Additional information can be received by the following link https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/8z6watww(v=vs.110).aspx 

Hardware: 

  • any hardware that supports the .Net framework and runs MS-project*

*Additional information can be received by the following link: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/8z6watww(v=vs.110).aspx 

Data:

  • Minimal bandwidth requirements 5 Mbit/s, 10 Mbit/s or higher are advised
  • Data usage: 10 MB per day*

*depends strongly on the size of MS-project plans and manual update frequency of the project plan. The typical project file size is a few MB and the update frequency varies from once per week till a few times per day.

NOTE: 

 

  • Installation requires administrator privileges to proceed with it in an appropriate way. If you do not have any, please, contact your network administrator.
  • For all platforms, we recommend that you upgrade to the latest Windows Service Pack and install critical updates available from the Windows Update website to ensure the best compatibility and security.
  • On 64-bit operating systems, the .NET Framework supports both WOW64 (32-bit processing on a 64-bit machine) and native 64-bit processing.
  • On Windows 7 systems, the .NET Framework requires Windows 7 SP1. If you are a Windows 7 user and haven’t installed Service Pack 1 yet, you will need to do it before installing the .NET Framework.

Requirements for System Administrator 

Since the core application is hosted on the Epicflow environment, the  requirements for a system administrator are limited to:

– granting access to https://<your_company_name>.epicflow.net website for all Epicflow users and Epicflow add-on users 

– installation of Epicflow add-on at MS-project users*

*The add-on is pre-configured to connect to https:// <your_company_name>.epicflow.net, no further settings are required.