Running on either Mac or Windows, StakePoint is designed for managers, planners, buyers and their teams.
Dutchman Maarten Mostert set up StakePoint, a Toulon-based startup specialising in collaborative project management software, in 2015. A qualified naval architect, he previously worked at the Saint-Nazaire shipyard for ten years. Maarten and his team have developed a PM product that focuses on deadlines and objectives while optimising the use of human and hardware resources by minimising time wasting activities and planning ahead for cashflow requirements.
StakePoint has won a number of French innovation awards. The application was first put online in September 2015 and now has over 13,500 registered users worldwide.
Drawing on his experience as a project manager — including key roles in the design and development of the first NGV high-speed car ferry for Corsica-based operator SNCM, the 72-metre Kogo superyacht and the Queen Mary 2 cruise liner — Maarten developed the basic concept, then set up StakePoint. At various times, depending on the project, Maarten oversaw the work of between 120 and 450 engineers, supervisors and contractors. The more he saw, the more he realised that the existing PM tools could be improved, particularly when applied to complex projects involving many participants.
Maarten worked at STX France’s Saint-Nazaire yard from 1998 to 2009, then at CNIM’s La Seyne-sur-Mer yard from 2009 to 2013. At the CNIM yard, he worked simultaneously on his software. CNIM began using the first version in 2011. Two years later, Maarten set up his own company.
Running on either Mac or Windows, StakePoint is designed for project, production, research and business managers, planners, buyers and their teams. StakePoint brings project portfolio management to teams and organisations aiming to apply sustainable planning in virtually any industry. “We are convinced that a project portfolio management solution must be flexible, intuitive and easy for all team members to use, hence devoid of confusing labyrinthine structures” says Maarten Mostert.
StakePoint is designed to make the complex projects of big organisations accessible to all. Whether you are connected or not, the cloud architecture gives users the benefit of an application that is always available. Data replication starts as soon as you are connected. StakePoint handles project tracking and earned value management to generate realistic project forecasts. It uses a continuous critical path model to give you a better understanding of and better control over your schedules and deadlines. StakePoint also introduces matrix navigation to improve project visibility by taking full account of all commitments, progress tracking and resources allocated to different projects. It greatly facilitates the collaboration of many users by giving all access to the same database.
MS-Project files can be imported and exported on demand and PDF files created up to A0 format. The interactive graphics interface handles Gantt input/output diagrams while ensuring faster resource planning. StakePoint uses earned value management to track expenditure against budget forecasts and overall progress. Continuous critical path analysis enables users to identify ‘bottlenecks’ and ‘showstoppers’ before delays start to pile up. Last but not least, StakePoint’s matrix navigation helps users to see when and where budgets are going or have gone off course and to identify deadline issues.
Translated and adapted by Steve Dyson
