Predicting the future is always more an art than a science, but I will give it a shot today. What will the next generation of Project management software look like? Except from the intensified collaboration features, we will see some serious power in generating non-trivial management information. Let's say, data mining for Project Management on steroids.

A glimpse can be seen with the new tool from MindSystems, ThemeReader. This system creates from collections of digital information (like documents and email) maps that group themes and topics together. These patterns emerge, nothing is orchestrated up front. This is exactly where we can expect some real support for future PMs. From here it is a small step (yeah right :)) to deduct hidden communication patterns and real concerns of stakeholders from the vast collection of information that is produced during a project.

Imagine the PM getting a nice mail of potential bad behavior of stakeholder X because his wishes are neglected. Impossible? Sociolinguistics tells us that we can deduct a lot from the language a person is using. So, difficult? Yes. Impossible? No. Makes your mind spin if you think about what can happen next…

If you want to have a nice overview of what can happen now, read this great article about some project management systems. It is one of the better articles about the subject in a long time.