Pricing
Getting Started - User
Getting Started - Technical
Infrastructure and Security
General
What does Artifact do?
Artifact has built Lighthouse, a service that helps organizations to better manage, monitor and measure software development projects. Lighthouse is particularly useful when software teams are distributed and/or outsourced, as the challenges associated with managing these teams are significant.
What markets does Lighthouse serve?
Lighthouse is used by companies worldwide making software. We currently have more than 5,500 accounts, utilized by corporate enterprises, software services providers, and numerous small-to-midsized firms.
How does Lighthouse work?
Every Lighthouse Edition is provided as a hosted service, so you only need a browser and an internet connection to use them. Lighthouse Enterprise can also be installed locally behind your firewall. To get started, sign up, set up your project, and invite team members or clients. Most organizations will evaluate Lighthouse at their own pace, and when ready to deploy, they typically request training from us. Artifact manages the entire hosted service, so there are no operational or infrastructure issues for you.
Lighthouse Enterprise is for companies who want to serve Lighthouse locally. Many options are available for Lighthouse Enterprise, and we encourage you to contact us with further questions.
What is a Software Delivery Management system?
A Software Development Management system, or SDM, is an application that fuses all of the tools used to manage a software project (i.e. MS Project, Word, Excel, SharePoint, Bugzilla, time reporting, and more) into one system where project data is shared, traced, reported and displayed in real-time. SDM systems give a level of control to managing resources, monitoring delivery and measuring performance of software development projects not possible with current disconnected tools.
We already have an in-house application that we use. Why switch to Lighthouse?
If you are happy with your current methods of managing your software projects, then you shouldn't switch. Of course, most organizations deal with significant challenges in trying to deliver software on time, on budget, with the required functionality, and at an acceptable quality level, so Lighthouse is probably worth a real evaluation.
A few reasons to consider Lighthouse include:
- Filling Holes - You can use all of Lighthouse and its SDM capabilities, or any portion of it. So if you're happy with your current solution in general, but need help with managing requirements, then use that piece of Lighthouse. While you get maximum benefit from Lighthouse by using all of it, you are free to use as much or little as you'd like.
- Complete Solution - Most home-grown applications are built from point tools that Provide a piece meal solution at best. As a result, they usually offer a limited view into a project's progress and performance. Lighthouse was built from scratch as an SDM, so likely offers a more complete picture than something that was built incrementally over the years.
- Fully Managed Service - It makes sense to build an internal application if a commercial solution can't meet your needs, but those days are over. Your team should focus on your revenue producing and strategic priorities, and leave SDM solutions to the experts. Moreover, our hosted service provides a seamless way to connect your distributed teams and clients, quickly and easily, no matter where they are located.
- No Risk - You can try Lighthouse on a real world project, and there's no contract or commitment to worry about. If it meets your needs, then you can broaden use with your team. If it doesn't do everything you need, just stop using it (and share your feedback with us, please). It's a simple decision.
Pricing
How is Lighthouse priced?
Lighthouse Free is free to use for one project and up to 10 users, with no limits on time. Lighthouse Free users are entitled to use our Support Center without cost or may purchase a telephone support agreement. Each free Lighthouse account has a 100MB storage limit, which can be increased incrementally as your account requires.
Our other Lighthouse Editions (Standard, Team and Enterprise) are a priced as an annual subscription service based upon the number of users in your Lighthouse account.
Artifact also offers training, implementation and consulting services to help you get up and running in a short period of time.
Getting Started - User
How quickly can we start using Lighthouse?
It's very quick. Simply sign up and off you go.
Many people work on my project. How can I get them using my Lighthouse account?
Lighthouse lets you invite any person, and you can assign individual roles that match that person's function.
How many projects can I add to Lighthouse?
That depends on the edition. Check out the comparison to learn more.
How many users to a project can I add to my Lighthouse account?
That depends on the edition. Check out the comparison to learn more.
Do you provide training and support?
Yes, and many options are available to suit your needs. In addition to quick online demos, we also have a user forum, support center, Lighthouse University, phone support and various implementation services. I'm in the middle of a project.
Can I start using Lighthouse now?
Yes. You can even import your Microsoft® Project plan into Lighthouse.
How can I import project information into Artifact?
You can easily import Requirements, Tests, Project Plans, Defects and more into Lighthouse using our custom wizards. We can even help you.
Is Lighthouse easy to configure?
Yes. Lighthouse comes with many customizable and configurable options, including reports, branding, colors, dashboards, fields and much more.
Can I add our own logo to our Lighthouse account?
Absolutely.
Getting Started - Technical
How do I access our Lighthouse account?
Lighthouse is accessible through a web browser and internet connection. Lighthouse can be accessed here.
Do I need any other software to run Lighthouse?
If we host your Lighthouse Account for you, you only need a browser. If you want to host Lighthouse yourself, then you need VMWare Server installed.
What platforms do I need to have to run Lighthouse?
Lighthouse is a hosted service so you don't need to worry about platforms. We take care of all hardware, software, and networking equipment purchases, and manage all maintenance, support, and upgrades in a secure data center.
If you want to run Lighthouse behind your firewall, then you need to set up a VMWare Server.
Does my company's IT department need to Provide any support?
Since the service is hosted in a secure data center, we provide all technical support. For hosted services, your IT department will have to have VMWare Server installed and operational.
How do I upgrade to other Lighthouse Editions?
That's easy - either purchase online or give us a call.
Infrastructure and Security
Can I install Lighthouse locally?
Yes. Lighthouse Enterprise can be installed locally on your servers. Most companies will try Lighthouse Free first for one or more pilot projects, and when appropriate, they will deploy Lighthouse Enterprise.
What are the technical requirements to run Lighthouse Enterprise?
VMWare Server. Please contact us for more details.
How reliable is your hosted service?
Full redundancy is built into Lighthouse at multiple levels, including multiple servers, load balancing, firewalls, network connections and more. Maintenance windows for software and hardware upgrades are well planned in advance so users are well prepared. We offer an SLA/Support service, providing an uptime guarantee for those organizations which require it.
What are your data backup Procedures? How can I be sure that I won't lose my data in the event of a service or business disruption?
Lighthouse is backed up daily, weekly, and monthly, with on and off-site tape backup procedures. You are welcome to export any data from Lighthouse at any time via the export wizard built into each of the modules.
How secure is your hosted service?
Lighthouse is delivered with multiple levels of physical and application security in mind, as user data integrity is fundamental to our business.
Lighthouse is a multi-tenant, role-based application where data is partitioned at both the account (your organization) and project level. Users from account to account cannot access the others' data, and even within an account, an individual can only see the project data for those projects and roles he is assigned. That user cannot see project data for other projects, even within the same account.
How can I be assured my proprietary data will remain private?
Privacy of customer data is taken very seriously. First, we've taken steps to protect your data from a legal standpoint though our privacy policy and licensing agreement. Second, we've employed multiple techniques to ensure data privacy. All databases and tables are secured with Access Controls Lists (ACLs) and passwords to ensure that only authorized Artifact personnel can access the data. In the event that a third party employed by Artifact in the support of Lighthouse needs to read data, they will be given an obfuscated snapshots of the data.
How do we meet the challenge of unstable internet connections?
Because Lighthouse is designed to operate over HTTP/S, all connections are stateless and thus won't be affected by internet connections that may be dropped momentarily. Currently, Lighthouse has minimal support for outages which may last beyond the default session expiration time. In this case Lighthouse will gracefully end the users' session. Upon connection restoration, the user will need to log back into Lighthouse.
For users who have highly unreliable internet connections, it is recommended to use a local SCM solution. This will enable development to continue even in the event of internet connection failure as the developers IDEs and SCM will be on the local network. Also, because of Lighthouse's bidirectional integration with MS Project, all project planning can be done in the absence of an internet connection. All other Lighthouse capabilities require an active internet connection.