Proper project management is key to a successful project. To manage multiple projects and teams which are geographically spread across the globe, you need a quality project management tool.
As a medium sized web development company, we looked around for some quality software which suits our requirement and does not burn a hole in the pocket. Here is our pick!
Basecamp HQ:- A nice, minimalist simple to use software true to the philosophy of 37signals, the company which built it. This software is only available in a SaS (software as service) model. IMO this software best suits small projects which are communication centric. It lacks version control, task management, project tracking along with cost-benefit analysis.
Overall, very easy to easy and adapt, but reporting is not up to the mark. If you are a small business and you do most of your project management yourself, this can be a good choice for you.
Intervals:- It seems to have picked up the baton where Basecamp HQ has left. It also works on a SaS (software as service) model. It has more features (specially in terms of reporting and role management) than Basecamp HQ, thus making it suitable to manage complex projects across a large organization.
Overall, it is a good attempt to overcome the shortcomings of Basecamp HQ. However it needs to improve on its usability. It also needs to provide staged progression in terms of features and complexity so that small businesses can adapt the system. I am sure that this software will become popular as they keep improving and become old. For a SaS model company, time-tested reliability is more important than anything else.
Ace Project:- A comprehensive project management software with user friendly interface and short learning curve. It has different licensing policies and therefore you can rent or buy off (with our without source code) the software to suit your organizational needs. This software is around for quite some time and therefore seems to be reliable.
It has decent reporting capabilities, but not as good as what Intervals claim to have!
Dot Project:- The best free open source project management software that I have come across. This software looks flexible and extendable. You can plug in various modules, including Mantis (for bug tracking). The usability and reporting leaves much to be desired. So if you are looking at free project management software with access to source code, Dot Project is a good choice.
Conclusion:
There is nothing called a perfect project management software. The usage, the users and the desired result determines the one which suits best for a given organization. So take your pick from the above mentioned toolset.
I have tried many of these software and have found that there is ample confusion between project management and task management.
Project management would mean doing n number of activities in a specific order and each taking certain time. Task management comes in very handy when a certain number of tasks have to be done each requiring lots of interaction, clarifications, updates and final resolution. If you don’t bother much about the deadlines and time spent on activities, Mantis is a pretty good choice.
I am presently evaluating DotProject to see if we can marry the project management with task management.
You are star. 100% agree with your conclusion. Recently I have been to this complex process of PM tool selection, and topic is close to my heart. We have explored many tools including the few mentioned above. Our teams are spread across multi location, hence apart from basic project managment we also wanted to have features which will help us in collaborating (e.g. email,forums, online doc sharing etc), workflows to define process etc. We finally ended our search with Celoxis project management software Like you said, It’s not advisable to expect perfect solution but I must say so far so good for us.
Thanks for taking this topic for discussion.
You can even check out DeskAway.com – a SaaS based pm tool from India….its a mix of simple+powerful+affordable. Great for small teams working on multiple things from different locations.
Dear Abhishek, I would like you to check out PlanningForce at planningforce.com . I chose the tool after a lot of research and would love to know what you think about it. Happy Holidays !!!
It’s been awhile but i invite to check out our project management software – http://www.comindwork.com, we offer a wide range of features and user-driven development.
It seems to have picked up the baton where Basecamp HQ has left. It also works on a SaS (software as service) model. It has more features (specially in terms of reporting and role management) than Basecamp HQ, thus making it suitable to manage complex projects across a large organization.Then perfect software.
Also I would like to suggest you try BontQ – http://www.bontq.com is nice way to track bugs and manage projects.
I think you should also check Projectsynthesis Project COllaborator(http://projectsynthesis.com). The plans starts from just USD 5.0 and it has an excellent userfriendly layout.The demo can be seen here
https://projectsynthesis.com/d… ( I am giving u direct url, but i had to signup to get this url).Its really nice and will recommend you use this if you are at a tight budget and still looking for the same great features like basecamp.
I think you should also check Projectsynthesis Project COllaborator(http://projectsynthesis.com). The plans starts from just USD 5.0 and it has an excellent userfriendly layout.The demo can be seen here
https://projectsynthesis.com/d… ( I am giving u direct url, but i had to signup to get this url).Its really nice and will recommend you use this if you are at a tight budget and still looking for the same great features like basecamp.
Like this article and also would like to add another online collaboration tool produced by WorkforceTrack.com . It`s worth to check and try!!