This article is about Project Management and here we showcase why Project Management Software is important, how Project Management tools can help increase your business productivity and how it has evolved over the years. We will outline the major components of Project Management software, and offer specifics on what to look for when choosing a Project Management solution.
1. What is Online Project
Management Software
Discover how to leverage the latest cloud
applications as a way to grow your business
2. What is Online
Project Management Software
How to understand the mechanics behind Project Management tools,
and the major components of Project Management software.
Think about project management software as a real-world project manager:
● A good project manager can organize and
manage all of the elements of a campaign or
project as well as communicate updates,
budget, schedules, deadlines and more.
● The advent of cloud computing has been a real
benefit for the project management software
space as developers have taken what used to
be a relatively stagnant boxed product full of
planning tools and have created products that
are now cheaper, easier to use and more
collaborative and dynamic.
3. What is Online
Project Management Software
There are five phases of project management, as
defined by the Project Management Institute (PMI).
1. Initiating
2. Planning
3. Executing
4. Controlling
5. Closing
Organizations that require project
management software should always
be cognizant of the basics of project
management and how a vendor’s
solution addresses these five phases
of project management.
4. Main functions supported
It is by examining what your organization requires to execute projects and
matching those needs to the appropriate software that you will find the best
solution. But bear in mind that most solutions should provide the following
functions:
● Encourage collaboration and communication
● Project Planning
● Responsiveness to changes
● Foster Creativity
● Track time, deadlines and budgets
● Issue Tracking and Process Improvement
● Schedule calendars
● Ressources optimization
5. What features to consider?
Collaboration and communication are very
important elements to consider when looking for
a project management software solution,
therefore consider these features:
● Document
● A central dashboard
tracking tools to
for the team to
collaboratively
communicate
Collaboration Tools edit copy
updates
● Process
● Online Project Chat
Improvement
6. What features to consider?
A Workspace designed for team members to
help them understand, organize, and get their
tasks done:
Alerts for project deadline and
meeting reminders
Calendars for scheduling
meetings and monitoring Tools for task creation
important project
Planning and Scheduling Tools and delegation
milestones
7. What features to consider?
Look for a set of professional
services automation:
Tools to bill and invoice clients on project-
related expenses
Applications to track Analytic Project Time tracking tools for various
project budgets project-related tasks
Reporting Tools
8. What features to consider?
Look for a set of professional
services automation:
Budgeting/Invoicing/ Employee time tracking
Budgeting reports
reports
Billing Tools
Status update reports
9. How To Choose
Online Business Software
Generally speaking, there are several critical aspects that should be
considered when purchasing online business software (or Software as a
Service aka SaaS), based on best practices from the industry:
● Reduce risk of mistaken choice and implementation
failure
● Achieve a good ROI (Return On Investment)
● Align business needs with organizational
requirement
Key evaluation criteria :
● Understand the different software models
● Know the different types of business models offered by
each vendor: cloud-based, hybrid, hosted and in-
house.
● The main differentiators are with the data: who owns
it, how it is administered, stored and what are my
privacy and security guarantees.
10. How To Choose
Online Business Software
Industry specific expertise
● Look for vertical industry expertise, check their
clients list to find similarities to existing clients.
● Check that the solution can adapt to changing
business models rapidly and the vendor’s past
history in delivering new updates to its solution.
Total Cost of Ownership
● To compare an in-house software to a SaaS product
requires measurable metrics. When trying to
understand the TCO, issues such as current and
future subscription costs, data administration,
integration costs to existing systems and support
costs should be heavily scrutinized.
11. How To Choose
Project Management Software
The market for project management software has increased greatly and
there are numerous products out there at all price points. Depending on
your needs, you can decide on the type of project management software
to purchase.
There are two main types of online
project management applications:
● With a comprehensive list of features
such as tools for communication,
budgeting, time tracking, document
tracking and much more.
● With a smaller tool set limted to key
features such as task creation and
team communication.
12. How To Choose
Project Management Software
● Look for products that have tiered
subscription levels so you can pick the
level that best supports your needs and
upgrade should you want to utilize
additional features or add users. In this
infographic, you can compare information
on important decision factors between
different project management solutions
available in the market.
● Pricing plan should be clearly indicated on
the vendor websiteAlways recommend that
you short list 2 or 3 solutions and that you
use the free trials before buying.
13. How To Choose
Project Management Software
Helpful resources
● You can compare solutions and read
reviews from a comprehensive list of
online project management software
solutions to help you find the one that is
the best fit to your needs.
● You can get a customized software
recommendation by using GetApp.com's
AppFinder
● You can check this infographic highlighting
the 25 most important online product
management software solutions