Online Project Management Tool Comparison

At EE, we LOVE to manage projects!  It’s our bread and butter; and as consummate organized planners, we love to map out a project and watch it through to completion.  That said, there are a plethora of tools out there that you can effectively use to manage your team projects (or even just keep info all in one place!).

We use a great platform which both we and our clients love- Basecamp.  This is a fantastic tool that continues to meets our virtual project management needs.  In addition to Basecamp, there are several other leading PM tools out there that deserve consideration.

In many of my circles, we tend to go round and round about which has the best features and is priced right.  Below is a comprehensive review of the three current leaders for virtual professional teams; Basecamp, Central Desktop and SmartSheet.

Basecamp

4 Plans Available:

• $24/mo:  15 projects, 5 GB Storage, Unlimited Users
• $49/mo: 35 projects, 15 GB Storage, Unlimited Users, Time Tracking
• $99/ mo: 100 projects, 30 GB Storage, Unlimited Users, Time Tracking
• $149/mo: Unlimited projects, 75 GB Storage, Unlimited Users, Time Tracking

Note they have 1 FREE plan available- 1 project, Unlimited Users, no file sharing

FREE 30 day trial

General Details:

• Their focus is on communication tools, very straightforward, easy to use technology with video screenshot overviews for each function (very idiot-proof!).
• Basecamp works with a variety of iPhone apps, third-party invoicing and time tracking tools, graphic design review software, widgets, and more.
• Allows for customized domain, color and branding  and logo upload.
• Central dashboard that shows updates and overview of all current projects- ranked by time sensitivity.

Key Features:

To Do List option which can be set to replicate as needed, append to any open milestone and it allows you to assign a person and date to each open to do item.  Note these can be marked for private viewing.

Easy File Sharing sorting and uploading- note the size limits listed above

Message Boards- *Key Feature*- one of our faves!

Keep all project related communication within the project (in Basecamp).  When msg is send from this feature, recipient may respond through their email and it will track (no need to sign in to respond).  Files may be attached here, comments may be posted within the msg (anything to decrease email right!?).

Milestones- The general key targets for project completion.  Another great feature here- they can feed into your iCal/ Outlook!  Related to-dos can also append onto each milestone.  Basecamp focuses onthis feature which allows for fast shifting of deadlines across the calendar, great for tracking goals. For example, if we were to make a task (To-Do) of writing an article, we could attach it to the milestone.  If the milestone needed to change dates, we could change its date and move all future milestones the same number of days to reflect the change. Basecamp also allows users to configure the new milestones so that they do not fall on a weekend.

Time Tracking- Web based time tracking- team members can enter time related to each task or project.  Comes in handy for PMs, and it has a report function which can be exported.  NOTE- this feature is only available for your team- clients do not have access to this feature.

Writeboards- Another fave here!  Stash all your notes, logins, links and details related to projects here.  Space for comments and note that this can be marked private (so only your team can view!).

One of the best features of BC are their customer service forums which are easy to navigate.

PROS:

• Straightforward, easy to use PM tool
• Great support forums for FAQs
• Great pre-sale website with demos, videos and screen shots
• Customizable branding options
• Strong alliances for app build-out (iphone, etc.)
  

CONS:

• Does not offer any sort of project charts
• Chat feature only available as an add-on- $12-$99 per month
• Does not support high level project tracking like you would see with more $$ PM systems

Central Desktop

From their site: Central Desktop’s Social Technology Platform provides a complete SaaS solution for businesses to collaborate, manage projects and connect their people.

4 plans available:

• Team Plan Free; 2 workspaces, 5 members per workspace, 25MB storage
• Team Plan 1; $25/mo, 3 workspaces, 10 members per workspace, 500MB storage
• Team Plan 2; $49/mo, 10 workspaces, 15 members per workspace, 1GB storage
• Company Plan 3; $99/mo, 25 workspaces, 25+ workspaces, 5GB storage– note this is the only package that includes SSL encryption, custom domain and branding

PROS:

• Offers recurring task assignments
• Offers client and project workspaces as well as company intranets
• Automated work order requests
• Offers project charts
• Optional add-on of web meetings ($35/mo)
• Task creation through email, task prioritization
• Chat function included
• Private and public workspaces
• Lengthy feature list
• Create text and spreadsheet files inside their application (online docs)
• Unique urls available for tasks for quick access
• Positive reviews on their search feature
• Chat feature linked to help desk
• Salesforce add-on

CONS:

• Complex platform, learning curve, not-so-easy navigation
• Confusion surrounding workspace and project concepts

As a reviewer I found their website (what is supposed to entice me to purchase) to be very complicated and uninformative.  No screen shots or bullet points of features were given which makes it a hard sell.  Online reviews from users were mostly positive.  Unfortunately this is why I can’t give a detailed overview of the moving parts!  Central Desktop (in my opinion) has aligned their branding to target corporate clients.

Smartsheet

Unique online collaboration tool designed to “think outside the box” of project management.  It is based on a spreadsheet-like paradigm, but promises collaboration and project tracking.  From their site-  “Great solution for managing a variety of tasks, projects and processes. It has intelligent collaboration capabilities and powerful reporting housed within a familiar spreadsheet interface.”

Pricing: note their pricing is based on “Sheet Creators” and all pkgs have unlimited “Viewers.”

• Basic- $9.95/mo; 1 Sheet Creator; 10 Sheets; 3GB file storage
• Advanced- $29.95/mo; 1 Sheet Creator; 50 Sheets; 15GB file storage; Gantt Charts, Custom Branding, Reporting, Survey Forms
• Team- $49.95/mo; 3 Sheet Creators; 150 Sheets; 30GB file storage; Gantt Charts, Custom Branding, Reporting, Survey Forms, Premium Support Pack
• Team Plus- $79.95/mo; 10 Sheet Creators; 500 Sheets; 60GB file storage; Gantt Charts, Custom Branding, Reporting, Survey Forms, Premium Support Pack
• Enterprise- $149.95/mo; 25 Sheet Creators; 1000 Sheets; 100GB file storage; Gantt Charts, Custom Branding, Reporting, Survey Forms, Premium Support Pack

30 day free trial

Pros:

• Video tutorial overviews (before purchase!)
• Designed to work with Google Apps products and Jott
• Sales pipeline included- with alerts,  follow-up and email tracking
• Crowdsourcing-Smartsheet Smartsourcing- def check out their demo on this!  Smartsheet is the only collaboration tool that makes it possible to connect to an on-demand workforce.
• Goals and Objectives tracking
• Product Management- prioritize features, track enhancement requests and manage product launches.  R&D as well as customer feedback options
• Gantt chart views
• View and edit sheets and reports from your iPhone, Blackberry, Windows Mobile or Android smartphone
• Built in calendar and reminders for projects
• Discussion/ comments can be added to any smartsheet

CONS:

• Not a traditional project mgmt tool – must love and appreciate spreadsheets to use this tool!
• Very powerful, but comes with a learning curve- especially since it is so different than other PM tools.  Take the time to educate yourself on all the features
• Newbie on the market, so you know they’ll be working out the kinks

The three choices above each offer their own unique pros and cons.  Consider all three options as you make your decision about which PM system to implement in your business!