Buyer’s Guide to Project Management Software

Š 2011-2019 Orangescrum Research Lab, San Jose, California

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Introduction Chapter 1

What Is Project Management Software?

Chapter 2

Project Management Software Features

Chapter 3

Signs you need a project management solution

Chapter 4

How to choose a project management system?

Chapter 5 Chapter 6

What Type of Buyer Are You?

Market Trends to Understand

Conclusion

Š 2011-2019 Orangescrum Research Lab, San Jose, California

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Introduction PM Software- 2019 Buyer's Guide (Productivity Made Easy)

© 2011-2019 Orangescrum Research Lab, San Jose, California

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R

unning a successful business doesn't seem to be like this. A project

management system can provide solutions to these day-to-day challenges.

I got exactly what you are suffering through. You are battling from the current state of chaos feels much more pressing than taking the time to research and select project management software.

Although many companies are aware of the difficulties in change projects, they often fall down on implementation.

This year, I’ve gone through some research and gathered some impressive statistics on project management and see what I found.

Project Success Statistics:

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Only 41% of projects are completely successful.

Around 44% are partially successful i:e troubled projects 15% of projects are stopped or fail.

77% of high-performing projects use project management software.

68% of projects don’t have an effective project sponsor to provide direction or address problems.

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Project Planning and Goal Statistics:

Most organization s have a 70% project failure rate.

Only 28% of companies use project performance techniques.

Š 2011-2019 Orangescrum Research Lab, San Jose, California

Only 2.5% of companies complete 100% of their projects successfully.

AND 17% of IT projects fail so badly they can threaten the existence of a company

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Project Budget Statistics:

So as you can see, all these issues are happening due to lack of good project management tools and PM strategies.

Choosing the right project management is quite difficult in practical life. So before going to the depth, let’s discuss some basics of project management software and its uses.

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These systems are designed to track the development of projects that take weeks, months or years to complete, providing managers and other team members a single access point for all the relevant information.

The best PM software on the market includes: Planning Budgeting Invoicing Managing inventory Assigning human resources Managing tasks (including assigning and tracking tasks to completion) File sharing Bug reports The primary goal is to increase company efficiency by making the entire project cycle visible to all team members. Each team member is given a unique login, allowing them to customize their view, report progress and monitor the progress of others.

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Most employees find themselves to be more efficient in this environment; it allows people to identify problems beforehand. It also provides a single access point for all business-related information, eliminating lost communication or documents.

(Project status view in Orangescrum)

Industries that commonly use project management and task tracking software include construction, large-scale manufacturing, software, marketing, research, and professional services. Help desk, quality control, and customer relationship management are additional uses for certain types of project management software.

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● Project planning and task management: Most systems allow the user to define the scope of the project, establish deadlines and create, track and close essential tasks and deliverables. More complex systems include stronger planning software capabilities, described below. ● Multi-user interface: Since the purpose is to allow multiple users to monitor their own and others’ progress, the software can have logins for each user with personalized functionality, different types of permission settings and ways to share and track relevant information between individuals. ● Scheduling: Most systems include basic calendar functionality to allow users to schedule their projects out. More advanced industry-specific solutions build on this, © 2011-2019 Orangescrum Research Lab, San Jose, California

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providing specialized intelligent support based on the known phases associated with a typical project. ● Data Management: Another capability common to almost all solutions, this feature allows users to store documents in a central location, share them with the relevant parties, track changes and manage different versions of the documents. ● Budgeting and time tracking: For many companies, each project must be individually budgeted, with time and budget tracked. These companies likely require a solution that includes such functionality. Doing so allows bids, budgets, expenses, and revenue to be directly connected to the projects they’re associated with. ● Invoicing: The next level up from Budgeting and Expense Tracking, many products on the market also include full accounting functionality, allowing users the simplicity of using a single system for all functions related to the management and accounting of the project. ● Resource Allocation: Resource allocation allows managers to arrange and assign project resources which are required. Resources can include both inventory and personnel. ● Risk Management: Some of the more project management tools provide the capability of identifying potential risks associated with projects or activities. These tools let the project manager know about the risks created by team members beforehand. ● Kanban: Kanban is a method for managing the creation of products with an emphasis on continual delivery while not overburdening the development team. Like © 2011-2019 Orangescrum Research Lab, San Jose, California

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Scrum, Kanban is a process that is designed to help teams work together more effectively.

â—? Gantt Chart: A Gantt chart, commonly used in project management, is one of the most popular and useful ways of showing activities (tasks or events) against time. On the left of the chart is a list of the activities and along the top is a suitable time scale. Each activity is represented by a bar; the position and length of the bar reflect the start date, duration and end date of the activity. This allows you to see at a glance.

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Missing deadlines?

Not sure how profitable you are?

Here’re 5 signs your business is ready for a project management software; ● Broken Communication: When communication between staff doesn’t flow smoothly, details are missed, information gets lost, there are misunderstandings, mistakes happen and employees end up frustrated, overwhelmed and burnt out. The lack of a solid and efficient communication system not only eats into profits, but it also chips away at morale. ● Missing Data: Incomplete, missing or out-of-date data impacts business decisions. If you’re unable to access scheduling, operations or financial data in a timely fashion, by the time a problem or budget overruns are identified, it’s often too late to resolve the issue. Missing data affects every level of a business, and causes lost profits. © 2011-2019 Orangescrum Research Lab, San Jose, California

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● Scattered Information: If your business’s information is stored in incomplete chunks, multiple locations, and doesn’t automatically sync—the information isn’t serving your business. Searching for scattered information is a waste of time while having duplicates of the same information in multiple locations can be unreliable if some documents are updated and others aren’t. Ultimately, a lack of reliable information puts the foundation of your business at risk ● Lost Goals: Missed targets, deadlines and budgets cause stress, poor client relations and lost revenue. Failing to meet goals threatens the long-term success and prostability of your business. ● Improper Procedures: If your business has inconsistent, cumbersome or multiple processes for creating estimates, managing projects, assigning work, tracking time, managing client requests, communicating with the team, and invoicing clients, time is not being well spent, and that costs your business money. Confusing or duplicate procedures increase the likelihood of errors and create unneeded stress.

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“The primary asset of any business is its organization.”

- William Feather

A project management solution is a key to productivity and profitability, but picking one that’s just right may seem overwhelming.

I’ve laid out the fundamental elements of what to look for in an all. ● Features: Features are essential. Take the time to establish the main features that you require. Basic features include CRM, estimating, job and task tracking, schedules, time tracking, expenses, invoicing, financial reports and cloud accessibility.

After you’ve determined the must-have features, consider what special features might be of value. For example, a ‘real-time business intelligence dashboard’ provides a visual overview of your business vitals, while also allowing you to drill down into the details. © 2011-2019 Orangescrum Research Lab, San Jose, California

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● Accounting Integration: Also, consider how this system can integrate with your current accounting system. I recommend looking for one that integrates or is compatible with your current accounting program.

Some project management tools include accounting as part of their package.

Review this option carefully as it means your accountant may have to learn a new system. Ideally, a project management system works with your accounting system instead of replacing it. ● Deployment: Deploying a project management tool is a more comprehensive process than simply installing the software and pressing “GO”. The process includes reviewing and streamlining your business practices, as well as learning to use new software.

To get the most out of the system you choose, and to decrease the risk of a failed deployment, look for a software solution that has a structured deployment and training program with an expert advisor.

A structured plan helps you learn the system incrementally and enables you to roll it out in stages, increasing your staff’s uptake, and the business’s chances of success.

Moreover, working with an expert consultant that understands your business ensures you receive the advice you need to get set up to succeed.

“You can’t keep it all in your head. Project control tools are an absolute necessity for the control of large projects.”

- Louis Fried ● Flexibility: The fit of the software company, as well as the fit of the product’s features, are essential for your long-term success with the solution you choose. You and your software provider are going to be in business together and it is important that you like and have confidence in the company, and that they are knowledgeable about your business. © 2011-2019 Orangescrum Research Lab, San Jose, California

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Ultimately you want to do business with a company you trust and that is committed to your success.

It is also important to have a system that can scale with your business’s growth. Many systems work well for companies at the outset, but few have features that meet the needs of a company’s expansion. ● Price: Price is an obvious point to take into consideration. No one wants to harm him/her pocket. While choosing a software, the very first thing that comes to our mind is Price.

What is the price?

Does it provide the best services as per the expense?

Should I go for it, or not?

Finding an all-in-one project management system for your business is an important decision. I hope you’ll find the tips provided in this eBook useful, and that you can select the perfect one for you.

Once you’ve made a decision about which solution to engage with, ensure you commit to the deployment process. The ROI you receive from using the system will be directly related to the attention and commitment given to deploying the product in your business.

So, I recommend you to look beyond the base cost, to see what extras are offered. Look for a money-back guarantee, free ongoing support, and discounts for annual payments.

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There are various types of project management solutions and what is important is that you should be able to pick a system that caters to your needs. ● Small Businesses: Many small businesses are usually looking for collaboration features, project scheduling, task management, and document-sharing capabilities. The project management solution should allow small businesses to be updated with a project or task’s current status. ● Development Based Business: Some firms buy software to oversee and coordinate projects for specific departments. For example, a company’s design team may look for a system that makes it easy to collaborate on some projects and let’s team members share information on some design mockups.

The information technology department in the same company may be looking for a project management solution that supports specific development methodologies, such as agile development. © 2011-2019 Orangescrum Research Lab, San Jose, California

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If you are buying for a department or various departments, you have to assure that the software program you are buying will support the project workflow or needs of a certain department. ● Individuals: Since project management for an individual tends to be a far simpler endeavor, there are a number of low-cost solutions that provide very basic scheduling, task management, and file-sharing capabilities. ● Industry Based Business: Construction is the best example of an industry that uses highly specialized project management tools, incorporating budgeting, inventory management, and many other features to manage the life cycle of an entire project, from lead generation all the way through to final payment.

Companies that manage concurrent, complex projects may want to explore project portfolio a management (PPM) suites.

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“Productivity is being able to do things that you were never able to do before.”

-Franz Kafka

Cloud-based Solution: With the growth of the Internet, more and more Web-based software companies are cropping up offering a low-cost cloud-based solution. These typically offer subscription-based pricing, rather than forcing companies to purchase, install and maintain their own solutions.

This makes it available to businesses that otherwise might not have afforded it, including to self-employed individuals who need something more powerful than the basic tools they started with. For a more in-depth review of cloudbased systems, review our buyer’s guide for online project management software.

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Mobile Applications: Many project managers need access to their software in the field as well as the office. As a result, many companies have developed mobile apps to accommodate this growing trend. Make sure to take your mobile needs and the availability of a mobile app into consideration when evaluating different systems.

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|Conclusion| Before purchasing any project management software, it’s important to figure out what features you need. Perhaps you only require a few specific features or need a full-featured solution. Or you’d rather deploy the solution in the cloud than on-premise.

N.B- Did you know some vendors offer a free version of their software, but with a limited number of features. This can be ideal for users that only need the basic features.

It’s a good idea to have a checklist with requirements and questions to ask before looking at vendors. Be wise, choose the best! :)

Cloud: https://www.orangescrum.com/ Open Source: https://www.orangescrum.org/ Blog: http://blog.orangescrum.com/ Email: support@orangescrum.com

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