Many IT specialists have to work with such a wonderful program as Microsoft Project. This powerful, multifunctional solution allows you to do whatever you want with your projects, control them in any way you want, display wonderful tables and graphs on the screen, integrate all this with Outlook and MS Office, and even view your projects from anywhere in the world using Internet Explorer. Well, it’s just a fairy tale, not a solution. But, unfortunately, SMEs are not deprived of the main disadvantage of corporate solutions - it is not very easy to understand, and then, when you figure out how to do everything you need, you will find that any, even the most routine and regular action, is accompanied by a huge number of unnecessary body movements, that everything is slow, unintuitive. And in general, filling out SMEs is torture, I’ll tell you. What I haven’t yet mentioned is how much this thing costs and how much time you’ll have to spend setting it up. Fortunately, for small projects it is often not necessary to go through this bureaucratic hell. An alternative is a variety of inexpensive (or even free) web-based applications, such as the basecamp project management system from the Chicago company 37signals. These guys, even when they were just coming up with their system, decided that projects suffered not from a lack of schedules, but from a lack of communication, and that they would NOT be MSPs. Basecamp was born and became incredibly popular, and is now successfully used by many well-known and not so well-known companies. A review of various web-based solutions that help make project management as comfortable and clear as possible was recently published by the famous blog smashingmagazine.com, we offer you a translation with a few comments: There are many different applications to automate and optimize project management. Most of them are intended for a wide range of users, but some are already “tailored” for a specific industry. In particular, now you can easily find a set of good programs that facilitate the work of a project manager in web design, web development and other similar worthy activities. Below I will list 15 useful applications for project management, almost all of which are designed primarily for web development and web design.

1. Basic applications for working on projects.

Lighthouse

Comment: Lighthouse is an excellent bug tracking system for those who are scared by monsters like bugzilla and jira. It seems that the Lighthouse developers set their goal to make a basecamp version for those who do not find the Basecamp way of organizing todo convenient. In my opinion, they succeeded. The time to master the system is 5 minutes, it’s easy and pleasant to use. Free version allows you to work on a project together and allows you to use attachments (which the free basecamp version does not allow). It makes sense to use it in conjunction with basecamp.

Springloops

Creative Pro Office

JumpChart

No Kahuna

Basecamp

The user interface in Basecamp is essentially the standard for this type of application, and therefore many companies release their products with the ability to integrate with Basecamp.
At a price, BaseCamp is somewhat more expensive than the systems presented above, but this is quite natural, given its greater functionality. The simplest version of this service costs $24 per month, which, by the way, is quite enough for many, because the number of users in it is not limited, and the number of active projects is limited to as much as fifteen and three gigabytes of disk space. The review does not mention the presence of a free plan (https://signup.projectpath.com/signup/Free?source=google-basecamp) which allows you to run one project with an unlimited number of users, but without the ability to share files.

2. Wiki-based applications for project management.

Wikis can be extensions to your existing project management software, or they can be powerful enough to replace it entirely. Here we will give an example of both a fully functional wiki system for project management and a standard representative of wiki-type programs.

Trac Project

Pbwiki

3. Applications for tracking bugs and tickets.

When developing any web application or website, bugs and other unpleasant problems will always appear and become active. There is no way without this, the law of life. Basic project management programs usually have built-in functionality for tracking bugs and tickets, but this is not always enough, or, on the contrary, it is too complex for a small project.

16bugs

JIRA

4. Organization of teamwork and communication.

If you're working on a project with a remote team or its individual members, you need some kind of online space to collaborate, for example on developing basic concepts for the project or fixing a specific bug or problem. Below we will present three applications designed to provide you with this space and opportunity for general work and communication.

activeCollab

DimDim

Vyew

5. Applications for working with invoices.

(I don’t know how relevant this is for us, but if we translate, then without omissions) Even if you are working on internal projects, there is a chance that you will need to send an invoice. Therefore, it would be quite nice to have special software for sending invoices and drawing up proposals (proposals), and also integrated into your project management system.

Simply Invoices

Less Accounting

6. Time tracking apps

Regardless of whether you have to carefully record how much time is spent on what for billing purposes, or for reports to your superiors, or simply for self-organization, the time tracking process will be made much more convenient by special time-tracking software.

LiveTimer

fourteenDayz

Project Management program - a simple and flexible solution to support project implementation

If your organization is engaged in the implementation of projects of any level of complexity, then, undoubtedly, this program is exactly what you were looking for for accounting and monitoring activities in your enterprise. Projects can be different, short-term or global with a large number of milestones, and the implementation of each project requires dividing it into tasks with control of deadlines and appointment of performers. This program helps organize and control the process of completing any task; each task can be divided into several tasks so that performers can accurately navigate the stages of the goal. Thanks to this approach, you can always track at what stage difficulties arose and whose fault the delays were, which will allow you to build effective work for employees. The program also contains elements of a warehouse system, document flow, and solves problems of enterprise resource management and planning.

The program is another solution within the concept of flexible configuration of the database structure, carried out by the user himself, which makes it possible to build adaptive information systems that can quickly change along with changes in the company's business processes. And this is another important advantage that is certainly worth paying attention to when choosing a project management system!

Project accounting	Accounting for objects by project	Task accounting	Accounting for contracts
Work accounting	Control of material costs	Formation of documents	Generating reports

Program installation

To install the program you need:

• Download the "Project Management" program
• Launch the installer by double clicking on the downloaded file
• Follow the instructions of the installer to install the program onto your hard drive.
• Launch the program by selecting it from the “Programs” menu by clicking the “Start” button or a shortcut on the desktop.

Certificate of Rospatent

Version history

Recently, a large number of programs have been released that are aimed at working in different areas. So, there are software for journalists, content makers, designers, accountants, businessmen, etc. Today we will look at project management programs.

Software

Before you find out what applications are on the market, you should find out what they are for. So, project management software is represented by a set of software that has scheduling, price control, budget management, working with partners and employees, etc.

To create a project in this software, you only need to spend a couple of seconds. Enter the name and describe it in a few words. Next, you begin entering tasks, messages, and comments. You can break everything down into parts and structure it, sort it by date, status, author, etc. You can add illustrated content to all comments.

It is possible to set access rights and create invitations for other employees using email. There is also synchronization with third-party resources such as Google Calendar. To a greater extent, Lighthouse is designed for small companies or single users. It is believed that this is a program for those who do not want to understand the multifunctional Jira, but are looking for a “light” version that can be mastered in five minutes.

Primavera

Managing programs and project portfolios is possible with Primavera. This software is clearly focused on working with projects, helping to manage and control, track resources, materials and equipment. The software appeared for the first time in 2008. It became the brainchild of Oracle, although it was developed by another company - Primavera Systems, Inc.

This is a comprehensive program that works with complex projects, multifunctional and structured. It is especially popular in the field of mechanical engineering and construction.

“Primavera” is a project management program that helps you choose the right combination of strategy, ensures project management with all your efforts, and improves the methods and progress of promotion. Promotes expedient communication, measures the progress of actions and achievements, connects the project with the strategy, or, according to a template, forms work in several directions at once.

Other options

If you have a small organization, it is much easier to use web services. They are easier to learn and have wide access to use. Asana can be accessed on iOS and Android devices as well. Creates individual tasks, sets projects, deadlines, priorities, statuses, etc. The software is easy to use and makes it possible to create several complex tasks at once.

Redbooth is another project management program implemented in a web service. Works with errors and bugs, analyzes them and corrects them. Helps plan the project, formulate tasks, manage resources. Facilitates communication between employees, creates tasks and deadlines for them, and analyzes expenses.

Teamweek is a similar application to the ones described above. You can also work with it in the browser. Creates Gantt charts. It has a simple and intuitive interface. This application and similar ones are unlikely to be suitable for project management; they are more often used by individual entrepreneurs and small firms. If you need serious software, then you should turn to the already described or such popular giants as Microsoft Project.

Managing projects and programs that make it possible to simplify and structure this process requires certain basic knowledge from the user - ideas about the breakdown of work, the critical path, cash flows, life cycles, etc. However, not only knowledge of the content, but also effective mastery of the form makes the project successful. A program that solves some procedural tasks automatically, accompanying the solution with a visual demonstration in the form of graphs, diagrams, tables, helps to optimize processes and ensure their manageability and control in project management.

Types of software for planning and project management

There are many criteria by which management programs can be divided into groups. However, first of all, when choosing, users pay attention to the following:

• Paid or free program (option: subscription fee for using the service).
• Online or offline system.
• Single-user or multi-user version.

All programs on the project management market can be divided into paid, free, and provided to users for a certain (usually monthly) subscription fee. The almost monopoly leader among paid programs with a market share of 80% is a product from Microsoft – Ms Project. A significant part of free products were created based on it, including the use of Ms Project interface solutions and the way of organizing work and resources (for example, Open Proj).

As a rule, such software products are compatible with Ms Project (at the level of the ability to import and/or export files). Many are distributed with open source code and the right to make individual user modifications. Some of the same software can be presented in two versions at once - free (with limited functionality) and paid (with extended and/or multi-user functionality).

A number of project management software packages (for example, Project on Demand, Projects Manager, Papirus and others) are implemented as online systems, to use which you do not need to install the program on your computer.

Connection to the service occurs through a browser. The software provider manages it independently, giving clients the right to access the service’s functions from client devices for a subscription fee (or free of charge). This saves project organizers money that would otherwise have to be spent on purchasing software and hardware. In addition, renting a service allows you to cancel it at will and reconnect only when the need arises.

A significant part of management programs is focused not so much on planning tasks, time, resources and employee employment, but on organizing the joint activities of participants and a way to timely attract all performers of the task. In such programs, forums and chats are often built in, and a system for notifying about changes by email is required. This type of online system is always multi-user, and the cost of providing access to the service, as a rule, depends on the number of accounts involved. An example of this software is the Trello web application, the collective organizer Wunderlist and others.

Paid programs

The list of paid programs for project planning and management is headed by MS Project, which occupies 80% of the market in the segment of personal small management solutions.

In the latter program, the professional version differs from others in the possibility of group work with a project using the Internet or local network and the possibility of multi-project management (including working with a portfolio of projects). This division of versions by scale is typical for almost all paid programs, which makes it easier to select them for specific management needs.

Free programs

Small businesses, starting to work on free software with the intention of later switching to paid advanced functionality, often remain on free programs, since their capabilities are sufficient for full planning and/or management of the organization and projects.

• TeamLab. An online application with the ability to install on your own server or use the TeamLab server. A Russian-language interface has been implemented. Functionality for managing projects, documents, and mail is available. You can work together using forums, blogs, Wikis, and chats. In general, a full-fledged CRM system has been built here with the ability to install a version for mobile devices.
• Wunderlist. The utility, designed for team work, is installed on tablets and phones and synchronized between them to work through a browser. New comments in the discussion of a task are sent by email. The intuitive interface allows users to get started almost immediately. Tasks in the project are divided into old (completed ones look like crossed out) and new. For each, a deadline is set and a reminder about violation of the deadline, which also arrives by email.
• Trello. A web application in which the user can create projects in the form of a taskbar containing lists of tasks. The tasks themselves are cards that indicate project participants, assign an end date, add checklists, etc. Files can be attached to a task by simply dragging them into the appropriate field. It’s convenient that all correspondence between performers is visible on one screen, and the task cards themselves can be moved from one list to another when reassigning a task. The web application is compatible with Android, Windows Phone 8, iPhone.
• GanttProject. The utility is designed for creating information databases and maintaining projects. If necessary, it can be used to easily divide the project and reassign performers and deadlines. Employee employment statistics (with highlighting of the corresponding employment status) will allow you to effectively distribute the load. Gantt charts, as the main (but not the only) tool, are built into a tree of tasks with the establishment of connections between them. The project file can be uploaded to FTP, which allows it to be opened and edited by several users at the same time, but problems with the relevance of editing have not been solved automatically. Therefore, the utility is interesting, first of all, for individual use.
• FreeMind. A specialized cross-platform program for creating diagrams and visualizing connections between elements. Its main task is to structure information about the project and reflect it in the form of visual representations. The multilingual interface includes a Russified version. Allowed import and export in JPEG, TextXHTML, XML, HTML, OpenDocument, PNG formats. A special feature is the ability to encrypt both individual project elements and the entire saved file.

The listed free programs are released under various licenses, which to one degree or another limit manufacturers in the options for finding new solutions.

Perhaps a significant portion of your work and projects are done online. But it may be difficult for both you and your superiors to prioritize tasks according to their importance.

Hence the need for managers to use various online collaboration applications. Moreover, this is when they have to resort to task management tools.

Online collaboration tools help your managers, team, and you stay up to date on project progress that may change and may not always be within your control.

If there are a lot of instructions for managing the project, if they are updated and adjusted, like the project itself, then all these updates are immediately displayed in the control panel. Here is a review of 10 collaboration apps that may be useful to you as a project manager.

1. Taking notes: Producteev

Free service

Do you need to track the progress of tasks, and at the same time “gather in a circle” your team members? Try Producteev in action. Producteev is a social task management platform that allows you to notify several people at once about important aspects of current tasks. Producteev allows you to manage as many projects as you like, providing details and progress updates to as many groups and individuals as you choose to include.

2. Virtual work environment: Podio

Service, free for no more than 5 employees

Social networking collaboration tools like Podio allow you to set aside a “corner” on your online platform to chat with your employees. Share work materials with those who have permission to access them. Discuss business and more with your team members here, just like in a regular office, the only difference is that it operates online. Optimal service for large work teams.

3. Conference session: Conceptboard

Service, free for no more than 25 users

Conceptboard is an easy-to-use, centralized live messaging platform that allows you to share information with your team by posting it to a shared board. Live chat sessions reveal to all conference participants areas of the board that others are currently viewing. The optimal service for virtual managers and team members who cannot attend work meetings or conferences in person.

4. Selective Teamwork: Basecamp

Service free for teachers and students developing educational projects

Basecamp gives the user the ability to choose which team members have access to view details of specific projects and who are denied access. A convenient way for everyone to coordinate the progress of projects through controlling access to files, inviting participation in extensive discussions, and many other techniques. Basecamp is the optimal application for managers who want to hide certain information and files from certain employees and provide selective access to them.

5. Multitasking mode: Binfire

Service, free for no more than 3 users

The Binfire service is very similar to Producteev, with the only difference being that Binfire’s own applications are also equipped with a common interactive “board” for live data exchange and a calendar. Binfire gives you the convenience of multitasking in one place. Binfire supports social network activity indicators, increasing the intensity of online professional contacts on a personal level, and provides you with the opportunity to use other creative and practical services.

6. Ease of use: Google Apps for enterprises

Service, free to use for 30 days

Google Apps is probably one of the most used by you and your manager. Its ease of use allows even small teams to use it without any difficulties. Google Apps allows you to store files, share them, and build project sites and templates. The service provides you with the opportunity to share projects generated by you and your team for professional and personal purposes.

7. Problem tracking: Goplan

30 days free trial

Goplan allows you not only to plan the progress of projects, organize tasks and files in one place, but also to track problems that arise when using your account, and generate requests to resolve them. The optimal service for teams using collaboration management tools. The application ensures quick consideration of customer requests through the request submission system, thereby increasing the level of service - and when the customer is satisfied, he does not leave you. Goplan also allows your managers to track the history of customer calls regarding issues your team has had to fix.

8. Real-time control: Glip

The service is free, but limited – 10,000 messages per person

Glip, at its core, is a modern business communication service, whose capabilities are expanded with built-in functions. It not only ensures ease of interaction, but also easily integrates into the resource structure. The application is convenient for managing content, managing marketing projects and distributing the team’s workload, but its main feature is that it is seamless and easy to use. Glip's signature features include a compact Notes sharing documentation editor, plus the ability to collaborate on projects with an unlimited number of employees and invited users.

9. Business Expansion: Worketc

If you are a small business owner but want to take your business to a higher level, then you should consider using Worketc. The service provides a preview of the conditions for transferring a business from small to medium and large. It contains a platform for project management and interaction with clients, supports a system for issuing invoices and registering sales. Support for invoicing and sales processing systems gives your managers and employees the ability to easily use additional customizable tools to promote content on the market.

10. The crowning achievement: ProWork Flow

14 days free use

Using basic social media marketing services is sometimes not enough to successfully distribute the workload within your team. If you have a large team under your supervision and the volume of work is also large, then ProWork Flow with its new generation functionality will be useful to you. The application will help you track the progress and update data on a number of projects of several employees at once - simultaneously and in one place. Other features of the service include displaying the team’s workload for easy viewing in the dashboard, as well as a timeline and timesheet that make tracking time spent easier.