Project Management

Daily conversations with crews is better than an app.

http://basebuilders.com
http://www.axium.com/Default2.aspx
http://www.clearviewsoftware.net
http://www.deltek.com/products/vision

I use vision, but we haven't really explored the PM functionality in depth; I use it more to track time and billing and use microsoft project to track individual projects.

I've used MS Project, in fact when I worked for a very large engineering company, some of our clients required that we use it for their projects. I was never very fond of it though. If I were looking for something now I'd check out some of the links that James Fleming provided.

How have you been my chipmunk brother? Staying busy?

Well, first y'all's needs ta git yaself a big yaller notepad and a passle a ink pins. Jist rite it all down, over and over and over and over and over and............. Soon y'all's gonna be da most smartest feller 'roun'.

I've used Ajera before.....

You can check them out on Linkedin, too

First you rule the Gantt chart....then the Gantt chart rules you. 😉

> Daily conversations with crews is better than an app.

I agree. 100%. I am more looking for project management. For check boxes for 'field work done', 'title work done', 'drafting done', those types of things.

Thank you for all the suggestions. I will take a look at them all.

All of the above options are great but if you don't need to do project budgeting/invoicing/company management they are a waste of money. I also find most of them way to complicated for small firms (I've used Deltek and Clearview).

I use a combination of cloud services including Google Forms (project input), Trello (project management), Harvest (project budget/timesheets/invoicing), and Zapier (cloud connection service).

I created a Google Form that I input all my project data into (except budget/price) and that outputs a line in a spreadsheet on Google Drive. Zapier is a cloud service that connects other cloud services to each other. So every time a new line is created in the spreadsheet it automatically creates a card in Trello for the project and it creates a project in Harvest.

In Trello it takes the pertinent project info such as Proj No, Proj Name, Client, Contacts, type of survey, due date, notes, etc. and puts all that info in to a card. The card is then put in a list called "Not Started". All of this happens automatically. I go in clean it up if needed and add whatever other info I need to. There is a standard checklist that comes in for the card and I can add/remove from it. From here I move it to other lists such as "scheduled", "in field", "in office", "on hold" "invoice", etc. Other employees can log in and comment on each card and write notes. It also connects directly to Harvest with a plugin so they can track time directly from the card. There's a lot more you can do with Trello, it's a really great project management tool and its FREE!!

In Harvest, after the project is created with a "default" client, I go in and add the client information (this is the only data I have to input duplicate...). Then I set up the project budgets/billing methods. The employees time is kept here (directly or through Trello) and I can invoice and see job budgets/profits from here. They are adding a lot more features in the next few months for job costing and reporting. It's not full accounting software but I have a bookkeeper who uses hos own stuff. If you need that a good one is Xero (it also duplicates a lot of Harvest features).

So all of this costs me $49/mo for up to five employees. If you use Zapier a lot you may have to pay $12 a month for that. Trello is free but you can get more features if you pay.

Hope that helps!
Tom

> First you rule the Gantt chart....then the Gantt chart rules you. 😉

that's a truism if ever there was one...:-/

Deltek Vision is a project management program/system which allows for time to be applied to specific jobs, recording all pertinate information regarding client contact data, program manager assigned, as well as managing all fiscal reporting. Expensive, but it will do what is asked of it.

I have been trying out ProWorkflow. Seems to work for me and it integrates with QuickBooks.

http://www.datamation.com/open-source/77-open-source-replacements-for-expensive-applications-1.html?google_editors_picks=true

Project Management

62. dotProject

Replaces Microsoft Project Professional ($1,159.99 and up)

Under development for thirteen years, this community-run project was originally envisioned as a replacement for Microsoft Project. Its core modules include calendar, contacts, forums, Gantt charts, reports, tasks and more. Operating System: Windows, Linux

63. GanttProject

Replaces Microsoft Project Professional ($1,159.99 and up)

GanntProject offers basic project management capabilities, including creating work breakdowns, drawing dependencies, defining milestones, assigning resources to tasks and more. It can import and export Microsoft Project and CSV files. Operating System: Windows, Linux, OS X

64. Onepoint Project

Replaces Microsoft Project Professional ($1,159.99 and up)

Suitable for organizations of all sizes, Onepoint Project features a full slate of enterprise features. Its available in multiple editions: Basic (free, open source), Community (free, open source), Professional (paid), Master (paid), Group (paid on premise or SaaS) or Enterprise (paid on premise or SaaS). Operating System: Windows, Linux, OS X

65. openXprocess

Replaces Microsoft Project Professional ($1,159.99 and up)

A good choice for development teams, this project management app offers features and training for Scrum and Agile processes. It includes some process and resource management capabilities, as well as standard project management. Paid support, training and services are available. Operating System: Windows, Linux

66. ]project-open[

Replaces Microsoft Project Professional ($1,159.99 and up)

With more than 150,000 downloads, project-open claims to be the "leader in open source project management." In addition to the free community edition, it also comes in paid professional and enterprise versions. Operating System: Windows, Linux