A Quick Look at Project Management Platforms
The business world is full of unexpected delays. Your project management platform shouldn’t be one of them. Especially when working as part of a remote team, an integrated project management platform can help your business stay on top of client requests, project updates, and time constraints.
These systems are constantly changing—in this blog, we’ll take a look at five of the best project management platforms available in 2020, as well as the ways these platforms can boost your business.
What is a project management platform?
A project management platform provides tools that streamline business efficiency. Using cloud-based storage and technology, these systems offer functions like shared projects with milestone tracking, message boards or forums, and assignment options. Most modern businesses incorporate some kind of project-sharing software to stay on top of things.
Project management platforms can be online (stored in the cloud, like Monday or Asana) or offline (stored in a central network or server, like Microsoft Teams or Project). While all platforms are different, most work with a collection of features, like task management, email integration, collaboration tools, and options for sharing files and resources across devices, including mobile.
What project management platform is right for my business?
Like many questions in IT, there isn’t an easy answer to this one. The right project management platform for your business meets your needs without any unnecessary bells and whistles that drive up the price.
We selected four platforms that we’ve used and enjoyed. While each has its own unique features, some that might be relevant to one industry over another, all of these platforms offer ways to manage tasks and boost business efficiency.
- Monday
Monday is one of the most popular project management platforms on the market today, and for good reason. It works through project assignments in a system of shared and individual “boards.” Team members can create tasks, assign them to projects or groups of projects, track updates through forum-style comments, and store and share files through the system.
Cost: Monday offers scaled pricing systems based on the number of users and the number of extra features you need to optimize your business. Plans start at $17/month for two users and go all the way up to $1,599/month for 200+. (If you don’t see an exact plan that works for you, Monday also offers custom plans designed for your business.)
Why we love it: With such a visual system, it’s easy for everyone on your team to stay on top of their work—and everyone else’s, too! Monday offers excellent customization tools for building, designing, and sharing boards with everyone on your team.
- Jira
Jira is a project management tool designed for teams that use the “agile” system. The cloud-based program offers built-in workflow systems and opportunities to create your own, based on whatever is best for your business. It’s mainly designed for software development, but can be converted for just about any industry.
Cost: You can create a (very) basic free account on Jira, but most of the best features are only available on paid plans, which start at $7/user per month.
Why we love it: Anyone in the software industry will love Jira’s “crunch” feature. Your team can schedule planned times of intense work (like coding, event “Hell weeks,” or tax season). There are also top-quality privacy and data encryption features, which are great for companies that handle large amounts of sensitive information.
- Asana
Asana is a great platform for anyone who works in a creative industry, or a job with rapidly changing day-to-day tasks. Like Monday, Asana allows teams to create shared projects, tasks, and portfolios, with individual tasks assigned to individual team members. You can also create sub-tasks, to arrange your to-do list by day, week, month, or color of your tee shirt. (You get the point.)
Cost: Asana offers many of its features on its free plan, which makes it a great option for small teams and individuals who are just getting started. The premium plans add features like milestone tracking, custom forms, custom branding, and integration with services like Adobe Creative Cloud.
Why we love it: Asana’s custom task and sub-task system is ultra-customizable. You can switch between views (calendar, list, and board), depending on what works for you, and assign teammates and due dates to every task and sub-task. It’s a fantastic tool for anyone who likes to plan out their week day-by-day, but needs to be able to change things on the fly.
- SherpaDesk
SherpaDesk works for all industries, and is especially helpful for IT professionals, construction/repair businesses, and anyone who works off of support tickets—in fact, it’s what we use here at Grand Technology Solutions!
Cost: SherpaDesk offers a free version for one user, with a cost of $39/month for each additional user on the base program. There’s also a “high camp” version that includes extra features like custom emails, vanity URLs, and more.
Why we love it: SherpaDesk is designed like a virtual helpdesk. Your team can submit tickets to solve in order of priority, or approach as collaborative projects. It also offers excellent features for tracking billable hours, tracking time, invoicing and billing, and reporting your data.
So, what do you think? This blog only scratches the surface of project management platforms. There are a huge range of free and paid platforms available on the market—and that makes it tough to decide what’s best for your business.
If you’re feeling stuck, give us a call at (904) 606-6011 or email info@helpgts.com. We’d be happy to take a look at your current project management system and make recommendations that will set you up for success in the future.
