Most organizations, if not all, have plans and projects that need to be implemented and executed within a given time period. For the execution of these projects, availability of information related to the project at hand is extremely crucial. It is therefore very important for organizations to have information management systems to enable successful execution of the organization's projects. A project management information system is basically one or several soft wares or systematic procedures used by organizations in managing information that can be used to execute the organization's projects. The system that a firm uses varies from organization to organization based on the operations of a firm. In most cases, project management systems are computer-based though in a few cases the system may be paper-based. Some of the project information management software includes; Microsoft project, Wrike, Zoho projects, Confluence, Mavenlink among others.
To begin with, Microsoft project is one of the most effective project management informationsoftware found in the market. The desktop application allows its users to work from any location, organize project resources, coordinate between all parties involved in the project and manage all agendas ("Microsoft Project Reviews: Overview, Pricing, and Features," 2013). Microsoft project is available as Office 365 to the users. The project management tool from Microsoft makes it possible for businesses to begin their operations, manage all the available portfolios for their investments, and to bring out the true value of a business. Through the visual system provided by the software, businesses are able to easily and efficiently manage their operations and projects ("Microsoft Project Reviews: Overview, Pricing, and Features," 2013).
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Microsoft Project comes with a variety of benefits for its user. Firstly, it has anextremely user-friendly interface that makes it possible for new users to use the system and all its functionalities. Despite the easy user interface, the Microsoft project system is able to simply even the most complex project management task ("Microsoft Project Reviews: Overview, Pricing, and Features," 2013). The system is also designed in such a way that it factors in real life situations and recognizes that situations change every now and then and it thus provides for incorporation of changes that may arise in terms of operational needs of a business.
Microsoft projects come with a variety of features, all meant to increase efficiency in project execution and implementation. The features include; simplified information administration, management of investment portfolios, real-time communication accessibility from any location, and provision for future changes, easy presentation capability, and provision for sharing information among other. The price of the system depends on the chosen package. The available packages for the system include; project pro, professional and standard, these packages are mainly for top-level employees such as project managers and they are the most expensive. ("Microsoft Project Reviews: Overview, Pricing, and Features," 2013). In addition, for team members, there is the project lite system, while for the top level executives there is both project online and project server.
Another project managementinformation system is Zoho, with the help of this system it is possible for averagely fifteen million users to be able to access it remotely. The software is ideal for both small and large business entities and just like most of the project management software it makes it possible to effectively manage and plan all the project, allows for effective communication in terms of new updates on existing projects and progress reports on ongoing projects ("Zoho Projects Reviews and Pricing - 2017," 2017). In addition, Zoho projects are designed in such a way that users can split huge projects into smaller subprojects and create a schedule for these projects in terms of their time limit. In terms of user-friendliness, Zoho projects user interface is extremely friendly and allows the users to complete all project related operations from a single window, this enables the users to easily access and share information as well as progress reports about projects ("Zoho Projects Reviews: Overview, Pricing, and Features," 2016).
Moreover, Zoho project is designed in such a way that its users can easily track and identify and fix bugs in the system, despite the fact that the process of tracking and fixing bugs in a system is a complex one, Zoho project makes it extremely easy for its users ("Zoho Projects Reviews: Overview, Pricing, and Features," 2016). One of the greatest advantages of this project management information software is the fact that it has powerful security features that ensure that the information held in the system is only accessible to authorized personnel. In addition, Zoho project can easily be integrated into any existing software infrastructure and it also designed in such a way that it allows for expansion of business ("Zoho Projects Reviews: Overview, Pricing, and Features," 2016).
Some of the key features that accompany Zoho projects include; it allows for management and tracking of tasks, it allows for the integration of Google and iPhone applications, it has a bug trailing software and it also makes it possible to integrate drop box into the system plus many other provisions that make it simpler to manage projects ("Zoho Projects Reviews: Overview, Pricing, and Features," 2016).
Award-winning project managementinformation software is Wrike. Wrike was developed with its main aim being to make fast and efficient the process of managing project information and teams associated with a certain project ("Wrike Reviews: Need Credible Pricing? Overview & Features Information," 2017). Wrike, just like most soft wares enables organizations to plan, rank and report work progress on projects easily and in real time from a central position. Some of the main benefits of Wrike as project managementinformationsoftware include; the software allows for access and management of project information from a central location, the software design and user interface is user friendly which makes it for its users, the software has excellent security features that ensure the information held in the system is not lost to outsiders or intruders and can it be easily accessed from mobile applications which make highly accessible ("Wrike Reviews: Need Credible Pricing? Overview & Features Information," 2017).
In addition, Wrike has some features that make it very convenient as a project management informationsystem. The system has a 3-pane view of the project which makes it possible to view and complete all project related activities from a single page. The tags and folders availed by the software also make it possible to manage and classify information on projects and also makes it easier to share the information("Wrike Reviews: Need Credible Pricing? Overview & Features Information," 2017). Wrike system also has a @mention function that enables users to engage specific individuals in chats, this makes communication through Wrike very easy and convenient. Wrike also enables users to build and coordinate project teams, analyze project progress, make progress report and also track the progress of the entire team or specific individuals through the help of task tool ("Wrike Reviews: Need Credible Pricing? Overview & Features Information," 2017). Some key features of Wrike include; enables real-time tracking of information, allows for drop box and goggle docs integration, interactive chats and email integration among others ("Wrike Reviews: Need Credible Pricing? Overview & Features Information," 2017).
Evidently, these project managementinformation systems have almost similar features and they all serve the same purpose, therefore, it is important for developers of these systems to develop a system that meets the market expectation of the users in all ways possible. There are numerous project managementinformationsystems in the market and some of the best-performing systems in the market in terms of market score include; Microsoft project with a market score of 79, Wrike with a market score of 71, Atlassian with a market score of 67, Basecamp with a market score of 67 and Podio with a score of 59. These are the top five performing systems in the market, others include; Asana, Trello, Team Project Manager, Smartsheet, Freedcamp, Project Manager, Version one, Assembla, Proofhub, Zoho projects, Mavenlink, Dapulse, Hubbion, Redbooth and Workfront all these listed in descending order in terms of their market score("Best Project Management Software and Tools | 2017 Reviews of the Most Popular Systems," 2017).
In terms of reviews, taking a sample case of Wrike, Asana and Dapulse, reviewers mostly considered the key features of the system, the speed of the system, how accessible the system was, security features, user-friendliness, provision for expansion among other things ("Comparison of Wrike, Asana and Dapulse: Top 3 Project Management Solutions - Financesonline.com," 2017).In choosing a project managementinformation system it is important for users to start by making a list of their operational needs and requirements and after that decide on what system to purchase depending on how well it meets their requirements.
Free versions of project managementinformation systems are also available for download and use, an example of these free systems is the Zoho project free version. Given the great market performance, I decided to give the free version of Zoho a trial. The version offers all other functionalities that are available for the premium versions other than the limit of the storage space and the number of projects you can run. The free version only offers 10 megabytes of storage space compared to the 5- 30 gigabytes of space offered by the premium version depending on the chosen package and only allows you to run a single project. In conclusion, given the importance of project information, it is therefore crucial for firms to invest in project management informationsystems that meet their operational requirements.
References
Best Project Management Software and Tools | 2017 Reviews of the Most Popular Systems . (2017). Retrieved from http://www.capterra.com/project-management-software/#infographic on September 20, 2017
Comparison of Wrike, Asana, and Dapulse: Top 3 Project Management Solutions - Financesonline.com. (2017). Retrieved from https://financesonline.com/comparison-of-wrike-asana-and-trello-top-3-project-management-solutions/ on September 20, 2017
Microsoft Project Reviews: Overview, Pricing, and Features . (2013, May 13). Retrieved from https://reviews.financesonline.com/p/microsoft-project/ on September 20, 2017
What are the main concerns and criticism about the World Bank and IMF? - Bretton Woods Project. (2015, August 23). Retrieved from http://www.brettonwoodsproject.org/2005/08/art-320869/ on September 20, 2017
Wrike Reviews: Need Credible Pricing? Overview & Features Information. ( 2017, April 11). Retrieved from https://reviews.financesonline.com/p/wrike/ on September 20, 2017
Zoho Projects Reviews and Pricing - 2017. ( 2017, June 6). Retrieved from http://www.capterra.com/p/112008/Zoho-Projects/ on September 20, 2017
Zoho Projects Reviews: Overview, Pricing, and Features. (2016, March 6). Retrieved from https://reviews.financesonline.com/p/zoho-projects/ on September 20, 2017
