Central Desktop Project Management

Central Desktop Review

Pros	Cons
High level of customizability	Some functions are too basic
Easy to learn

Central Desktop is a fully functional project management software that has particularly good support for collaboration between project managers, users and stakeholders.

(Above) Central Desktop main screen

As you can see from the screenshot, the main screen provides an overview of what is happening with the project by detailing upcoming tasks and milestones, recent activity within the project (which can be adding files, tasks, workspaces, and more), people that belong to this particular project, recent discussions, and some general help on how to use the system.

Central Desktop allows a project manager to add new users into the system whether they are external or internal. Additionally, when creating a user, the project manager or administrator can assign the new user to workspaces, and set their permissions. Permissions include the following:

-          Read

-          Add

-          Edit

-          Delete

-          Allow User to Create New Workspaces

-          Allow User to Host Web Meetings

-          Billing Admin

-          Company Admin

The ability to set all these permissions allows project managers and administrators greater control over each person and their access, which in turn allows for more effective management as each person or group of people can be delegated and assigned to the appropriate responsibilities.

(Above) Adding a new user

User Interface

The layout of Central Desktop is very concise and does not contain unnecessary information or cluttering. The use of windows and colors make it extremely easy to read and to find the appropriate sections. The menus and functions are intuitive and are fairly obvious as to what they do.

Features

E-Mail Support

Central Desktop supports the ability to create discussions and upload files via email. Each folder within a project has a different email address and this allows users to specify exactly where they wish the file to go, saving time as the files do not have to be sorted after sending. Simply keep a record of the email addresses of the folders that you require sending files to, and when a user wishes to send a file, they can do so by simply sending a normal email and adding an attachment.

(Above) Viewing folder email addresses

Additionally, if a user sends a file to the project, and the project already contains a file of the same name, Central Desktop supports Auto Versioning and will automatically update the file and flag it as a new revision. Not only this, but it will even email you stating that it has done this.

(Above) Automatically generated email upon auto versioning

Web Meetings

Central Desktop supports desktop sharing and can be used for performing presentations and also general collaboration between users, particularly if progress on a project is to be shown. For example, a developer could host a web meeting that displays the latest rendition of a 3D model, or a program that is being developed. Attendees could log into the web meeting and view all of this information to gain a higher degree of understanding of the task in general, and of its current state.

(Above) Central Desktop web meetings

Furthermore, the creator of the web meeting can specify the following:

-          A date which will be added to people’s calendars

-          The length of the presentation

-          Whether or not there will be repeats of the presentation, such as:

• Daily
• Weekly
• Monthly (by day)
• Yearly

-          Whether or not users should be notified via SMS that the web meeting is about to start.

As you can see, this offers considerable collaboration power due to the fact that project managers and users can gain updates and insights about the project and gain a further understanding of the project, which in turn will increase productivity as there will be less unanswered questions and more knowledge.

Performance

In general, the system is quite quick and page load times are minimal. The system even displays the time taken to load the page which is a feature that many systems do not support. A sample output is shown below.

Server Execution Time: 0.2354 sec

Client Execution Time: 0.905 sec

As you can see, the page load time is approximately 1 second, which is extremely fast and will save time when you take into consideration that every user will be loading pages hundreds of times, and slow load times can really add on to the overall time spent waiting company wide. Central Desktop’s speedy system certainly improves productivity and could also be considered to increase worker’s satisfaction as they can spend more time actually working on the project rather than waiting for the system to load.

Ease of Use

Put it this way, we did not have to use the help section even once (other than to take a look to see if it was any use). The entire system is built in such a way that it is extremely user friendly and intuitive to use and we found that we became experts at the system quite fast, proving that the learning curve is not steep at all. For where help is needed, users do not even have to venture into the help section as there are small help buttons on almost every section and page which explain what a page does and the basic functionality of each section.

Summary

Central Desktop is definitely one of the better online project management and collaboration tools that we have looked at due to the fact that it is so simple to use but at the same time, offers significantly useful tools and functions for project managers to be able to manage effectively. Additionally, it is friendly on users as well, allowing them to collaborate with ease, view the tasks that are assigned to them and add time entries for time worked on those particular tasks. The calendar could do with an update, as many alternatives provide a highly functional and interactive calendar, which Central Desktop seems to be lacking in. However, this does not detract from the overall positive experience.

Clarizen Project Management

Clarizen Review

Pros	Cons
Can import projects from MS Project	Navigation can be overwhelming before getting used to it
The Roadmap is an excellent overview of the project
Ability to generate reports
The Gantt chart representation is fantastic

Clarizen is an online project management and collaboration tool that encompasses many elements in order to achieve its goals – to be efficient and to provide a complete project management solution. When first logging in to Clarizen and looking at the interface alone, it is evident that the system is comprised of more features and sub-tools that you can poke a stick at.

User Interface

For a system that is feature-filled as Clarizen, it was obviously a difficult job for the developers to fit everything on the screen, and whilst they have done a fairly good job, the user interface seems cluttered at times. This may steepen the learning curve depending on the user’s initial knowledge of similar tools due to the fact that many of the functions and features are icons only which means that the average user would require some learning and practice before being able to fully utilize the system. However, once using the system and getting used to all the functions and buttons, it becomes easier to use and is actually quite efficient.

Features

This is where Clarizen shines. As previously mentioned, the system is so packed full of project management and collaboration tools that it may seem overwhelming. However, while this may be true, it is balanced out by the fact that there is such an abundance of useful features within the system. A complete list of features would require a book to describe, so we present the features that stand out the most and enable quality project management.

Roadmap

The roadmap is a useful tool for high level representation of a project. Milestones and tasks can be created and added to the roadmap, and the following data can be assigned:

-          Importance (example: Critical, High, Low)

-          Status (example: At Risk, On Track, Off Track)

-          Budget Status (example: At Risk, On Track, Off Track)

-          Milestone/Task Manager

-          Start Date

-          Due Date

-          Percentage Complete

-          Visibility in Roadmap

-          Description

As you can see, even a tiny part of the roadmap contains a plethora of options. Not only this, but you can easily add new milestones to the project by clicking the [Add Milestone…] button, share the entire roadmap with anyone via email or widget, and even specify an expiry date for this widget if you wish to do so. Furthermore, you can modify the view of the roadmap to show by week, by month, by quarter, and even a simple “Fit” option which fits the roadmap nicely to see the entire overview. If it is in a day view, or something that would zoom quite far into the roadmap, then the system even offers scroll bars to allow users to view all days inside of the roadmap with ease.

Work Plan Grid and Toolbar

The work plan grid and toolbar provide significant details to the project and allows for maximum view customization to ensure that project managers and users are able to specify exactly which part of the project they wish to view and in which manner. The work plan toolbar grants the ability to add documents and notes, assign resources, email users regarding particular work items and more.

To assign resources, project managers can click on the [Assign Resource] button to display the Resource Assignment Screen (shown above). From there, users can be assigned to work items, or removed from them. It also displays a list of the currently assigned users to the selected work item, providing a helpful overlook for which people are involved in the selected item. Furthermore, filters can be applied when selecting users in such a way that it is possible to filter users by skill, or by user group, which increases the overall efficiency of resource management.

Additionally, if you wish to export to MS Project, then you are able to do this as well.

Performance      

A downside of Clarizen is the fact that a lot of the system takes a few seconds to load. While this may not seem like much, the seconds do add up over time, across each user, and many alternatives to Clarizen work faster. That being said, the system partially makes up for it by offering many of the main features from the main screen, thus preserving precious seconds where it can.

Ease of Use  

The term “Ease of use” will highly depend on the skill of the project manager. Inexperienced users and project managers may find the system difficult to use at first, due to the potentially overwhelming number of options and icons on the screen. Many of the buttons are not labeled (unless the user mouse overs), so many users may not feel comfortable using the software until they become used to it. That being said, more experienced users should be able to navigate and use the software to the fullest.

Summary

Overall, Clarizen can definitely be considered as a complete package. It offers everything a project manager will need to effectively manage a project. The software even supports report generating of various aspects of the project including a collaboration report. It is obvious to project managers that the ability to review reports and gain a deeper understanding of the status of projects is an integral aspect of the role as a whole. While for some new and/or inexperienced users, the system may be difficult to use at first, most seasoned users and project managers will agree that Clarizen is a one-stop-shop.

ProWorkflow Project Management

ProWorkflow Review

Pros	Cons
iPhone App	Seems too segregated
Drag and drop customizable interface

ProWorkflow is a fairly well featured online project management system that supports drag and drop interfaces, color schemes, file managers, reporting, and even offers an iPhone app. While it does not contain particularly outstanding and unique features (besides the iPhone app), it is quite a well rounded system and can be used for most projects.

User Interface

ProWorkflow has a very refreshing and unique user interface. From the first moment you log in it is easy to see where everything is due to the clever design of the layout. The most important items are shown prominently and colors are used to organize the structure of the page.

However, unlike most alternatives, many of the sections such as Add Project and Add Task create popup windows. Speaking from experience with project management software and systems, these popup windows make the system harder to use, and less streamlined as opposed to keeping everything in the same window. This will most likely slow project managers and users down. On the plus side, the window that appears for Add Project, Add Task, etc., is actually quite usable and easy to follow, coming with many options for fine tuning and specification.

Additionally, the home screen and various other screens allow you to reorganize and reorder simply by using drag and drop. This increases the functionality and allows project managers to place their highest priorities at the top. It is definitely a positive thing that these interface elements can be reorganized by drag and drop as many similar systems either force the user to edit the placement from within the settings of the system, or do not allow it at all. The menus seem to be coded in jQuery or similar language and as a result of this, have a sliding effect which makes the layout look very smooth, adding to the overall positive experience. The interface is fairly streamlined, unlike some of the back end features of the system and will be discussed later in this review.

Features

Quick Edit

ProWorkflow supports quick editing, which allows users to quickly edit certain fields without having to navigate to another page or going to another area within the system and is provided in order to increase efficiency. Fields that support quick editing are shown by a small green [EDIT] box when highlighting the field. To edit this field, simple double click it, and an editing window will appear, similar to the screenshot shown.

ProWorkflow iPhone App

ProWorkflow ensures that they are up to date with the latest technology and recognize that many people have an iPhone, and as a result of this, have created an iPhone app to aid users in updating and viewing their projects while on the go. The App offers the ability to view/create tasks and projects, track time, view contact details and updates on all projects. This is definitely considered as the stand out point for ProWorkflow, as not many alternatives and competitors that we have looked at offer an official iPhone or mobile application. That being said, when on a mobile, you may be limited to the things you can actually do with the project, such as the ability to upload certain documents, and other similar things that mobile devices restrict or have limited capabilities with.

Audit Log

This is definitely something that every project management system should incorporate. Audit Log provides the ability to view details on most actions performed within ProWorkflow. This can aid project managers and allow an insight into who is doing what – something that needs to be looked after from a managerial perspective. An exhaustive list of events are tracked and logged for project managers to view, with only a portion of them shown in the following screenshot.

Performance

In a nutshell, ProWorkflow is quite fast. Menus expand into submenus almost instantly, and page loads are also very quick, loading between 1 and 1.5 seconds during our testing. As mentioned in the User Interface section, the Add Task and Add Project window pop ups decrease the streamlining effect; however, these pop up page load times are quite minimal, aligning with the speed of the rest of the system.

Ease of Use

Most of the features, functions and menu options are self explanatory and fairly simple to follow and it was found that we rarely required the help section. That being said, upon investigation of the help and support section, it was evident that ProWorkflow offers quite a lot of support, thus increasing the system’s overall ease of use factor. This section includes written instructions on literally every single process within the system, and also offers over 50 high quality videos to show you the system in action.

Summary

Like many online project management systems that we have looked at, ProWorkflow gets the job done but other than the iPhone App, the system does not particularly have anything to set it out from the pack. However, its usability and customization gives the system a boost, as the user interface can be changed to meet the user’s needs. While the system does a good job of separating all the project management functions into clearly defined sub-sections, this can be considered a double edged sword. The reason for this is the fact that the system does not feel very streamlined, and not everything fits together – you may need to do updates in several places within the system to reach a single goal. This overall decreases the usability and increases the time spent on certain aspects of managing a project. Ultimately, we recommend that you at least give it a try, but also take a look at online project management and collaboration systems that provide more streamlining and support the idea that all functions and features should work towards the same thing.

Intervals Project Management

Intervals Review

Pros	Cons
High user interface customization	Lack of collaboration tools
Excellent and in depth reporting capabilities and easy to read graphs

Intervals is a highly customizable online project management system that is more than meets the eye; it contains many more features than first thought and in turn, proves to be a complete system that will handle almost any sort of project. At a glance, it provides substantial reporting support, intricate task creation, comprehensive help section, and a plethora of options for invoicing.

User Interface

The Interval’s user interface is fairly basic and not particularly aesthetically pleasing. Everything that you need is there on a single screen, which some alternatives lack; however, the bland look and color scheme of the user interface does not make it particularly appealing. Intervals partially makes up for this by offering a high degree of interface customizability. Namely, the logo can be changed, different themes selected, the ability to change the currency type and default hourly rates, and more.

Features

Tasks

Intervals provides significant support for tasks and defining requirements for each task. Project managers can create single tasks or many at a time, and even import tasks as delimited values, or from Basecamp (another popular online project management system). Users can view the tasks they are following if they wish to keep track of certain tasks that might not be assigned to them, view their overdue tasks, or view the tasks that are assigned to them or owned by them. All these options prove to be highly beneficial as users are able to keep track of all the tasks in the system, and while these features do not particularly stand out as extremely unique, they are still appropriate for most tasks and types of projects.

Adding a new task is very simple, and offers a variety of options, shown in the following screenshot.

Created tasks can then be grouped into milestones for better organization and management purposes.

Reports and Graphs

Intervals offers a pleasant reporting experience and offers a range of different reports, which include:

-          Mr. Pie Chart

-          Trends

-          Periscope

-          Project Activity

-          Summary

-          Break It Down

-          Crosschart

-          Outstanding Balances

-          Project Landscape

Additionally, filters can be applied on these reports for custom date ranges, and also reporting on only certain entities within a project, including:

-          Client

-          Milestone

-          Module

-          Task

-          Work type

-          Manager

-          People

-          Entire Project

If even all this wasn’t good enough, Intervals offers support to email these reports, save them as PNG, GIF, SVG and PDF, or even format the reports as landscape or portrait.  The below screenshots offer some insight into the fantastic reporting capabilities of Intervals.

Pie Chart

Trend Graph

Project Activity Graph

Scratchpad

The scratchpad is a very simple window that basically serves as a notepad to write ideas or any sort of notes that you may wish to store. It does not add them to any particular task, and is often used just as a personal reference, but can be used for anything – there are no rules with the scratchpad. While it is nothing groundbreaking, it is surprising that more online project management systems do not offer this, as it is extremely useful.

Intervals also contains everything else that project managers would require for effectively managing a project such as full invoice support, time tracking, milestone tracking, weekly and monthly overviews of tasks and projects, and more.

Performance

The speed of the system as a whole is slightly above average. While some alternatives offer near instant transitions and loading times, Intervals is definitely not as slow as some systems that take more than 3 seconds to transition between sections. Our tests showed an average of approximately 1.5 seconds between page wait times and system/function transitions.

Ease of Use

We tested adding a company, a project, tasks, and users and found it to be incredibly simple, mainly to do with the linear fashion in which those sections are designed. We had created all of those things in just a few minutes, and the end result – we were already up and running in almost no time at all. The Help and Support section can also be discussed here and we found it to be quite comprehensive as not only do they offer many videos and tutorials regarding use of the system, but also provide the ability to submit feature requests and bugs quite simply.

Overall

Upon first use, Intervals seems fairly simple and limited – the system’s depth was questionable. However, upon further investigation and usage, it became evident that the system is actually quite complex and has a lot to offer. It is definitely recommended for use as an online project management system, and hopefully further updates provide more functionality for collaboration between users, as for the moment, it is slightly lacking. Ultimately, it is a solid system and should definitely be considered. As always, don’t forget to consider all the alternatives, as while some systems clearly stand out from others, the functions and tools within may not directly apply to your managing principals and processes and may not apply to the types of projects and users that are part of these projects.

LiquidPlanner Project Management

LiquidPlanner Review

Pros	Cons
Effective automatic scheduling function	Nothing groundbreaking in terms of functionality
Clever organization of functions
Good help section

With LiquidPlanner, gone are the days of tediously creating tasks and specifying start and end dates for every single one. The system provides the ability to do automatic scheduling by using supplied data alongside information that is in the system such as task owner’s availability and workload. All the project manager needs to do is create the task with an estimated time and priority, and LiquidPlanner takes care of the rest. This will also minimize errors as the system is doing much of the calculating, reducing the risk and rate of human error. The system recognizes that projects often do not go exactly to schedule, so if any tasks are adjusted, then LiquidPlanner will take care of the rest and readjust other tasks that may need to be changed in order to ensure smooth flowing of the project and also to minimize the work required of the project manager.

User Interface

The user interface is fairly aesthetic and in general, the menus make it easy for users to find the desired section. Many alternative online project management systems have a good looking user interface, but are lacking in regards to the layout of the elements on the page. LiquidPlanner gets this part right (for the most part) by organizing functions appropriately under various menus. However, some system functions are not very obvious, which we will discuss further in the Ease of Use section. See the below screenshots for an example of the menus.

The [Add] Menu

The [Collaboration] Menu

Features

Workspace

A key feature within LiquidPlanner is known as Workspace. It is a shared area in which users join to participate in projects. This is not limited to people actually working on the project, and provides an additional feature known as the Project Portal, to allow for outsiders such as stakeholders and/or clients to be able to view what is happening with the project, and also provide their input, whether it be feedback, additional specifications, revision requests, or similar.

The project section allows the project manager to create projects and assign new tasks to projects. Sub-folders can also be created to ensure maximum organization of tasks. A notable feature of LiquidPlanner is the fact that it has full drag-and-drop support; users can drag tasks between folders to reorganize them. Additionally, will run automatic scheduling of all the tasks (including recently added tasks) when the [Refresh] button is clicked, and the schedule is determined by the priority of the task – tasks higher up have more priority.

Commenting and Collaboration

LiquidPlanner supports the ability to add comments both to the entire project or individual tasks. This allows all project members and users to communicate and keep each other up to date. The system also supports an ‘@ Format’ which people can use to address others. See the below screenshot for an example, ignoring the fact that this person is talking to them self as it is for example purposes only.

Performance

Compared to other online project management and collaboration systems, LiquidPlanner is somewhere in the middle. Page loads and section transitions were tested on multiple internet connections and computers and it most aspects of the system load in approximately 1-3 seconds. While this wait may seem insignificant, consider this wait time multiplied by every page load, for every user, for every task, for every project.

Ease of Use

As mentioned in the user interface section, LiquidPlanner has a fairly good interface, which would lead you to believe that it would promote the systems usability; however, the system is not quite as easy to use as you may think. While all the buttons and functions are there in front of you, the system just isn’t particularly intuitive and we found ourselves having to refer to the help section in order to find information and steps regarding many of the processes. That being said, the help section is quite useful, it provides good tutorials and videos, and even provides transcripts for the videos in the event that you would prefer to read what the trainer is saying.


The above screenshot is only a very small excerpt from the help section. This proves that LiquidPlanner is extremely adequate at offering help and support, thus balancing out the fact that the system functions are not always intuitive.

Summary

While LiquidPlanner looks fairly appealing and has a few good features, nothing particularly stands out and sets it above the alternatives. It will definitely get the job done, but for project managers looking for a system with all the bells and whistles, consider some alternatives to find something that may be more robust in functionality. It will still certainly provide all the tools to be able to manage a project efficiently, but the project manager must determine if it is suitable for the types of projects that they will be managing.