Streamlined project management tools for SMB Information Technology
The high level tasks need to be listed in some kind of tool that tracks deadlines, assignments and other key information. People often think of Microsoft Project and enterprise-class software for this, and those are great tools. However, MS Project and the competition take time to learn and might be too expensive for your team.
There are some key features that project managers use to track tasks, dates and resources. The concepts of work breakdown structures, Gantt charts and milestones make it easier to communicate with project managers that are used to these features. All of the commercial project management software tools have these concepts built in.
This post reviews some good alternatives to large, expensive software.
Traditional Project Management Tools
You don’t need to cough up a lot of dough for a name brand tool. Some worthwhile candidates are:
A free MS-Project alternative
If you want an absolutely free product like Microsoft Project, try Gantt Project. The look and feel is very similiar to MS Project, and it uses naming conventions that will be familiar to anybody that has worked with PM software. The product is very polished and it runs on Windows, Linux and MacOSX
A complete web based solution
AtTask champions the idea of managing the complete lifecycle of work, from requests through building the business case, authorization, team management, maintenance and document management. AtTask manages to be understandable for the small-scale project manager while having the power to handle enterprise projects.
AtTask is a cloud soution that offers great value for team management.
A budget-friendly software management suite
Altassian makes a group of software development and support tools, which are available both hosted and premise, starting at $10/month for 10 users.
Alternative software tools
There are some good alternatives to ‘traditional’ project management tools which you may want to consider:
A simple Project Task List
If you follow the details of a project in your email and other files, a simple spreadsheet might be enough to keep track of the high level tasks, resources and dates. In fact, for small projects that involve vendors and consultants, I prefer this approach – it’s easy to manipulate and distribute.
You can find a sample Project Task List in the CIOConsultant.info Project Management tool set.
The One Page Project Manager
This is a very popular technique for communicating the essential details of a project. It’s quick to learn and handles projects of any size.
The One Page Project Manager book claims to be the most popular Project Management title on the market. I use this more for high level presentation and progress tracking, and keep the details of a project elsewhere.
The free and documents give you a great start, and for fifteen bucks you can download the whole shebang. The One Page Project Manger website gives you access to templates, books, instructions, services and more.
Service Request Software
As another alternative to a traditional Project Management tool, you may want to use your Service Request software. Both tools track tasks, people, and dates. If the same people that work on the project also do maintenance service, it’s often easier to keep track of their workload in a single place.
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