The Benefits of Project Management Software

By Lauren Grabiak, Workbook

What Can Project Management Software Do For You?
They key to success and organization within a company is the ease of finding the tools you need in a single area. Project Management Software does just this for you. Regardless of the size of your company, this software type can be molded to fit you in order to ensure the highest productivity of your business. Here are just a few examples of what Project Management software can do:

Communication
Project Management Software allows you to comment on tasks, jobs or messages on a tab in order to keep all of your messages in one, singular place. Files can be sent and replies can be made in a timely manner. In addition, communication can occur with clients over this channel in order to track the progress of projects and implementations. You will no longer have to flip between messages, emails, etc. to communicate with people.

Scheduling
Not sure of a deadline? Managers of certain projects and jobs are able to add deadline dates to ensure work is completed before an allotted date. All deadlines can be seen in lists for regarding jobs to keep you organized and working efficiently. You can even view your tasks in terms of time schedules to help better allot your agenda.

Collaboration
Different tasks require different people working on them, but Project Management Software allows the bigger picture to be seen as well. Employees with different tasks can see how other tasks are being handled in order to work together for the job as a whole and see the status of how far it’s coming along. Tasks may simply be redelegated to other employees as well to make the transfer of work even easier!

Time Entries
This type of software makes it possible for you to log hours for each job after each section is finished. Furthermore, it allows you, as well as managers, to see how much time you’ve spent on each task, so you can keep up work with other tasks as well. Every task or job requires different time allotments, and this feature makes it easy to see that visually.

There is so much more that Project Management Software can do for you than these 4 components can say in words. See for yourself today.

How Fit Is Your Agency Solution?

Assess Your Current Performance And Discover How To Transform Your Agency by AccountAbility

THE STATE OF PLAY:  AGENCY LIFE

Today’s agencies are experiencing a very real threat: the increased pressure from clients to do more for less. Add to this the emerging trend of some marketers to bypass agencies and go straight to the source of production and media, or bring the process in-house,  and you have genuine conflict in agency life.  These pressures have a number of consequences. 
It’s natural to respond by working faster, harder and  longer - which more often than not won’t deliver increased profitability or productivity (though it’ll probably get a client off your back for a week or so).

We work with dozens of agencies who are trying to keep pace with rapid changes in the value chain on top of new technology, while still delivering outstanding work for their clients. It’s far from easy and no agency is perfect. 

Click here to download the full ebook

The importance of selecting the right cloud ERP service package

by Rick Carlton

Today’s cloud ERP providers offer a range of service levels in order to ensure the launch, operation and maintenance of their system performs at the highest level. However, in the same way that issues of scale can play against difficulties associated with ERP implementations, problems based on cloud ERP service level can occur leading to lost revenue or unexpected costs of operation.

To help you understand today’s typical cloud service level, here is a short primer on what is generally accepted in today’s market.

Cloud ERP service package options

‘Knowledge-only’ agreements typically offer the following elements; business analysis, operational assessment, systems purchase research and evaluation, and end-to-end roadmap development. The next rung up on the ladder includes ‘core integration’ packages. Packages of this type include more technical, development-oriented or operational tasking such as end-to-end data mapping, enterprise platform identification, analysis and migration, operational implementation, enterprise rollout, module and affiliate systems integration, pre-launch testing and QA, defined support and maintenance and periodic upgrades.

if you have not considered these service packages in a linear fashion, all bets will be off, and significantly more money will be required to effect positive change than perhaps you might expect.

Finally, once your cloud ERP implementation is up and running, enhanced service packages are typically offered. This group of tasks typically include elements such as provider hosting, tailored development, BPO analysis, big data/analytics, and mobility-derived integration.

In each case cloud ERP scale and complexity plays a major part in a company’s cost management and operational decision-making. If you get it wrong, well, you need to be prepared to get your checkbook out.

The implications of your service package decision

In the launch phase, if you have purchased a ‘knowledge-only’ cloud ERP service package, you must accept that the entire responsibility for an ERP system’s viability will rest with your enterprise’s IT cadre. So, if one is running a small shop with limited technical resources, the cost of trying to avoid going beyond the paper analysis stage can demand more money downstream, rather than simply accepting the additional cost of a middle level operational package at the outset.

Recommended reading: ERP software in the cloud - your introduction to cloud ERP projects

In these middle level cloud ERP service packages, the majority of all operational pre-launch and post-launch testing, and initiation elements are included. However, package costs will be relative to the depth of service. Once a system has matured and developed both its own dense data mass and operational character derived by daily use, the scalability of the system and service package will be critical.

If scalability becomes an issue, it may be useful, as well as cost-effective, to purchase an enhanced service package. These can cover the movement of an operational system from one hosted platform to another, the application of additional analysis, or enhancing a baseline system by developing custom code specific to one process or another.

A well understood plan of action

In all cases, these opportunities begin with a well understood plan of action typically based on a multi-year operational schedule, lest the enterprise lose overall technical momentum. The final stage of this planning should involve all that the enterprise and its cloud ERP provider have learned about how and why the company operates effectively, and, in this case, can quickly close the loop on a service decision.

At the end of the day, if you have have selected the correct cloud ERP service package, the expansion of your ERP system ‘should’ be reasonably straightforward. However, if you have not considered these service packages in a linear fashion, all bets will be off, and significantly more money will be required to effect positive change than perhaps you might expect.