Guide to Online Project Management

New web-based service targets small and midsize biz

Managing projects online saves time and trouble.

I recommend: Clarizen launched a new web-based solution for small and midsize businesses in Oct. 2007. It’s essentially a web-based home for your entire project, where you can manage it from start to finish. The cost is $50 monthly per user, with discounts if you sign up for 6 or 12 months. There’s a 30-day free trial available. One nifty feature is Clarizen’s “ProjectMail” which lets you collaborate with team members, vendors or other outside sources via email without having to buy more subscriptions. ProjectMail also lets you view and edit tasks, get updates and mark items completed without having to login. 

"More dedicated to you than your dog."

These folks are sticklers for customer support.

I recommend: @task which received the 2007 “Gold Award” for project management software from Top Ten Reviews, is a web-based service that offers versions for different sized businesses starting at about $32/month. @task likes to tout its customer support that includes a hotline, forums, training boot camps, phone coaching and more. Their motto: “We’re more dedicated to you than your dog.”  @task also has tools to integrate with SalesForce.com and Microsoft Outlook. View a demo online, and get a free 30-day trial and 30 minutes of coaching.

A lower-cost online solution

Service here starts at $14.95 monthly per user

I recommend: Celoxis is another complete web-based solution to manage projects with teams of 5 to 100. Celoxis is also largely geared to small and midsize businesses, with many users in industries such as IT development and outsourcing, web design, healthcare, tourism and engineering. You can create customized applications such as bug/issue tracking, sales tracking and others to suite your needs. Time sheet and expense features let you do billing and project costing with online approvals. Cost of the online "hosted" version of Celoxis is one of the lowest, starting at just $14.95/month per user, with two additional months free if you pay annually. Sign up for a free 30-day trial at the site.

Other web-based PM solutions to consider

These also received high ratings from "Top Ten Reviews"

I recommend: A few other web-based project management services to consider include eStudio from Same-Page (www.same-page.com) which starts at $50/month per user, and Smooth Projects (www.smoothprojects.com) starting at $39/month for the hosted service.

PM software you buy and install yourself

MS Project is nice, but others cost much less.

I recommend: For PM software you buy and install on your own computers, consider Microsoft Project, which is a bit pricey at around $600, or a low-cost alternative called MinuteMan (www.minuteman-systems.com), which is just $49.95 via electronic delivery.