Is BaseCamp the best PM software for clients?

I have experience in Project Management and I actually use MS Project; but that is probably over the top for most people. I keep all my project trees local and manage them local and then delegate after that to an online version. For myself I use projekPHP which is difficult for most to install, but it is in my cpanel so I put it up there. This does the trick of having emails sent out, and then there are time cards for team members to fill out on the progress.

If you are familiar with using Joomla the Projectfork Powerful & Intuitive Project Management for Joomla! has a system that is almost identical to basecamp - again its an installation here; but in the end its yours alone.

Either way, I will say that no matter what anyone uses, I prefer a PM app if it can manage time, cost and quality, uses a GANTT chart, a WBS (work breakdown structure) and calculate automatically based on the former three how the project is moving along on a baseline and a timeline (expected time and actual time). It needs to have a way to set milestones as well as deliverables; in other words; midway points and final goals.

I can do a ton in a high level application but all the above points are essentials. For instance, if your budget allows for it MS Project does connect to online communications; but it can be pricey.

I was just talking to someone the other day about using online PM services, and like I said - I manage my project from my app on my desktop; after that "sub-projects" are created and can be put online. He wanted to know why it was not so effective for him and I could see that he was not following the ideas behind project management. I mention that, because if you don't have the theory behind this, a PM application can easily turn into something that is causing more scope creep than its suppose to stop.

Either way, for PC's I like MS Project and on the Mac OmniPlan works well and can import most files; then of course I have free versions online that I can use to assign team members to sub-projects and the tasks inside them.

i have use a lot of PMs. and i'm still using basecamp, i think it's the best personally ...

Huddle is good, reasonably priced PM solution. It's a cloud-based collaboration platform.

Project management software, collaboration software & file storage - Huddle

Still using BC after 3 years. The best out there.

Hrmmm I see I see, I'm especially liking the basecamp iphone app, but good to know others are using diff solutions!

~Dexx

Basecamp is without a doubt, the best project management platform. A free version out there for you guys is freedcamp, which is pretty good for being free.

Basecamp is pretty awesome and good.. they got a really nice customer service that will walk you through a problem too.

Basecamp is great - using Highrise too and the integration is great. Also a JV partner of mine uses Basecamp, and we can share instances - reallly useful feature and it works flawlessly.

I'm finding a lot more usefulness in consolidated tools.

In previous operations I would see businesses try and use separate CRM, project management, accounting, and timesheet apps that don't really integrate and yet still cost a ton in subscription costs. Was actually more of a pain than a help, jumping from system to system constantly to do mundane tasks.

Now I use WORKetc to manage leads, contacts, projects, to-dos, invoicing, timesheets, calendars, and a bunch of other stuff. The project management module has Gantt style projects (among others) and other features integrate directly which saves a lot of time (timesheets pick up time spent on every task, turn leads into projects automatically, etc etc).

Freedcamp - Free Project Management looks like it might be the new champ!

Far from the best but extremely easy to setup, so maybe if you're looking for fast setup it is the best. The best is almost always going to be a propietary solution. Look at almost any major company and they get their own PM and CRM software made.

I am not sure about Basecamp, but I've had the privilege to take a look at Kevin Lam's Simple Client Manager (SCM) or soon to be SplashAll!

It's easier to use, easier to manage, and it has a lot of stuff that Basecamp aren't having.. Well I'd better off get Kevin to post those features in here.

Hope that helps.

Aiden

I use ActiveCollab. run from my own hosting it works great.

Was looking at Basecamp & thought I'de do a quick WF search.... Freedcamp looks great (from someone who has used neither, the website seems a lot clearer to me than Basecamp). Will have to check it out!