Mavenlink

Opmerkingen: The only way to describe this would be "It has been and still is fun to work with". It's a great piece of software, and once you get used to its logic you will be able to do great things - and by great things I mean measure exactly how much you sell your services for and how much resources you are actually using.
This, plus see employee performance, project performance, you can create custom fields to cover for any special requirement.

Pluspunten: - Integrations and API - An excellent Salesforce bridge is available and can be fully customised (if you know Java!). You also get other connectors for Jira, Slack, and an API that allows you to do virtually anything. - Integrated GoodData reporting - If you are technical enough you can improve your workflows by adding custom fields and creating custom metrics. I used this solution to monitor the performances of the entire Professional Services team at Emarsys. - The software itself is essentially like Microsoft Project but online and with conversations & invoices generation - you can manage anything from a very small and basic project to a massive 2 years project thanks to the versatile task management interface. GANTT charts are available and, of course, if you know how to use GoodData you can dig even further into the project reports. - Resourcing wise it has a Master Planning tool which looks a bit like Resource Guru but completely integrated with the software, so you are really buying the full package with Mavenlink.

Minpunten: I believe the biggest flaw in Mavenlink is the absence of a "real" administrator. Essentially, you can be an admin but if a project is set to "Invitation only" you cannot join it unless someone invites you. So being a Mavenlink admin is not like being a Jira admin where you can do anything you want, you are more of a "open projects administrator". The workaround is to have an integration user creating the projects and a good integration with your CRM that allows you to update fields that would be otherwise not accessible.
Mind that you can still remove the integration user from the project, and at that point the only way to re-enter the project is to ask the project lead to invite you.
This should clear any security concerns, if your projects require extreme privacy.

Opmerkingen: We implemented Mavenlink specifically to disabuse our organization of several disparate systems we were using for tracking time, task-level project management, and reporting on specific measurements/metrics like utilization, margin and capacity saturation so that we could improve operational efficiencies. We've found that the tool is very flexible, has some great native reporting capabilities that become exceptional when coupled with the Business Insights add-on, it integrates well to SalesForce, it has given us a much better ability to manage projects for clients as well as internal product development projects, and it provides us with much better capabilities toward planning organizational growth and managing to margin at the business unit level down to the project level. While there are still some glitches/issues with the Gantt views, and there are still things we wish it did better, Mavenlink has proven itself to be an exceptionally valuable (and very cost-effective) management tool; the company is consistently providing updates that are meaningful and adding value with subsequent releases that clearly indicate a willingness to listen to the voice of the customer in new feature requests. Overall, I'm personally very impressed with the software, given my team's requirements and unique operational environment.

Pluspunten: Flexible, provides the ability to set up multiple templates for different types of projects, supports T&M and Fixed Fee contract types, integrates to SalesForce, provides multiple views toward project status, continually adding new features and capabilities

Minpunten: Gantt charts are still in need of a lot of work and help. Still buggy, no user-defined view preferences can be saved.

Opmerkingen: We've been using MavenLink for over a year now and we are constantly learning new and better ways to utilise all the tools it has to offer. We use it as our core method of communication with our clients, it helps to have all the information in one place. The Time tracking tool is easy to use and we are hoping to take full advantage of the Resource Allocation and Gantt chart in the near future

Pluspunten: - So many options and ways to customise each feature
- Time tracking tool is very easy to use, our team prefers it over what we have had in the past
- Custom reporting, especially weekly project reports, have upped our client communication game. Our Clients appreciate the extra level of transparency and it has helped us prevent a lot of surprises when the invoice is sent out.
- Resource Allocation and Gantt chart really help when it comes to Project Planning.

Minpunten: - It's really difficult to see WHO is responsible for a task if multiple people are assigned to it. This is a problem when you are looking at a project and want to see who is responsible for what from 30,000 feet. Instead, you need to go to that specific task and read through the comments to see where it stands. There are a few workarounds for it, but then all involved extra work and monitoring to make sure everyone using the system is doing so correctly.
- There doesn't seem to be a way to edit a comment once you post it
- You can't customise the status options for the different tasks, so something is either in progress, not started, needs information, or completed. It doesn't really let you customise it to follow your workflows.

Opmerkingen: I have been using Mavenlink as the primary account administrator for two different companies over the course of four years. The suite has proven to be an integral tool in my everyday professional life within the Marketing industry. It allows my teams to see only what they need to primarily be involved with for any particular day and clears away other clutter they may not be associated with. However, most importantly, it allows many different views when it comes to upcoming work capacity and profitability. This is the feature we were primarily after when signing up for Mavenlink. The instant-update gantt charts allow us to see both all of our current projects and each individual project. This, in addition to the robust resource management tools that are constantly being improved, as enabled our Production team to kick project input and scheduling into overdrive! Our Copy and Design teams love the real-time proofing module as well. The comparison tools are really slick.

Pluspunten: Depth of data analysis and business intelligence, gantt charts, deep task detail options, resource scheduling tools, built-in expense and budget tracking

Minpunten: There is an intermediate learning curve and may come across as immediately complex to the uninitiated creative. However, 10-15 minutes of poking around and taking advantage of the learning tools and startup tutorials offered by Mavenlink's stellar customer service program will address this minor concern. Mavenlink is a fantastically powerful information source, and with that power comes some proper approach and learning. It's all intuitive, though!

Pluspunten: We have only been using Mavenlink for a little over 3 month and have already started to see visibility and transparency across the organisation. Mavenlink Insights and analytics reports provide the company with a holistic view of all projects and accounts. We are now easily able to identity project metrics and figures without all of the manual collation and reconciliation which takes an enormous amount of time.
Mavenlink have been extremely helpful and accommodating to get us to this point with help of the guys from the MavenOps Program. The 3 months of MavenOps has been fantastic as the team who have been working with us are always willing to help and offer suggestions. Mavenlink were very responsive to our requirements and always willing to help and provide alternate solutions or workarounds if system could meet the requirements.
Additionally MavenOps were very quick at turning around reports that we requested. The reports were completely customised to our needs. If a feature could not be achieved the company can submit a "feature request" which means there is a chance that feature can be built later down the track.
Mavenlinks 24/7 chat support has also been fantastic in helping the wider organisation with any questions.
Overall the software is great but the level of support really helps to lift the product and the overall engagement.

Minpunten: Given we are an Australian based company there are a few things within the software which are set for the US, for example the date is in the wrong sequence and data refreshes happen at awkward times. These are only minor and don't stop us from achieving our main objectives. It would be helpful to have a little more control over these settings.
It would be also good for Super Admin users to have a greater level of visibility. At present even admin need to be invited to a project to view the tasks and approve time etc. It would be helpful for Super Admin users to have this level of visibility with having to rely on a project lead to invite them to a project.