Get Everything You Need with Online Project Management Software

It used to be that small businesses or companies didn’t have a chance when it came to managing projects efficiently and effectively. Lucky for us those days are long gone. Over the past five to ten years there has been much significant advancement that has leveled the playing field. Of course companies still have the option of purchasing or renting their own servers and installing their own online project management software system. What is important for small business is that this is not the only option. Today it possible to subscribe to online web enabled project management software and avoids the big investment in hardware, software, and personnel.

The project management software systems that are available on the web today offer all the same state of the art features that have made project management software a necessity in today’s fast changing
market place. From sophisticated reporting engines to real time status checking, these systems provide businesses with all the tools they need to empower their employees to keep their products and services moving through the operations process in a timely and cost effective manner. Not only that, many of the best systems offer cradle to grave options such as CRM (customer relations management) and billing.

While CRM software may not seem to be relevant to project management software, this is not the case. Consider the fact that it costs considerably more to acquire a new customer than it does to keep the ones you have, and you see why CRM not only makes a lot of sense when it comes to project management but it can give you a real competitive edge. Whether you are intervening when a problem arises or taking the initiative to offer a customer something that may help his or her business run more smoothly, monitoring the communications with the customer along with the status of their projects through the pipeline can be a very powerful thing.

At the back end, linking the financial aspects to the operations chain via the project management software can also work to your advantage. Whether your sales people are following up to make sure that your accounts receivables are being paid on time or are up-selling and cross selling where it makes sense, having billing tied to the project management software can help you make sure that you are not leaving money on the table.

Of course the project management software can do everything for you. It will still be up to you to ensure that the software is properly implemented and your people are sufficiently trained, but having a tool
that is available 24/7, is easy to use, and works the way your people work can make everyone’s life easier.

One of the key advantages to online project management software systems is the fact that you’ll be free to management your business rather than managing the software. You’ll get the nuts and bolts hardware power, the technical support, and product upgrades all in one package. Whether you already have a project management system or you are shopping for one, be sure to include web enabled systems in your research.