You are convinced of the benefits that project management software in Morocco can bring to your activity and your productivity. Many solutions appear every year. Choosing the right tool can therefore be difficult .
Before you decide, it is necessary to ask yourself the right questions. What are your needs ? What types of projects and tasks do you carry out on a daily basis? How many people work there simultaneously and what is your budget ?
What features do I need?
A suitable solution
Project management computer programs all offer a common core of functionalities . But some have additional options.
Don’t choose a version that offers the most capabilities for the lowest price. It is wise to define what you need and choose the one that will meet your expectations in a targeted manner. Opt for a pleasant and tailor-made project administration solution . It will be less complex to use and your employees will use it more easily.
Depending on the number of projects to be handled simultaneously, their type and the size of your teams, you can decide on different project management software, free , subscription or open source .
“Whatever it is, don’t think too big, just see.”
Planning and monitoring your project portfolio
These are the basic capabilities of a project management program.
After having identified the stages and tasks of your project, you can, using this comprehensive tool, define and organize its feasibility over time with an intelligent schedule . It will allow you to divide your project into phases, to integrate milestones and the different stakeholders, to assign tasks to each team, to control the dependencies between them, to estimate the available equipment, the deadlines to be respected, etc.
From then on, you can easily monitor the progress of your project , view delays, distribute the workload within your teams in real time based on the progress of the missions, etc.
To have at a glance an idea of the progress of the work and the distribution of tasks, the software offers Gantt charts or a Kanban system.
These basic capabilities are essential and meet the needs of all users, whether a small, medium or large business.
However, devices that do not have additional capabilities are mainly suitable for personal projects or small structures and teams with a reduced number of users. The missions managed are relatively simple. These devices are often free or very inexpensive .
A complete collaborative tool
A project portfolio management program can be collaborative . It then facilitates and promotes teamwork . A single platform accessible to all employees centralizes all information relating to the project. It allows you to share and store documents, offers instant online exchange solutions such as comments or chat, but also alerts and notifications, knowledge sharing with a forum and wikis, etc.
This platform can also be opened to the outside. Service providers and customers can then have secure access to useful information in real time and exchange with teams.
More advanced options
Some project portfolio management applications incorporate more specific capabilities . They respond to more complex needs and often involve a large number of employees. Here are some possible options:
- resource , budget and inventory management
- customer relationship management
- reporting
- telephony
- HR
A system integrating existing tools
Your teams are used to working on a daily basis with certain tools ( messaging , ERP , CRM ). Project management software can integrate with the existing information system and business applications in production. In SaaS mode, this will be thanks to APIs.
What working method do you use?
Your project portfolio project management software should match your working methods . Many solutions are designed, for example, using the Agile method, widely used in France. Flexible, collaborative, transversal, it places the client’s needs at the center of a project’s priorities. This progresses step by step. It thus stands out from the classic partitioned technique operating in cascade.
Project management software in local version or in the cloud?
There are two ways to equip yourself.
“On premise” or locally
You are purchasing a project administration computer program that is physically located on your premises . It is installed on your company’s servers or on your computer. Licenses, updates, maintenance are your responsibility. This solution is often more expensive than the next version. But, it has the advantage of not requiring an internet connection to work.
In SaaS or on the cloud
You can also have an application in SaaS mode, on the cloud. It is hosted on external servers belonging to cloud providers. You have access to your online tools from anywhere and from any media using a simple browser and an Internet connection. They are free or available on a monthly or annual subscription. You pay according to your needs.
Updates are made by the service provider . Maintenance and computer hardware purchase costs are reduced. Furthermore, more and more publishers are offering offline access to the project management program.
Read also: The list of the best project management software and online collaborative tools.
Choose a freemium, paid, subscription, open source option?
You will find freemium project management programs on the market which sometimes have limited resources. A paid version may be more efficient and tailor-made. Most of the time, you will have to subscribe to an annual or monthly subscription . Furthermore, an open source device allows your developers to adapt it perfectly to the specific needs of your organization.
Is your software safe?
In order to secure information relating to your projects and your clients, be sure to ensure that the project management software offers you solid guarantees in terms of confidentiality , protection and integrity of your data .
It must comply with GDPR rules : Hosting on French territory, in private cloud or “On premise”, data encryption, server security system, etc. You must take these criteria into consideration before making your choice.
Test your future software
It is important that you can thoroughly test your future project management program. The trial period must be long enough to understand it. Take the opportunity to address many questions. Is the interface intuitive ? Are the features suitable for daily project management ? Are the teams satisfied and do they know how to use it?
The project management computer program should not be a rigid framework. It must fit your working method and meet the needs of your organization . An ideal solution exists for all configurations. For its deployment to be successful, however, it is necessary to support change. To be sure you make the right choice, you can call on specialists.
Tell us about your organization and let’s start exchanging ideas!
