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In the modern business world, there is no problem finding new project management tools that promise to speed up task progress and increase team performance. Project management software is “eating the world” and it is expected to grow to over $15 billion by 2030. On the one hand, software solutions are everywhere, on the other hand, not all solutions fit your organization’s processes.
In today’s blog, we will analyze the pros and cons of Microsoft Project and introduce you to an agile project management alternative to Microsoft Project. The software was first released in 1984 and by 2023 has a market share of 14,74%. It brings drag-and-drop functionalities for real-time progress tracking and integration with Microsoft products. Nevertheless, the software also has some drawbacks that will make you look for an alternative.
If you are looking for Microsoft Project-like tools for issue management this article is for you. We will present a new innovative project management tool, Redmineflux. The software solution is helping project managers to increase productivity, improve team performance, and balance out team workload. The Redmineflux plugins model delivers value to organizations of different sizes and extends as the organization grows.
By the end of this article, you’ll learn:
-Microsoft project management pros and cons.
-Redmineflux’s advantages and why you should consider it as a Microsoft Project alternative for software development.
Redmineflux is a project management solution that offers a cost-efficient tool for project planning, task tracking, team collaboration, and workload monitoring. It is based on Redmine, an open-source project that provides the platform foundation for Redminflux, which builds an intuitive project management tool. Redmine plugins assist project managers by choosing a solution package that fits their needs without compromising with a one-size-fits-all solution.
The cloud-based solution is designed for organizations of different sizes, its out-of-the-box features interconnect agile boards, Gantt charts, and custom dashboards. Project managers become one application that integrates project progress, so there is no need to jump among applications to get tasks progress. Additionally, Redmineflux’s advanced features integrate team workload and timesheet, so project managers can take performance to the next level.
Microsoft Project is a widely used business solution for project planning, tracking, and reporting. The solution incorporates project templates, timelines, Gantt charts, and roadmap views. The application is designed with Ux principles to make users the learning process intuitive and more straightforward.
The project management tool allow to plan milestones, schedule project task, and monitor their progress in real-time, while tracking cost and expenses. Project managers can identify project bottlenecks and keep an eye on project budgets.
The software solution is reliable and stable since it has decades of development and testing, and releases are delivered periodically. Moreover, it has the support of one of the largest software companies in the world, as well as an active community of practitioners
As a project manager choosing the right tool is a challenging decision that impacts project performance and budget burnout. Microsoft project management is a powerful tool with years of improvements with some limitations. If your project is getting stock, you are not alone! In this section, we will compare Redmineflux an agile project management alternative to Microsoft Project.
Microsoft Project brings out-of-the-box Gantt charts with templates for timelines, reporting tools and roadmaps. The well-curated interface allows advanced project planning with task dependencies, milestones, and customized options. Expert project managers are able to identify the critical path and immediately take action. It is a very flexible tool that includes budget tracking and can be specially customized.
Similarly, Redmineflux provides out-of-the-box Roadmaps, Kanban boards, checklists, timesheets, and issue templates. The solution offers an intuitive interface that makes it easy to set up a new project. The project management features are well interconnected, enabling an end-to-end view of the deadlines, progression, and resources.
Microsoft Project integrates real-time monitoring of schedule milestones over the project dependencies. The advanced report capabilities help project managers to track projects, resource utilization, programs, and portfolios. Also, the timesheet feature enables one to track project and not project time.
Similarly, Redmineflux enables visualizations of roadmaps and deadlines and tracking goals, tasks, and resources. It makes it possible to track real-time project progress individually, giving managers a detailed view of the timelines. Redmineflux project managers are able to catch bottlenecks, reduce the impact on the deadlines, and balance out the team workload.
While collaboration in Redmineflux enables task assignments and mentions using the “@”. This allows users to tag task assignees and get notified via e-mail. In this aspect, the Microsft Project delegates collaboration to already-existing tools, such as Microsoft Teams. Why reinvent the wheel?
Microsoft Project, as you already imagined, runs just on Windows and mobile applications for iOS and Android. In contrast, Redmineflux offers an intuitive and user-friendly web application.
Table 1. Feature-to-Feature comparison Microsoft Project vs. Redmineflux
Features | Microsoft Project | Redmineflux |
Project Management Tools | Project home (centralized project view). Grid, boad and Timeline (Gantt) view | Plugins include Gantt Diagram, Agile Board, Sprint planning, Checklist, Workload and Timesheet. |
Monitor & Tracking |
Pre-built reports to track project, ressources, programs and portfolios. Timesheet (payroll and invoicing). | Tracking and monitoring out-of-the-box, workload on individual memebers |
Collaboration tools | Over Microsoft Teams. | Mentioning with @ to assign team members. |
Compatibility | Web browser and desktop client. Mobile application | Web Application. |
Integration | Integration with Microsoft products (Excel and SharePoint). | Several Plugins, plus Redmine third-party such as GitHub, Google Calender and BitBucket. |
Price | Cloud-based solution Project Plan 1 $10,00 user/month. Project Plan 3 $30,00 user/month. Project Plan 5 $55,00 user/month. | Each plugin alone free to $499. Plugins Combo essential for $1695 and Plugins Combo full for $3786 per year. |
Microsoft Project has a limited integration, while it seamlessly integrates with Microsoft products, no integration with third-party software is available. In comparison, Redmineflux Plugins extend Redmine platform functionalities and integrate the already existing connectivity to third-party plugins. Relevant Redmineflux integrations include applications such as GitHub (code repository), Google Calendar, and BitBucket.
Microsoft pricing is very expensive, three tiers are available. Project Planner Plan 1 for $10 user/month includes Project Home, Grid, board, and timeline view, collaboration using Microsoft Teams and reporting. Project Planner Plan for $30 user/month brings resource management and up to 5 desktop installations. Finally, Project Planner Plan 5 for $50 user/month includes portfolio scenarios, demand management and enterprise resource planning.
In comparison, Redmineflux offers plugins for free up to $499 or a package called Plugins Combo. Plugins Combo started from $1695 for essential features to $3786 for All Plugins Combo. All Plungins Combo includes fully customizable collaboration plugins and custom Dashboards with Key Metrics. Also, it integrates task management with Kanban workflows and a drag-and-drop interface. The fantastic point is the features are fully integrated in a reliable way, so every progress is tracked in real-time over the whole project workflow. Moreover, each package comes with 12 months of updates, support, and bug fixes, and after that period, Redemineflux users continue receiving updates, support, and bug fixes for an additional cost of 30% of the combo price.
Redmineflux allows agile project management with out-of-the-box sprint boards and mentioning tools to enable collaboration. Redmineflux’s drag-and-drop intuitive interface makes training new users fast and easy. The innovative software allows to track and monitor the project at different levels and instantly take action if a bottleneck is identified. What really stands out is Redmineflux Workload and timesheet plugin, which helps project managers and team members to increase productivity and deliver product increments at a faster pace.
The software solution has no vendor locking since it is based on the Redmine open-source platform. It also interconnects all functionalities in real-time, and in the case of any question, user support is available 24/7. Additionally, it is a perfect fit as a Microsoft Project alternative for software development since it supports natively sprint planning. Last, the Redmineflux DevOps plugins seamlessly integrate code repository tools with tasks and issues, giving project managers a detailed overview of product development.
Microsoft Project integrates real-time project planning for complex projects with task dependencies. Even though the interface is easy to use, the product has several decades of development, which makes it very complex. Nevertheless, the native integration to the Microsoft ecosystem makes it easier to exchange project data over .xls or .csv files. Also, sharing files over SharePoint allows collaboration with team members.
The software has excellent flexibility for customizing project-specific requirements and allows custom fields. The latter enables the creation of customized reports for tracking the task’s progress in real-time. A powerful feature is budget tracking, which integrates an additional perspective into the project management tool. Moreover, Microsoft’s large community supports users and project managers in using the full potential of the tool and addressing any software bug.
The price model of Microsoft Project is highly expensive, and significant investment is needed to get a team running, not only licenses but also training. A ten-person team needs at least a Project Plan 3, which means over $3600 annually. In comparison, Redmineflux offers plugins for free up to $399 or a package called Plugins Combo. Plugins Combo started from $1695 for essential features to $3687 for All Plugins Combo. Therefore, Redmineflux offers for half of the price a fully functional project management tool with roadmaps, timelines, Gantt charts, and collaboration tools. Moreover, for IT development teams, sprint-based project planning and tracking is available with DevOps tooling integration. It is clear which option is the best one.
In the present post, we compared Microsoft Project with Redmineflux. Microsoft Project presents a well-curated interface and allows advanced project planning with task dependencies, milestones, and customized options. Expert project managers are able to identify the critical path and immediately take action. However, the limited integration with third-party apps and the long training needed to manage complex features will make you consider an alternative. Also, Microsoft Project leaves team collaboration and communication to other applications such as Microsoft Teams.
A great alternative is Redmineflux which is cost-efficient and specially designed for agile development. Redmineflux also provides a user-friendly interface with drag-and-drop features and allows for tracking team workload and timesheet. It makes it possible to track real-time project progress individually, giving managers a detailed view of the timelines. Third-party software integration is supported by Redmineflux, including applications such as GitHub (code repository), Google Calendar, and BitBucket. Moreover, Redmineflux Plugins enable business to scale the solution as they grow and extend features more functionalities are needed.
So, if you want a Microsoft alternative with Kanban boards, go to Redmineflux. Start right away investing your precious time in project deliveries and let Redmineflux support you with a Gantt chart, Kanban board, checklists, or detailed tracking of team workload and timesheet.
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