On a Tight Budget!

Project Management

By Michael Reina

My Background

•  MIS major •  Project work experience:

o  Shell Canada o  Calgary Airport Authority o  University of Lethbridge o  Zeilk Corp. & Freelance

•  Focus today: o  Freelance Project Management experience

Complex Projects

●  Logos and branding ●  Websites ●  Mobile apps ●  Marketing

The Needs

Reliable... ●  Applications for word processing & spreadsheets ●  Software to create charts ●  Way to collaborate and communicate ●  Software to track time and resources

To meet the Project Management Processes:

The Issues

●  Low budget ●  Fast implementation needed ●  Somewhat industry standard

The Easy Fix

Need Standard Solution Process Use

Application to create documents and spreadsheets

MS Word ~$100 MS Excel ~$140

All process groups

Software to create charts

MS Visio ~$800 Initiating and planning

A way to collaborate and communicate

MS Sharepoint Online $4 - $8 per user, per month MS Outlook ~$99

All process groups

Software to track time, resources and cost

MS Project ~$1,500 Planning and executing

The Holy Grail?

Need Standard Solution Process Use

Word processor to create documents AtTask

●  Agile ●  Centralized request mgt ●  Approvals ●  Time tracking ●  Document manager ●  Reports ●  Dynamic gantt chart ●  Portfolio optimizer ●  More ●  ~$30 per user per

month

All process groups

Software to create charts

A way to collaborate and communicate

Software to track time, resources and cost

Other Paid Options

Basecamp: ●  10 projects for ●  $20/month ●  Unlimited users ActiveCollab ●  $500 self-hosted (unlimited everything) ●  or 25/month (5 users)

The Rebels!

Need Free* Solutions Process Use

Word processor to create documents

OpenOffice Writer Google Drive: Word

All process groups

Software to create charts

OpenOffice Draw Google Drive: Lucidchart

Initiating and planning

A way to collaborate and communicate

Freedcamp Google Drive Gmail

All process groups

Software to track time, resources and cost

Google Drive: Gantter OpenProj

Planning and executing

*Some may have limitations

Quick Overview: OpenOffice

Quick Overview: Lucidchart

Quick Overview: Freedcamp

Quick Overview: Gantter

Quick Overview: OpenProj

Conclusion

•  There are many options. •  Companies can reduce project management

costs. •  Inexpensive (or free) options can handle

complex projects.

Questions

•  What are some of the risks associated with using some of these cloud-based solutions? o  How about the benefits/opportunities?

•  Would it be wise for a startup company to invest in traditional local applications or invest in cloud-based solutions? o  How does Project Management Maturity Level

influence this decision?