Five Steps Toward Choosing a Project Management App

Project management is one of, if not the most important piece of software for today’s successful ad agencies.^[1] After all, the fundamental creation of value for agencies is nothing other than each and every project created for clients.

It’s therefore impossible to overestimate the importance—and, indeed, value—of choosing the right project management application. So, where is an ad agency to begin its search? Here we’ll outline five steps your agency can take to make better project management software choices today.

1. Task tracking : At the heart of every project management app is the task or issue tracking software component. Such systems allow project managers to create any number of issues that record features, bug, user stories, or other items to be completed by team members. Each issue receives a due date, a time estimate, and is assigned to a respective owner. As the issue is worked on, it is moved through different states—or “swim lanes”—such as “to do,” “in progress,” “testing,” and “done.” This is emblematic of the paradigm of AGILE.^[2]
2. Integration : Project management software can—and should—be judged by how well it gets along with other important pieces of agency software. What your business should know here is that project management integration is not only a time saver, but it’s also a money saver. Make sure that your project management software can function as a fundamental part of your Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software suite. This way you’ll cut down on unnecessary human processes including toggling between different apps.
3. Global scope : Today’s successful ad agency is an international agency. Make sure that your project management application supports global functionality and international processes such as support for multiple time zones and translations into multiple languages. Although tax and financial tasks are often handled by software outside of your project management software, it is also a smart idea to consider if your management app can handle issues related to currency conversion and international tax codes.
4. Cloud-based : Make sure that your project management software runs in the cloud. Although some agencies are still running on-premises solutions, it’s imperative that you don’t get stalled by costly on-site updates and risk business-damaging downtime for software maintenance. So much of the ad industry now runs in the cloud. It’s crucial therefore that your project management software runs at the same pace. Don’t make the mistake of tying yourself to an on-site solution. Keep your head in the clouds.
5. Resource management : Resource management is often considered to be a cousin of project management. But, now more than ever—especially as the ad industry is becoming more agile and fast-paced^[3]—business are thinking of resource and project management as two inseparable sides of the same coin. The good news is that a truly integrated ERP solution will combine these two functions—resource and project management—into a single location that’s both convenient and revenue-saving.