Easy Project Management with Basecamp

We implement a lot of projects at IT Freedom, for ourselves and our customers. In a sense, growing our IT services business has been nothing but a continual stream of projects to sell, expand, and improve our services.

We looked for a long time for software to help us easily and effectively manage all of our internal and external projects. Spreadsheets don't provide the structure we need, and Microsoft Project, in my opinion, is too expensive and bloated for all but very large-scale projects. Several months ago we discovered and started using an online product called Basecamp by 37Signals that we think is nearly perfect for our needs. Basecamp has developed a bit of a cult following, for good reason:

• It's simple: Projects, milestones, and to-do lists. That's it. You can wrap your arms around Basecamp in 10 minutes.
• It's easy: The user interface is very well-designed, requiring a minimum of clicks and key-strokes to create and update projects
• It's centralized: You can keep and do everything about a project in one place: Post messages, hold discussions, upload documents, comment on to-do items. It's all there, online, visible by everyone on your team -- and even by your customers, if you like.
• It's cheap: Basecamp starts at only $49/month for small groups (up to 35 projects). You can try it for free for 30 days.

Basecamp also has a facility for creating templates for projects and to-do lists, so you can execute repeated projects with consistency. It has made a huge difference in the quantity and quality of our project work.

If you'd like to know more about Basecamp, shoot me an email. You can also check it and other 37Signals products out online at www.37signals.com.

Regards,
Carey