June 8, 2016 at 18:02Quantity and quality: how task trackers evolve in a competitive environment
History knows more than a dozen task managers who seek to capture the minds and win the hearts of users. However, the latter have enough arguments for and against to motivate developers of such services for further exploits. Moreover, someone lacks existing task managers, and as you know, demand creates supply.
The features of this niche are such that free task managers can well compete with paid products, large corporations with small teams of enthusiasts.
If the new task manager becomes popular, he has every chance of getting high-quality feedback from users, as well as getting into special ratings of task managers. However, between the position of the product in the ranking and the opinions of users, the correlation is not always traced.
Microsoft Corporation launches a new service - Planner . He will become a direct competitor to the popular task manager Trello. Comparing the appearance and the principle of the two services, you can find a lot in common.
Planner
Trello
Planner uses the concept of “boards”, each of which is designed for a separate project. Inside the “boards” are “cards” (cards), which may have a due date, file attachments, categories and discussions. "Cards" can be organized by columns, "baskets" (buckets), which can be assigned the desired color and priority.
The main difference between Planner and its competitors is integration with other Microsoft products. For example, discussions in the service will be available in the Outlook service, and files from Word, Excel and PowerPoint can be quickly attached to the "cards". Microsoft promises to add Planner to all Office 365 users' app packages in the coming weeks.
Trello is a collaboration web service that can help you organize and manage your projects with maps.
The main advantage of Trello can be called viewing several simultaneously running projects and their status at the moment. To work with a group of developers or other executors working on projects with deadlines or a goal, this system can give you an idea of the progress of the projects.
At Trello, the main focus is on packs of cards. Each pack shows the status of any project. For example, if you select a team for work, then in the first column there will be cards with resumes, in the second - candidates for interviews, in the third - meetings, in the fourth - past events and meetings, and in the fifth - results, as direct candidates
Over the past year, Trello has acquired support for German, French, and Portuguese. New versions of Trello Business Class and Trello Enterprise, as well as an Android application, have been released. Notifications and the labeling system, which is used for filtering, have changed.
In addition, the service has the ability to create bookmarks and drag and drop addresses for creating cards from Pinterest, Amazon, Airbnb, as well as from a computer.
In 2015, some other task managers were also finalized.
In Asana, the biggest event of the past year was the redesign of the service. The main changes affected the navigation panels, color schemes and logo. Information about projects and tasks and the inbox began to look different.
New ways of talking have appeared and there are more options for using animation.
A new version of JIRA has been released , in which the welcome guide, sidebar and project template have changed, as well as the possibility of disaster recovery.
On November 3, 2015, Basecamp released a new version of Basecamp 3, so fast that they didn’t manage to integrate with popular services. Now you can create an unlimited number of projects, archive dialogs and adjust the frequency of sending messages from Basecamp to mail to relax in the evenings and weekends.
In addition, there were color solutions to facilitate file filtering, file search by key, a new text editor, the ability to download multiple files in an archive. Now the system, instead of sending messages to all devices, determines which one the client is currently using. The procedure for creating project templates has also been improved.
The support service Basecamp can be proud of, fortunately, has not changed. According to a Basecamp poll, 93 out of 100 people find it great.
Redmine developers have released several new versions of the product over the year. Major updates relate to filtering when searching for documents, importing, delimiting user privileges and language localization.
Bitrix24 experienced a light website redesign over the year and acquired new functionality. So new CRM forms and file sharing appeared, the speed and volume of disk space increased, support for Portuguese and Chinese languages appeared.
Over the past year , Megaplan has undergone a complete redesign. From technical capabilities appeared integration with mail, calculation of the value of foreign exchange transactions and car scripts that increase customer loyalty. For example, if the client has a birthday, Megaplan will remind you to send a congratulation.
The developers updated synchronization with 1C, added room rental and support for external calls, and created filters for the client base. The mobile application has full-fledged project cards and contact management. In alpha testing mode, an application for Windows Phone is presented.
Cloud task manager who justifies his slogan "Available everywhere and anytime."
It is supported by most devices, including desktop applications for Windows and Mac OS, mobile applications for devices on iOS, Android and Windows. The app is also available on iPad, Android tablet, Kindle Fire, Apple Watch and even Chromebook.
The product was created in 2011 by German developers, and in 2015 was purchased by Microsoft. In 2014, Wunderlist achieved a result of 10 million users, and in 2015 - 13 million.
The analytical agency TAGLINE has published a fresh rating of task management services used by Russian companies.
He headed the rating of specialized solutions for task management “Bitrix24”, which is used by 51% of respondents. In second place is the Basecamp service, which is chosen by 27% of respondents. The third most popular was Redmine with 25% of the vote.
The ratings of services for task tracking automation are held by TAGLINE for the fourth time. They are based on a survey of 510+ digital agencies and production with production and / or a client office in Russia (conducted from August 2014 to April 2016).
The dynamics are given in comparison with the data obtained by TAGLINE for the period from May 2013 to August 2014.
According to Evgeny Lobanov, Executive Director of AGIMA , it is not necessary to test task trackers to make a choice, as system developers give a detailed description of the functionality, and the interface and mechanics of interaction can be seen in the video:
Experts agree that project management systems are a prerequisite for the effective allocation of time for employees. Dmitry Provotorov, Executive Director of Manufactura , comments:
TAGLINE Editor-in-Chief Aleksey Ramensky notes:
Also, the surveyed experts called “moving” management systems to the cloud, simplifying the introduction of technology and expanding opportunities for integration as trends in the market for task managers.
“There are more and more very simple systems that are not burdened with complex functionality, settings and the possibility of“ dopilivaniya ”. Such systems are well suited for any one configuration of the project management system and are also definitely not suitable for everyone else. Accordingly, they are implemented very easily and elegantly, ”explains Nikita Mikheenkov, Development Director of Nimax .
“The main task [of the task manager] is to always see the status of the projects and not lose the tasks in the mail or on Skype. Since we are a web studio, I needed functionality tailored for specific requests, ”-says Yevgeny Kudryavchenko, Director of Customer Relations at Vintage Web Production .
He identifies the necessary and optional set of functions that, in his opinion, should be the task managers.
Necessary functions:
• create projects and tasks within the project;
• assign tasks to specific people;
• give access to clients so that they see status in large projects and set goals themselves;
• Gantt chart - with its help it is visually easier to understand which tasks are in the work and which are beyond the scope;
• time tracking and the possibility of invoicing (at least internal).
It is desirable:
• Russian and English interface;
• integration with Dropbox and Google Drive;
• the ability to conduct a wiki on the project.
“We are sitting in the same office, so chats, group videos and calls are not a priority. I’ll say right away - I didn’t even consider Redmine and dotProject because of the wretchedness and complete lack of usability, ”he said.
Basecamp (2nd place in the TAGLINE ranking)
Asana (8th place in the TAGLINE ranking)
Bitrix24 (1st place in the TAGLINE ranking)
Worksection (9th place in the TAGLINE ranking)
Megaplan (5th place in the TAGLINE ranking)
“They used to use Megaplan. We’ve switched because it’s not suitable for development management, ” adds Artem Paul, Workle project manager .
Redmine (3rd place in the TAGLINE ranking)
Nikolai Kostikov:
Maxim Leonov, CTO of KudaGo :
MS Project (7th place in the TAGLINE ranking)
Sergey Babaev, Development Director Nekki :
JIRA (4th place in the TAGLINE ranking) Alexei Arkhipov,
Deputy IT Director of QIWI Group :
YouTrack (10th place in the TAGLINE ranking)
Ruslan Fazlyev, CEO of X-Cart and Ecwid :
Vasily Dyachenko:
If there is no unanimous opinion and each task manager has its own shortcomings, then why not develop your own task manager for your company?
TAGLINE researchers asked experts a question:
What are the pros and cons of using their project management system to control the time spent by specialists?
Maxim Tenth, Redmadrobot :
- Plus of its system - it is created relevant to specific processes.
Konstantin Kolomeets, ex-Yandex:
- There is only one plus in using your own project management system: your own development system will allow you to take into account some feature that developers of box solutions do not care about. For example, you need to store a lot of data in the system, or integrate with your other information system, or support IE6.
But there are a lot of minuses.
Firstly, the cost. Almost always, a third-party project management system will cost the company less than developing an analogue, albeit greatly reduced in functionality.
Secondly, development speed. Project management systems companies have been analyzing feedback and product implementation experience in organizations for many years. This experience can not be obtained in a shorter time, even if you assemble a large team.
Third, quality. Products on the market have been developed over the years and have been honed.
Olga Kulikova, Articul :
- One big plus - your system can be perfectly customized to fit your business processes. One big minus - the system requires support and development, and for this it is necessary to spend resources, which means money. The cost of a commercial product is always lower than its system.
Maxim Malyshev, Notamedia :
- If the system is good, then it can develop as a separate line of business. You can flexibly sharpen it for your business processes.
Everyone is looking for something different. Of course, a suitable solution out of the box would be a salvation for most. For example, for fans of the integration of “everything with everything” and fans of one brand, Microsoft developed Planner. In such a situation, the competition between task managers ceases to be fair: many fans of Microsoft will “support” their favorite.
In addition, the target audience of task managers is stratified in accordance with the lines of business: software development, design studios, advertising agencies, and so on.
Who lacks existing task managers? At a minimum, those who create new ones. Apparently, the sphere of project management automation has not exhausted itself, and soon someone will make another breakthrough.
PS In the meantime, 25% of digital companies surveyed by TAGLINE track tasks in Microsoft Excel.
The features of this niche are such that free task managers can well compete with paid products, large corporations with small teams of enthusiasts.
If the new task manager becomes popular, he has every chance of getting high-quality feedback from users, as well as getting into special ratings of task managers. However, between the position of the product in the ranking and the opinions of users, the correlation is not always traced.
Microsoft Corporation launches a new service - Planner . He will become a direct competitor to the popular task manager Trello. Comparing the appearance and the principle of the two services, you can find a lot in common.
Planner
Trello
Planner uses the concept of “boards”, each of which is designed for a separate project. Inside the “boards” are “cards” (cards), which may have a due date, file attachments, categories and discussions. "Cards" can be organized by columns, "baskets" (buckets), which can be assigned the desired color and priority.
The main difference between Planner and its competitors is integration with other Microsoft products. For example, discussions in the service will be available in the Outlook service, and files from Word, Excel and PowerPoint can be quickly attached to the "cards". Microsoft promises to add Planner to all Office 365 users' app packages in the coming weeks.
Trello
Trello is a collaboration web service that can help you organize and manage your projects with maps.
The main advantage of Trello can be called viewing several simultaneously running projects and their status at the moment. To work with a group of developers or other executors working on projects with deadlines or a goal, this system can give you an idea of the progress of the projects.
At Trello, the main focus is on packs of cards. Each pack shows the status of any project. For example, if you select a team for work, then in the first column there will be cards with resumes, in the second - candidates for interviews, in the third - meetings, in the fourth - past events and meetings, and in the fifth - results, as direct candidates
Over the past year, Trello has acquired support for German, French, and Portuguese. New versions of Trello Business Class and Trello Enterprise, as well as an Android application, have been released. Notifications and the labeling system, which is used for filtering, have changed.
In addition, the service has the ability to create bookmarks and drag and drop addresses for creating cards from Pinterest, Amazon, Airbnb, as well as from a computer.
In 2015, some other task managers were also finalized.
Asana
In Asana, the biggest event of the past year was the redesign of the service. The main changes affected the navigation panels, color schemes and logo. Information about projects and tasks and the inbox began to look different.
New ways of talking have appeared and there are more options for using animation.
Jira
A new version of JIRA has been released , in which the welcome guide, sidebar and project template have changed, as well as the possibility of disaster recovery.
Basecamp
On November 3, 2015, Basecamp released a new version of Basecamp 3, so fast that they didn’t manage to integrate with popular services. Now you can create an unlimited number of projects, archive dialogs and adjust the frequency of sending messages from Basecamp to mail to relax in the evenings and weekends.
In addition, there were color solutions to facilitate file filtering, file search by key, a new text editor, the ability to download multiple files in an archive. Now the system, instead of sending messages to all devices, determines which one the client is currently using. The procedure for creating project templates has also been improved.
The support service Basecamp can be proud of, fortunately, has not changed. According to a Basecamp poll, 93 out of 100 people find it great.
Redmine
Redmine developers have released several new versions of the product over the year. Major updates relate to filtering when searching for documents, importing, delimiting user privileges and language localization.
Bitrix24
Bitrix24 experienced a light website redesign over the year and acquired new functionality. So new CRM forms and file sharing appeared, the speed and volume of disk space increased, support for Portuguese and Chinese languages appeared.
Megaplan
Over the past year , Megaplan has undergone a complete redesign. From technical capabilities appeared integration with mail, calculation of the value of foreign exchange transactions and car scripts that increase customer loyalty. For example, if the client has a birthday, Megaplan will remind you to send a congratulation.
The developers updated synchronization with 1C, added room rental and support for external calls, and created filters for the client base. The mobile application has full-fledged project cards and contact management. In alpha testing mode, an application for Windows Phone is presented.
Wunderlist
Cloud task manager who justifies his slogan "Available everywhere and anytime."
It is supported by most devices, including desktop applications for Windows and Mac OS, mobile applications for devices on iOS, Android and Windows. The app is also available on iPad, Android tablet, Kindle Fire, Apple Watch and even Chromebook.
The product was created in 2011 by German developers, and in 2015 was purchased by Microsoft. In 2014, Wunderlist achieved a result of 10 million users, and in 2015 - 13 million.
Task Managers Rating
The analytical agency TAGLINE has published a fresh rating of task management services used by Russian companies.
He headed the rating of specialized solutions for task management “Bitrix24”, which is used by 51% of respondents. In second place is the Basecamp service, which is chosen by 27% of respondents. The third most popular was Redmine with 25% of the vote.
The ratings of services for task tracking automation are held by TAGLINE for the fourth time. They are based on a survey of 510+ digital agencies and production with production and / or a client office in Russia (conducted from August 2014 to April 2016).
The dynamics are given in comparison with the data obtained by TAGLINE for the period from May 2013 to August 2014.
Expert Opinions
According to Evgeny Lobanov, Executive Director of AGIMA , it is not necessary to test task trackers to make a choice, as system developers give a detailed description of the functionality, and the interface and mechanics of interaction can be seen in the video:
“If the project is technically complex, then you need to look towards project management systems, which include a bug tracker and other features for developers. If the task is to optimize and simplify communication and the process of organizing work on projects that do not require voluminous and complex development, then a simpler system will suffice. ”
Experts agree that project management systems are a prerequisite for the effective allocation of time for employees. Dmitry Provotorov, Executive Director of Manufactura , comments:
“In most cases, formalized production processes and project management systems sharpened for them facilitate the training of new employees and their integration into projects, help developers to keep focus, managers to visualize the situation. On small projects with a implementation period of up to 2 weeks, you can do without a project management system. ”
TAGLINE Editor-in-Chief Aleksey Ramensky notes:
“The main trend is the beginning of a conscious approach by companies to systematic task management, where the task manager is used not as a temporary“ rattle, ”but as a conceptual platform whose logic is reflected in the company's processes.”
Also, the surveyed experts called “moving” management systems to the cloud, simplifying the introduction of technology and expanding opportunities for integration as trends in the market for task managers.
“There are more and more very simple systems that are not burdened with complex functionality, settings and the possibility of“ dopilivaniya ”. Such systems are well suited for any one configuration of the project management system and are also definitely not suitable for everyone else. Accordingly, they are implemented very easily and elegantly, ”explains Nikita Mikheenkov, Development Director of Nimax .
“The main task [of the task manager] is to always see the status of the projects and not lose the tasks in the mail or on Skype. Since we are a web studio, I needed functionality tailored for specific requests, ”-says Yevgeny Kudryavchenko, Director of Customer Relations at Vintage Web Production .
He identifies the necessary and optional set of functions that, in his opinion, should be the task managers.
Necessary functions:
• create projects and tasks within the project;
• assign tasks to specific people;
• give access to clients so that they see status in large projects and set goals themselves;
• Gantt chart - with its help it is visually easier to understand which tasks are in the work and which are beyond the scope;
• time tracking and the possibility of invoicing (at least internal).
It is desirable:
• Russian and English interface;
• integration with Dropbox and Google Drive;
• the ability to conduct a wiki on the project.
“We are sitting in the same office, so chats, group videos and calls are not a priority. I’ll say right away - I didn’t even consider Redmine and dotProject because of the wretchedness and complete lack of usability, ”he said.
Evgeny Kudryavchenko and other experts expressed their opinion on several more products:
Basecamp (2nd place in the TAGLINE ranking)
Design and UX service are at their best, everything is clear and pleasant to work with. There is customer support, a convenient calendar, it is easy to create a wiki. An important plus - you can set up group reports on the mail so as not to litter the box separately with an alert about each action.
Minus - there are no tasks, but only to-do lists and discussions that everyone sees, and only to-do can be assigned to a person. There is still no time tracking and account module, and, importantly, Gantt charts.
I think this is a great solution for small businesses, and also beautiful. But at a web studio, where 20 people can participate in the project, such a task manager will quickly turn into a dump.
Asana (8th place in the TAGLINE ranking)
It works quickly, the interface is compact. A lot of hot keys, which can significantly speed up the work, if you remember them, of course. Tasks are created as extended to-do, which is also good. But it’s hard to keep track of a large number of projects - in order to find tasks, you need to open each project and view it. In addition, there is no client access and time tracking.
The functionality is very simple and more like an advanced Wunderlist. I think this solution is ideal for companies that have a million small tasks, for example, event agencies.
Bitrix24 (1st place in the TAGLINE ranking)
Reasonable cost, great functionality, internal marketplace expands the possibilities. But she has a very bulky design, a lot of superfluous, and the service often works slowly. The system itself is good, I recommend trying small companies or large, but not IT.
Worksection (9th place in the TAGLINE ranking)
You open the system and everything is immediately clear, the interface is simple and logical. There is time tracking and billing options. Very handy Gantt chart. Easy to create client access. It’s convenient to manage tasks - to make visibility for everyone or to share only with the chosen ones. In addition, you can connect your FTP and store all the layouts and designs there. It’s immediately obvious that the service was made by a sensible web studio for web studios.
Of the minuses - integration only with Google Drive, but not with Dropbox and other services. And there is no wiki, but you can take notes through Google Docs, for example.
Megaplan (5th place in the TAGLINE ranking)
Deprecated, a lot of extra functionality. But a very convenient newsletter.
“They used to use Megaplan. We’ve switched because it’s not suitable for development management, ” adds Artem Paul, Workle project manager .
Redmine (3rd place in the TAGLINE ranking)
Nikolai Kostikov:
Redmine for development is simply gorgeous and free. I especially like the opportunity to close tickets with git commits, or link a commit with a ticket so that in the history of commits you can immediately see which ticket it belongs to.
Maxim Leonov, CTO of KudaGo :
Previously used Redmine. They refused, because the task manager was not indicative enough and had an overloaded interface.
MS Project (7th place in the TAGLINE ranking)
Sergey Babaev, Development Director Nekki :
I used MS Project (in a large project, the development of which took years and years), but I consider it too monstrous and suitable for planning large march-throws. In my opinion, it kills the flexibility of planning. Although you can get used to everything - I just don’t understand why.
JIRA (4th place in the TAGLINE ranking) Alexei Arkhipov,
Deputy IT Director of QIWI Group :
Despite the fact that by default JIRA is more of a bug tracker, we use the system for project management, including for continuous design. This software is written in Java, and we do not need additional resources to finalize it.
Today, about a thousand QIWI employees use JIRA and Confluence. The JIRA interface is convenient for centralized planning and monitoring of tasks, calculating time, SLA and KPI, synchronizing the actions of several project teams. Through JIRA, not only interaction within QIWI was established, but also communication with contractors.
It is also worth noting the wide capabilities of this software to automate routine user support tasks, such as granting access rights, working with mailboxes and back office resources, so we save time and more efficiently solve current problems.
YouTrack (10th place in the TAGLINE ranking)
Ruslan Fazlyev, CEO of X-Cart and Ecwid :
Developers use YouTrack , which was chosen due to its simplicity and orientation to text search in the choice of tickets, which allowed using one text control and tags instead of a dozen drop-down menus.
Vasily Dyachenko:
If we are talking about IT companies, then first of all there should be happiness for product developers. And if an IT company creates a serious cool multi-faceted product, and not just cuts some sites, then definitely YouTrack.
Alternative to alternatives
If there is no unanimous opinion and each task manager has its own shortcomings, then why not develop your own task manager for your company?
TAGLINE researchers asked experts a question:
What are the pros and cons of using their project management system to control the time spent by specialists?
Maxim Tenth, Redmadrobot :
- Plus of its system - it is created relevant to specific processes.
Konstantin Kolomeets, ex-Yandex:
- There is only one plus in using your own project management system: your own development system will allow you to take into account some feature that developers of box solutions do not care about. For example, you need to store a lot of data in the system, or integrate with your other information system, or support IE6.
But there are a lot of minuses.
Firstly, the cost. Almost always, a third-party project management system will cost the company less than developing an analogue, albeit greatly reduced in functionality.
Secondly, development speed. Project management systems companies have been analyzing feedback and product implementation experience in organizations for many years. This experience can not be obtained in a shorter time, even if you assemble a large team.
Third, quality. Products on the market have been developed over the years and have been honed.
Olga Kulikova, Articul :
- One big plus - your system can be perfectly customized to fit your business processes. One big minus - the system requires support and development, and for this it is necessary to spend resources, which means money. The cost of a commercial product is always lower than its system.
Maxim Malyshev, Notamedia :
- If the system is good, then it can develop as a separate line of business. You can flexibly sharpen it for your business processes.
Prospects
Everyone is looking for something different. Of course, a suitable solution out of the box would be a salvation for most. For example, for fans of the integration of “everything with everything” and fans of one brand, Microsoft developed Planner. In such a situation, the competition between task managers ceases to be fair: many fans of Microsoft will “support” their favorite.
In addition, the target audience of task managers is stratified in accordance with the lines of business: software development, design studios, advertising agencies, and so on.
Who lacks existing task managers? At a minimum, those who create new ones. Apparently, the sphere of project management automation has not exhausted itself, and soon someone will make another breakthrough.
PS In the meantime, 25% of digital companies surveyed by TAGLINE track tasks in Microsoft Excel.