So I work in one of the departments in a large international company.
Their support team is not keen on allowing me to use Asana because of the following:
Can anyone explain me what exactly is meant by this? Can I argue in any way?
I am being told to use Microsoft Project and that Asana does not meet any requirements that MS project cannot meet.
Do you agree on this?
Thanks.
I’m not familiar with MS Project, but I can certainly tackle the no ownership of the application piece.
Essentially, what they are saying is that they avoid third party apps as much as possible because they don’t want to waiting on a company to possibly (and maybe never) add a feature that your organization really wants. This definitely has some value to it, but I think in this day and age, this is becoming less and less an issue with API and more integration. Asana cannot do everything, but it has some amazing integrations with google and other apps.
I would also argue that MS Project is still a third-party application that they have no ownership of. Microsoft could decide to abandon it tomorrow, so that argument doesn’t make sense. However, the argument that does make sense here is that it is probably included in the 365 package, so it is a cost-saving measure.
Lastly, here is the thing I hate about homegrown solutions (which is what it sounds like they are potentially suggesting). I’m sure they have someone super talented or contact with a great company who could build you a custom product. Here’s the problem with that - that project then lives with that one person forever - if they ever leave the company, you are going to be in bad shape because they probably left no notes and nobody else knows how to support that function. This is where apps like Asana really thrive because they don’t cease to exist when one developer leaves the organization. This is why I almost always hate homegrown solutions, but I understand the value. Any app (like Asana) is going to have features that you want and may never come. At the end of the day, you just have to decide which poison you can handle the most.
Asana is problematic for data integrity within an organization. There is no native way to allow open collaboration (which is the intent and strength of Asana) and also prevent data, even large amounts of it, from being corrupted or destroyed, whether by mistake or by malice. See (Due date disappears in "Due date" view of MyTasks - #2 by Stephanie_Oberg) and Prevent Users from Deleting Tasks - #15 by marika
Also, please be advised that Asana is extraordinarily buggy compared to other, analogous web apps I’ve used. It’s easy to find touted features that work only partially…like
Hmm, as I look at this list, I see a clear theme of Asana not really grasping calendars. Unexpected, that, in an application all about tasks and work over time.
The one thing Asana does much MUCH better than all my experience with MS Project is collaboration. MS Project is designed very locked down, to protect data and allow it to be manipulated by a single user. That person then prints out Gantt charts which everyone ignores as they are unable to view or analyze them.
Asana, in comparison, lets everyone have a live, manipulable view of the data (within certain limits). It is the right choice if you want everyone on the team to be updating their own actions with progress etc. (OTOH, people can also heavily edit or completely delete their own items, and also delete the flimsy excuse for an audit log.)
So…Asana is great for daily to-dos, small issues etc. Can be scary for actual important data.
Regarding security, are there any potential risks of confidential data, images, etc. being leaked by using Asana? I would have thought the risks are just as high by using MS products?
The support team is now advising me to request the “upgraded” license of MS Project called “Project Plan 3”.
Is it correct to say that the handling of timelines, milestones, and status updates in Asana is much better than in Project Plan 3?
I’m not familiar with “Project Plan 3”, OR Asana 3rd party exposure risks, so I can’t help you there. Sorry!
Hi Simon,
I’m curious if you ever had success with this or found any useful information around Asana’s usefulness compared to Project. I’m working through the same concerns and am looking for similar information as you were asking for. Thanks in advance for your hlep.
Amanda