More robust Project Management and Dashboard

Hello, @Alexis !

First, I’m a HUGE Asana fan.

That said, my team wants to find a solution that will work for the following teams:

  • Product Development / Documentation
  • Marketing (ultimately to be run similar to an agency)
  • Software Development (currently considering JIRA)

I’m the guy sort of heading the search for “the perfect tool” for everyone. Our wishlist includes:

  • Flexible Scheduling Tool – Projects should not have to be locked into a specific date. Project schedulers should have the ability to shift dates.
  • Customizable Reports – Reports for Senior Leadership Team (SLT) should be high-level and quickly identify milestones and overall program status. Individuals closer to the program should be able to have access to reporting to more detailed information.
  • Representation of all Business Units – Project Management solution will be used for New Product Introductions (NPI). Project Managers should be able to represent all components including Hardware Dev, Software Dev, Marketing, Finance, Legal, Sales Enablement, Channel Readiness, Sales etc.
  • Integration into Product Management Solutions – Today the Software Development team uses TeamForge to track their Agile Development processes but some discussion has occurred with regards to transitioning to JIRA. Integration is important to avoid duplicated steps.
  • Project Budgeting – Being able to estimate project costs and continue adjustments as project timelines change and deliverables added.
  • Time/Billing Tracking – Required for Professional Services projects.
  • Resource Planning – Planning for resources including employees, equipment, facilities
  • Role Bases Users – Some users should only have rights to view while others should have rights to change.
  • Mobile Access – Users should be able to access remotely from their mobile devices with an optimized view.

Now, I realize that Asana can do many of these things, but it’s mostly at a basic level… if at all. A more robust dashboard that includes more detail beyond just the number of tasks completed vs. incomplete would be huge for us. Also, our team depends heavily on vendors for parts and materials that can cause several delays in our workflow. We currently do not have insight into which vendor is causing delays, how often and what are the implications of the delays. Having the ability to see a target start date vs. an actual start date (as well as end date) would provide us the insight we need into problem areas. I cannot tell you how many times as a marketing project manager that I’ve had to change a product launch date, but we have no record of changes, because the “stories” can easily be deleted. Not to mention that the stories become cluttered over time.

I say all of this, because there are several functionalities of Asana that are head and shoulders better than any other software tool I’ve researched. The task management capability is outstanding. What I want to know is, does Asana plan to build out more of these robust features that have been talked about on this Community, that will make it easier for teams to truly have the insight they need without having to build workarounds or leave Asana? I can tell you I’ve been testing JIRA, Mavenlink, Workzone, Wrike, ProjectPlace, Trello, Podio, etc. and they all are excellent at certain things, but are either too complex for day-to-day uses or not built for all types of departments. Asana is SO easy to use, customize and get things done. I REALLY hope that they have plans to build out more enterprise functionalities that will enable Asana to truly dominate this space.

Phew! That was a data dump… sorry. Just my two cents after frustratingly searching for a tool for my organization for months, watching demo after demo. At the end of the day, I just love Asana and wish my team could too. Sadly, we’ll probably end up with something else.

Thanks for listening,
Dan

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27 posts were merged into an existing topic: A better Dashboard for high level overview