Web-based solution has tool set to run projects from vision to success

Effective project management requires interactive updates to keep everyone on track. The key is making the process quick and easy so users can spend time working on the projects, rather than the updates.

Clarizen's Web-based project management software emphasizes the execution side of project management by streamlining the planning process with instant updates. Based entirely online, users can manage all of their projects and resources in a single environment for complete collaboration.

Clarizen offers personalized dashboard views and at-a-glance summaries of status across all projects. A ProjectMail feature issues progress updates from the team, allowing each user to report his or her progress directly from that person's inbox without logging into the Clarizen system.

According to Michael Fauscette, group VP with Framingham, Mass.-based IDC, early-generation project management tools usually required a great deal of manual updating and follow-up correspondence. “In addition, you had to use different systems—one for project management and another for project accounting—most of which didn't share data with each other,” he notes.

Fauscette says Clarizen establishes workflows that increase project productivity and professionalism. “[Clarizen] facilitates collaboration without all of the manual effort that used to be required,” he says. “One of its biggest strengths is its simplicity, which is why I am seeing so much customer interest. Many other tools are quite complicated.”

Anaheim, Calif.-based Catalyx Engineering is a small business centered on mechanical engineering and manufacturing services. The company used to collaborate using whatever tools were available—e.g., WebEx, email, and phone calls. The drawback was getting everyone on the same page, with project engineers often trying to find out where everyone was.

According to Catalyx CEO Saleem Muneer, “A lot of our people weren't proficient with tools like Microsoft Project. They needed something much more straightforward.”

Muneer says he chose Clarizen for the fact that it focused on project management for the average user. “The snapshot views engage team members at just the right time, for just the right pieces of the project,” he explains.

Although there was some resistance to the Clarizen solution from engineers when first introduced, “It only took about a month of actually using it on a project to convince them that it would be very helpful,” Muneer concludes. “I'm more confident that the best practices we capture using Clarizen will yield greater efficiencies in future projects.”