Project Management Collaboration Software: Simple Tips To Choose A Good B2B Or B2C Vendor

Arthur is a project director in a mid-size accounting firm in Washington. He leads a team of accountants handling various projects. Arthur is looking for more tips when buying project management collaboration software. He asks—

“Hi, I am currently looking for a good project management collaboration software that can handle projects involving a number of accountants. When I shop for one, what factors should I consider? What questions should I ask the vendor? – Arthur, WA

Thank you for your question, Arthur. By the way, if you think you want to have an improved accounting system in your workplace or you want to recommend something for a client customer or company, check out this side-by-side comparison of the top accounting CRM applications.

If you are looking for a good project management collaboration software for a company, whether it’s a small business or an enterprise one, you will find a lot of options. There are many types of software solutions for B2B and B2C companies that cater to your various needs, ranging from simple needs such as integrated contact management to complicated ones that may need setup time and training.

So how do you choose which project management collaboration software solution is the best?

Factors to consider

The following factors can help you decide and do a comparison of the software solutions available.

• Software cost. Cost is always a consideration. However, keep in mind that many of these solutions are free. Others only cost less than $20 monthly. Of course, there is always that chance that the more expensive ones offer you a wider range of options.
• Discussions in real time. How often do you do discussions in real time in your workplace? Other conversations or meetings need to be real time. But there are other situations when it is not really critical to have every team member together at once.
• Ease of setup. Many of these collaboration solutions are very easy to setup. But for more complicated needs, some solutions may require you some time to set it up, probably even a short training with you and/or the rest of the team.
• User-friendliness. The easier a collaboration solution is for you and the rest of the team, the more likely everyone is going to use it. There are some solutions out there that may bedazzle you, but you won’t likely use it because it is not user-friendly. Do not jump in on a software solution that requires you and your team to use really unfamiliar tools or radically alter their current processes.
• Central document storage. How do you access your team documents or files? There are many software solutions out there that are web-based or online, allowing you and the rest of your team to access files anytime anywhere (sometimes even on mobile devices) from a central database.

If you are interested in knowing good collaboration software solutions that are free, check out this informative list from TechRepublic. To know more about CRM software solutions particularly that cater to financial needs, check out our financial CRM software guide.

P.S. For further reading on collaboration software, I recommend the following helpful guides: comparison of free online collaboration software; how group collaboration software can help your small business; and where to look for cheap vendors of web collaboration software.

By Stephanie Seymour

Stephanie Seymour is a senior business analyst and one of the crucial members of the FinancesOnline research team. She is a leading expert in the field of business intelligence and data science. She specializes in visual data discovery, cloud-based BI solutions, and big data analytics. She’s fascinated by how companies dealing with big data are increasingly embracing cloud business intelligence. In her software reviews, she always focuses on the aspects that let users share analytics and enhance findings with context.