Zoho Projects

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Zoho  Projects  is  a  feature-­‐rich  and  easy-­‐ to-­‐use  cloud-­‐based  collaborative  project   management  platform  for  small  to   medium-­‐sized  businesses  as  well  as  teams   and  d epartments  in  larger  companies.  Its   flexible  p ricing  model  and  add-­‐ons  give   businesses  the  freedom  they  need  to   quickly  scale  u p  or  down  paying  for  the   features  they  need  when  they  need  them.  

Zoho Projects  

Social collaborative project management platform

GetApp.com  

Methodology     This  review  is  based  upon  information  provided  by  the  vendor  and  gathered  through  independent   research.  The  vendor  provided  detailed  product  specifications  and  marketing  materials,  as  well  as  an   in-­‐depth  product  demonstration.  Further  research  was  conducted  surrounding  business  needs,   market  competition  and  software  functionality.        

 

 

1   Methodology                

Contents Methodology  .........................................................................................................................................  1   Product  overview  ...................................................................................................................................  3   Business  needs   ......................................................................................................................................  4   Customers  ..............................................................................................................................................  5   Competition  ...........................................................................................................................................  6   Differentiators  .......................................................................................................................................  7   Pricing  ....................................................................................................................................................  8   Product  features  ..................................................................................................................................  10   Projects  ............................................................................................................................................  10   Tasks  ................................................................................................................................................  11   Documents  .......................................................................................................................................  14   Calendars  .........................................................................................................................................  15   Bug  Tracker  ......................................................................................................................................  16   Forum  ..............................................................................................................................................  19   Pages  ................................................................................................................................................  20   Chat  ..................................................................................................................................................  20   Timesheets  and  reporting  ................................................................................................................  20   Specifications  .......................................................................................................................................  22   Recommendations  ...............................................................................................................................  23      

2   Methodology                

Product overview Flexible,  mobile  working  is  transforming  the   workplace;  63  percent  of  managers  linked  a   growth  in  revenue  directly  to  flexible  working   practices,  according  to  a  recent  survey  of   2,500  senior  managers  conducted  by  Regus.   However,  many  companies  still  struggle  to   harness  the  power  of  anytime,  anywhere   working.  It’s  not  a  cure-­‐all;  it’s  a  strategy  that   requires  the  right  project  management  and   collaboration  tools  to  make  it  work  for  your   business.   Zoho  Projects  speaks  directly  to  the  project  management  and  collaboration  needs  of  small  and   medium-­‐sized  businesses  (SMBs)  as  well  as  teams  and  departments  in  larger  organisations  who  want   to  operate  a  social  and  flexible,  but  ordered,  work  environment.     The  software  fills  the  gap  in  the  market  between  consumer-­‐focused  collaboration  tools  and   enterprise-­‐level  project  management  platforms.  It  combines  powerful  time-­‐tracking,  reporting  and   project  management  capabilities  with  user-­‐friendly  collaboration  tools,  such  as  wikis,  forums  and   instant  messaging  (IM),  to  provide  the  best  of  both  worlds  and  make  your  team  more  effective:   •







Project  management  and  reporting  made  easy.  Zoho  Projects  gives  managers  the  tools   they  need,  such  as  reports,  document  management,  timesheets,  billing  and  the  ability  to   follow  individual  users  and  projects,  to  keep  their  teams  running  efficiently  and  to  keep   projects  on  time  and  on  target.   Effortless  collaboration.  Forums,  instant  messaging  (IM)  and  project  wikis  put  all  the   relevant  information  at  your  workforce’s  fingertips  and  let  your  teams  discuss  tasks  and   solve  problems  together  with  ease.   High  functionality  and  ease  of  use.  Zoho  Projects  pairs  high  levels  of  functionality  with  an   intuitive  user  interface.  The  feed  provides  users  with  a  simple,  visual  way  to  communicate   and  keep  on  top  of  recent  developments  and  Gantt  charts  offer  a  quick  overview  of  projects   and  the  progress  of  particular  users.   Work  on  the  go.  Zoho  Projects’  iOS  and  Android  mobile  apps  enable  collaboration  on   mobile  devices,  making  it  easy  for  staff  to  collaborate  and  communicate  wherever  they  are.  

Ultimately,  Zoho  Projects  provides  the  right  mix  of  control  and  freedom  for  successful  project   management  and  easy  collaboration  for  SMBs.  And,  with  a  flexible  pay-­‐as-­‐you-­‐go  pricing  structure,   there’s  a  pricing  plan  for  everyone.    

3   Product  overview                

Business needs With  employees  working  out  of  office,  on  the  move  and  across   different  time  zones  it  is  now  more  important  than  ever  that   SMBs  have  the  right  tools  to  drive  and  monitor  productivity   and  allow  employees  to  collaborate  effectively  wherever  they   are.  

Zoho  Projects  helps   companies  improve   collaboration  and  project   management  

Zoho  provides  a  wide  range  of  award-­‐winning  cloud-­‐based   applications  that  help  streamline  the  processes  of  SMBs,  and   Zoho  Projects  is  no  different.   While  other  productivity  software  often  tends  to  focus  heavily  on  either  collaboration  or  project   management,  Zoho  Projects  addresses  both  needs  and  provides  all  the  tools  a  business  needs  in  one   place.     Feeds  let  you  keep  up-­‐to-­‐date  with  recent  developments  and  easily  communicate  with  colleagues,   integrated  reporting  tools  allow  insights  from  key  project  metrics  to  quickly  be  put  into  action,   integrated  time  tracking  and  billing  allows  more  accurate  invoicing  and  better  planning  and   collaboration  tools  encourage  discussion  and  sharing  whether  in  or  out  of  the  office.     Zoho  Projects  iOS  and  Android  mobile  apps  take  this  further,  letting  users  continue  working  on  the   move.     Zoho  Projects  also  helps  to  keep  your  business  transparent  to  your  clients.  Setting  a  project’s  access   to  public  means  that  any  user  with  access  to  the  portal  can  follow  its  progress  and  the  native   reporting  tools  provides  regular  email  reports  for  managers  and  clients  informed.   Zoho  Projects  offers  an  affordable,  highly  functional  and  user-­‐friendly  project  management  and   collaboration  tool  for  SMBs.  

4   Business  needs                

Customers Zoho  Projects  is  a  business-­‐class  collaboration  and  project   management  tool:  it  is  built  with  the  needs  and  aims  of  SMBs   in  mind  and  it  provides  a  considerable  amount  of   functionality  for  a  reasonable  cost.   As  a  result,  the  software  is  applicable  to  a  wide  range  of   business  verticals,  with  Zoho  Projects’  customers  involved  in   software  development  and  IT,  marketing  and  advertising,   real  estate  and  construction.  

“Zoho  Projects  is  built  with   the  needs  and  aims  of  SMBs   in  mind.”  

In  addition,  being  cloud-­‐based  software,  Zoho  Projects  requires  no  costly  on-­‐premise  hardware  so   it’s  ready  to  go  when  you  need  it  and  is  highly  scalable.  While  most  of  Zoho  Projects’  customers   operate  between  three  and  30  users,  several  customers  have  hundreds  of  active  users  active.     Zoho  Projects  provides  a  cost-­‐efficient  and  flexible  suite  of  tools  for  SMBs,  whatever  the  industry.    

5   Customers                

Competition Zoho  Projects  locates  itself  in  between  consumer-­‐focused  collaboration  tools  and  large-­‐scale   enterprise  project  management  platforms,  such  as  Microsoft  Project,  so  its  closest  competitors  are   Basecamp,  Trello  and  Asana.   Zoho  Projects  distinguishes  itself  from  its  rivals  by  providing  a  feature-­‐rich  one-­‐stop  shop  for  both   effective  project  management  and  collaboration,  rather  than  giving  priority  to  just  one  aspect.   While  Basecamp,  for  instance,  owns  a  large  part  of  this  market,  it  does  not  include  time  tracking,   reporting  or  bug  tracking,  which  Zoho  Projects  includes  in  its  paid  plans.  Nor  does  Basecamp  include   sophisticated  project  management  features  like  dependencies  and  multiple  owners  per  task.   Zoho  Projects  also  benefits  from  integration  with  several  other  Zoho  products,  including  Zoho   Reports  and  Zoho  Invoice,  and  other  cloud-­‐based  services,  such  as  Google  Apps,  Dropbox  and   SkyDrive.  This  integration  helps  to  streamline  your  business  operations  and  keep  all  of  your  data  and   documents  in  one  place  for  easy  reference.    

6   Competition                

Differentiators Zoho  Projects  has  been  developed  to  give  teams  the  ability  to   collaborate  effortlessly  whilst  also  giving  managers  the   functionality  to  manage,  track  and  review  projects  and  users  in   order  to  drive  productivity.     Several  features  in  particular  demonstrate  this:   •













Reporting.  With  integrated  graphic  reporting,  keeping   track  of  individual  projects,  tasks  and  users  and   reviewing  key  project  metrics  is  easy.  You  can  also   export  and  print  reports  and  schedule  reports  to  be   emailed  to  you  and  other  users  to  keep  everyone  in  the  loop.     Timesheets  and  billing.  Time  tracking  not  only  helps  you  to  invoice  more  accurately,  it  also   helps  you  to  more  effectively  gauge  the  duration  of  future  projects  and  tasks,  allowing  you   to  monitor  your  progress  and  better  organise  your  time.     Bug  tracking.  Errors,  issues  and  bugs  are  part  of  any  project.  Zoho  Projects’  bug  tracking   software  gives  you  complete  visibility  of  unresolved  issues  with  views  filtered  by  severity,   category  and  due  date  and  the  ability  to  create  workflows  and  business  rules  to  deal  with   errors  and  bugs.     Document  management.  Zoho  Projects  not  only  lets  you  create  documents,  spreadsheets   and  presentations  with  its  bespoke  editor,  it  also  allows  you  to  keep  all  of  your  files  –   documents,  spreadsheets,  images,  reports,  etc  –  in  one  place  and  record  the  version   number.  No  more  trawling  through  lengthy  email  threads  or  asking  colleagues  for  the  latest   version  of  a  file.  Sharing  is  easy  with  Zoho  Projects.     Integration.  Zoho  Projects  integrates  with  a  number  of  other  Zoho  products  as  well  as   several  cloud  services,  such  as  SkyDrive  and  Dropbox.     User-­‐friendly.  Zoho  Projects  combines  feature-­‐rich  software  with  an  easy-­‐to-­‐use  interface,   and  the  website  has  a  forum  where  customers  can  share  tips  and  tricks  with  other  users.     Mobile.  The  iPhone  and  Android  mobile  Zoho  Projects  app  enables  anytime,  anywhere   working  for  your  business.  

                7   Differentiators                

Reporting   Timesheets   Bug  tracking   Document  management   Integration   User  friendly   Mobile  support  

Pricing Zoho  Projects  offers  a  flexible  pay-­‐as-­‐you-­‐go  pricing  structure  with  three  levels,  along  with  a  free   plan  for  small  teams  who  wish  to  trial  the  software.  Both  yearly  and  monthly  plans  are  available,   with  the  yearly  plans  providing  unlimited  projects  and  users  across  all  three  plans  (usually  only   available  in  Enterprise)  and  savings  of  up  to  35  percent.  Add-­‐ons  are  also  available  for  an  extra  cost.     Yearly  plans  

     

 

8   Pricing                

Monthly  plans  

  Additional  options   Zoho  Projects  also  provides  added  storage  space  at  an  additional  cost  for  the  paid  plans.  5GB  cost  $8   per  month.  

9   Pricing                

Product features  

Projects Feature  and   benefits   Creating  a  new   project  involves  an   easy  three-­‐step   process,  and  project   templates  let  you   quickly  configure   and  create  repeated   projects.  

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Project  access  let’s   you  make  projects   available  only  to   project  users,  or   public  if  you  want  to   share  it  with   everyone  who  has   access  to  the  portal,   including  clients.  

10   Product  features                

 

 

You  can  then  add   users  (both   company  and  client-­‐ side)  and  assign   roles.     There  are  five  user   roles,  each  with  its   own  permissions   and  capabilities:   Super  admin,  Joint   admin,  Manager,   Employee,  and   Contractor.     This  means  that   everyone  knows   their  responsibilities   and  can  only  control   what  they  need  to.      

 

Once  you’ve  created   a  project  you  can   view  and  sort  it,   along  with  any   others  you’ve   created,  in  the   projects  view,  giving   a  visual  overview  of   active  projects.  

 

Users  can  also   create  a  workspace   portal  to  more   clearly  group   projects.    

 

Tasks Feature  and   benefits  

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11   Product  features                

Once  you’ve  created   your  project  you  can   easily  add   milestones,  task  lists   and  tasks.  

With  tasks  you  can   have  multiple  users   responsible,  set   different  priority   levels  and  can  set   the  task  to  recur.    

 

 

12   Product  features                

You  can  then  create   sub  tasks  and  add   associated   documents  or  forum   discussion  to  inform   your  team.  

To  keep  track  of   your  projects  and   tasks  you  can  track   duration,  priority   and  percentage   completion  of  the   task.     This  can  be  seen  in  a   Gantt  chart…     …or  a  Kanban  view.  

 

 

  13   Product  features                

Zoho  Projects  also   lets  you  add   followers  to  a   project  or  task.  This   is  for  those  who  are   not  working  on  the   task  but  want  to  be   kept  informed,  like   managers.     Similarly,  you  can   follow  individual   users  to  see  what   progress  they  are   making.  

When  you  start   following  an   individual  or  task   you  will  receive   notifications  and   updates  will  appear   on  your  personal   feed.  This  feature   really  helps   managers  stay   informed  and  in   control,  no  longer   needing  to  chase   things  up.  

 

   

 

 

 

Documents Feature  and   benefits  

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14   Product  features                

 

Documents  can  be   uploaded  from   your  own   computer,  Zoho   Docs  and  several   cloud  services,   including  Dropbox   and  Google  Drive.  

 

You  can  also   create  and  edit   documents,   presentations  and   spreadsheets   within  Zoho   Projects  using  the   software’s   bespoke  editor.  

 

Once  created  and   saved  the   document  can  be   discussed,   reviewed  and   edited  and  the   version  number   can  easily  be   altered  to  keep   track  of  the  most   recent  document.  

 

 

Calendars Feature  and   benefits  

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15   Product  features                

Access  control   allows   administrators   and  managers  to   view  and  edit   employees’   calendars,   keeping  them   informed  of   upcoming   meetings  and   deadlines.    

Users  can  create   tasks,  milestones   and  meetings   straight  from  the   calendar.       You  can  then  set   reminders  and   attach  relevant   documents  to   these  events,   making   preparation  for   meetings  much   simpler.  

 

The  calendar  can   be  filtered  to   show  particular   users  or  events.  

 

 

Bug Tracker Feature  and   benefits  

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16   Product  features                

You  can  add  a   bug  or  incident,   give  it  a  title,   classify  it,  note  its   severity  and   assign  it  to  a   user.     Whilst  this  is  a   tool  of  most  use   to  developers,   the  name  of  the   tab  can  be   changed  and  the   software  can  be   used  for  error  or   ticket  reporting  .       You  can  also  set   statuses  and   create  workflows   to  make  dealing   with  bugs  and   errors  more   efficient.  

Users  can   capture  bugs  and   incidents  with  a   public  web  form.  

17   Product  features                

 

 

 

You  can  also   create  business   rules  for  bugs   and  incidents,  so   they  are  seen   and  dealt  with  by   the  relevant   users.  

 

Setting  up   notifications   keeps  only  the   relevant  users   up-­‐to-­‐date  with   what’s   happening.  

 

18   Product  features                

Bugs  and   incidents  can  also   be  exported.  

 

 

Forum Feature  and   benefits   Working  like  a   normal  forum,   you  can  create  a   post  and  add   attachments,   which  your  team   can  review  and   reply  to.  

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Replies  can  either   be  posted  within   Zoho  Projects  or   via  email,   meaning  those   without  a  Zoho   Projects  account   can  participate.    

19   Product  features                

 

 

Pages Feature  and   benefits   Zoho  Projects   also  lets  you   create  pages  for   your  projects.   These  pages  act   as  wikis  for  your   team.  

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Chat Feature  and   benefits   Users  can  set  up   a  chat  room,   selecting  a  topic   and  adding  other   users  to   participate.     Chat  groups  can   be  created  for   easy   collaboration   amongst  teams.  

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Timesheets and reporting Feature  and   benefits  

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20   Product  features                

Time  can  be   logged  into   timesheets,   which  can  then   be  viewed  in  list   or  calendar  view.       Managers  can   see  graphic   reports  of   timesheets  and   create  invoices   from  the   timesheets.  

 

Zoho  Projects  lets   you  enter  a   timesheet  for   your  whole  team   for  a  whole   week,  rather   than  logging  time   for  each  day  and   each  user.  

If  you’re  unsure   how  long  a  task   might  last,  you   can  just  start  a   timer  for  that   particular  task.             21   Product  features                

 

 

Specifications   Web  browser  requirements     -­‐

Compatible  with  all  modern  browsers  

Database  requirements   -­‐

Zoho  Projects  is  an  entirely  cloud-­‐hosted  product.  It  is  not  available  for  hosting  on  client   servers  

Mobile  capabilities   -­‐

Zoho  Projects  has  Apple  iOS  and  Google  Android  mobile  apps.  

APIs  and  integration   -­‐

Integrates  with  other  Zoho  products  and  with  cloud  services,  like  Dropbox  and  Google  Apps.  

Security  and  availability   -­‐ -­‐ -­‐

-­‐

Physical  security:  7x24x365  security,  video  monitoring,  biometric  access  and  bullet-­‐resistant   walls.   Network  security:  encryption  with  128/256-­‐bit  SSL,  intrusion  detection/prevention  and  virus   scanning.   Redundancy  and  business  continuity:  distributed  grid  architecture,  power  redundancy,   internet  redundancy,  redundant  network,  devices,  redundant,  cooling  and  temperature   control,  geo  mirroring,  fire  prevention,  data  protection  and  back  up.   Zoho  is  also  US/EU  Safe  Harbour  compliant.  

Free  Trial   -­‐     Unlimited  free  trial  available.  Only  one  project  and  10  MB  of  storage  is  allowed.    

22   Specifications                

Recommendations Zoho  Projects  neatly  fills  a  gap  in  the  market  between  expensive  enterprise  project  management   suites  and  consumer  collaboration  tools.  It  provides  the  best  of  both  worlds,  with  powerful  reporting   and  project  management  capabilities  and  easy-­‐to-­‐use  collaboration  tools,  such  as  wikis,  forums  and   IM,  to  keep  you  and  your  team  at  the  top  of  your  game.  It  would  be  an  ideal  upgrade  for  those   businesses  currently  using  Basecamp  who  are  looking  for  a  little  bit  more  functionality.   Several  features  in  particular  make  Zoho  Projects  stand  out  in  its  market:   •









Functionality  and  usability.  Zoho  Projects  combines  ease  of  use  with  high  levels  of   functionality,  meaning  companies  can  see  results  from  day  one.     Integrated  reporting.  Zoho  Projects’  reporting  tools  let  managers  effectively  monitor  and   quickly  act  upon  key  project  metrics  and  individual  users’  progress,  helping  to  drive   productivity.  Reports  can  also  be  regularly  emailed  to  the  relevant  clients,  helping  to  keep   your  business  transparent  and  preventing  unnecessary  chasing  of  work.     Integrated  time  tracking.  Integrated  timesheets  and  billing  help  users  to  monitor   productivity,  quote  more  precisely  for  clients,  create  accurate  invoices  and  better  organise   future  tasks.     Integrated  bug  tracking.  Zoho  Projects’  bug  tracking  software  gives  you  the  ability  to   develop  workflows  and  business  rules  to  assign  responsibilities  and  quickly  resolve  bugs  and   errors  so  the  rest  of  the  team  can  concentrate  on  the  main  task  at  hand.     Designed  to  scale.  Being  cloud-­‐based  software,  Zoho  Projects  is  easily  scalable  and   inexpensive  to  set  up.  In  addition,  the  monthly  or  yearly  pay-­‐as-­‐you-­‐go  payment  plans  and   add-­‐on  features  give  SMBs  the  freedom  to  chop  and  change  what  they  use  when  they  need   to.  

Zoho  Projects  is  ideally  placed  to  serve  the  project  management,  reporting  and  collaboration  needs   of  SMBs  that  want  high  functionality  and  user-­‐friendly  features  at  an  affordable  price.  Ultimately,   Zoho  Projects  lets  you  and  your  team  get  to  work.    

23   Recommendations                

About Zoho Zoho.com  offers  a  comprehensive  suite  of  award-­‐winning  online  business,  productivity  &   collaboration  applications.  Customers  use  Zoho  Applications  to  run  their  business  processes,  manage   their  information  and  be  more  productive  while  at  the  office  or  on  the  go,  without  having  to  worry   about  expensive  or  outdated  hardware  or  software.   To  date,  Zoho.com  has  launched  25+  online  applications  —  from  CRM  to  Mail,  Office  Suite,  Project   Management,  Invoicing,  Web  conferencing  and  more.  Zoho  has  received  numerous  awards,   including  an  InfoWorld  2009  "Product  of  the  Year"  award,  a  2008  PC  World  "25  Most  Innovative   Products  Award"  and  a  2007  TechCrunch  "Best  Enterprise  Start-­‐up."   Zoho.com  is  a  division  of  Zoho  Corporation,  a  privately-­‐held  and  profitable  company.  With  offices  in   CA,  Austin,  Chennai,  Yokohama  and  Beijing,  Zoho  Corporation  serves  the  technology  needs  of  more   than  6  million  customers  worldwide.    

24   About  Zoho                

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