SaaS Project Management: The Ultimate Solution to Your Business Needs

The business world is constantly evolving, and so are the needs of businesses in the current era.

One such need that has emerged more recently is project management software delivered on-demand in a cloud computing environment - an SaaS (Software as a Service) solution.

The beauty of this model is that it fits any type of business because all businesses have projects to manage, no matter what industry they operate in or what size their organization is.

This blog post will provide you with a guide to understanding the benefits of SaaS project management for your business!

What is SaaS Project Management?

Software as a Service (SaaS) is essentially the delivery of project management software over the internet in an on-demand cloud computing environment.

The SaaS model is a very appropriate one because virtually every type of business needs the ability to effectively manage projects.

SaaS Project Management for the Enterprise

SaaS project management solutions are a great choice for the enterprise, and with proper planning any organization can benefit from them.

Companies that use SaaS Project Management tools to coordinate their projects will be able to track progress better, avoid costly mistakes or oversights and increase productivity.

In addition to all of these benefits, companies who adopt SaaS Project Management tools will also be able to outsource projects that would normally require staffing, giving them greater flexibility.

This type of software is great for companies who are looking to collaborate and work on a project with people outside of their own company or organization - SaaS Project Management solutions make it easy!

What does it provide?

SaaS Project Management applications provide a comprehensive tool set for managing projects from start to finish; including (but not limited to):

• Bug tracking and ticketing,
• Change management,
• Online chat and virtual meeting rooms,
• Contact management tools,
• Cost and budget tracking,
• Dashboards and custom reporting,
• Custom templates,
• Document sharing & collaboration tools.

The list goes on and this is just a partial list!

SaaS project management solutions is that they are all-inclusive - no need to download or install any software, it's 100% online.

This also means you can access your project management system from anywhere at anytime with internet connection; whether you're in the office, at home or on the go.

And since it's all-inclusive, you only have to pay a monthly fee for access - no need to worry about upfront costs!

The Purpose of SaaS Project Management

The purpose of SaaS is to provide a more efficient and reliable solution for software, platforms and even infrastructure.

It provides working software in an affordable and seamless way that can be accessed from anywhere at anytime with internet connection, which also means there are no upfront costs involved!

How does it work?

1. Planning vs. Execution

Traditional project management tools are designed to address project planning problems, and they do this very well.

However successful projects are 20% good planning and 80% good execution - a great SaaS Project Management tool will take care of the latter!

In order to ensure successful execution, each member of the team must actively engage, connect and remain consistent participants throughout the project process.

SaaS project management tools are primarily designed for planning projects - they do not offer such collaborative capabilities so workers who are geographically or organizationally distributed.

It have no choice but to use email, instant messaging, or shared file folders to share documents and collaborate with each other.

It is much more than just a traditional software package - it's an ecosystem of features that can help make your project successful!

As a result, project plans, project documents and day-to-day discussions are managed using separate systems in disconnected environments and are not working together.

2. Getting Project Status

A project manager typically spends valuable hours every week chasing each of their team members to get visibility into the status of their tasks, so he or she can establish the current status of the project.

After compiling the information, if the project status yields a surprise, they revises the plan which may and often always does affect some team member's schedule.

Enterprise, and with proper planning any organization can benefit from them. Companies that use SaaS Project Management tools to coordinate their projects will be able to track progress better, avoid costly mistakes or oversights and increase productivity.

In addition the all benefits mentioned above companies who adopt SaaS project management solutions will also be able to leverage their time better by having a system that tracks project status and updates automatically with the latest information.

This means managers will be able to spend more of their valuable time on innovation, strategy or customer engagement instead of chasing down team members for progress reports!

3. Being on the Same Page

One of the biggest reasons projects get delayed is because the team members are not on the same page about their deadlines, dependencies, impact of their task on other tasks, or the real scope of an effort for a task.

The project manager must ensure that not only each team member clearly understands their tasks, schedules and dependencies.

But they all must be on the same page with respect to the project specifications, revisions and assumptions. They may spend a lot of their time on this effort.

It is also critical that when a new member is added to the team, not only does this person need to come up to speed on all these items very quickly, but he or she must also understand the context basis of previous decision making the team agreed on in the past.

This means there needs to be some degree of standardization in the process. Only when everyone is on the same page and executing to the plan, the odds of turning a project around can increase significantly.

Advantages

• Accessibility

One of the biggest advantages to SaaS project management solutions is that it's accessible from anywhere in the world with an internet connection.

Since this type of software resides on a company server, you can access your projects anytime and anywhere without having to install any new programs or download anything onto your computer.

The range of accessibility goes beyond being able to access your project management software from anywhere; you can also have access to all of the team members and collaborators on your projects.

• Collaboration

The benefits of SaaS Project Management is that it provides a very collaborative way for managing projects.

With this type of application, there are no barriers between teams or departments - everyone has instant access to the same information, on their own schedule.

This means that all projects can be managed in a more unified manner because there is no need for long-distance communication or repeatedly sending updates over an email - everything you need will always be available right at your fingertips!

• Real time Access

A major benefit of SaaS project management software is that it provides real time access to all the information you need on your projects.

This type of system also ensures consistency, because any updates or changes are automatically updated within seconds - no matter where in the world someone might be located!

This also ensures that you're never going to miss out on an important email or notification because it was sent outside of your work hours.

• Affordable Prices

SaaS Project Management tools also provide a great cost advantage over traditional on-premise project management applications.

Running project management applications in the cloud helps SaaS vendors distribute development and maintenance costs for their SaaS offerings over time, allowing them to deliver their services to clients at affordable prices.

• Easy Maintenance

In addition, SaaS Project Management clients never have to worry about the cost of software maintenance or upgrades, since this is handled by the SaaS vendor.

SaaS project management tools are especially attractive to start-ups and small businesses, who often find that on-premise project management software solutions are cost prohibitive.

• Required Only Little Training

SaaS Project Management tools provide other additional advantages over on-premise project management installations.

To start with, SaaS Project Management tools are easy for everyone to use and require very little training, since anyone who is comfortable using the Internet will have little trouble adapting to a SaaS Project Management application.

• Flexibility

Most SaaS PM programs only need a browser and internet connection to work. This allows teams to collaborate from anywhere using their mobile devices and get things done faster from an environment they are comfortable with.

SaaS solutions are also highly scalable, allowing businesses to upgrade as they grow.

• High Scalability

High scalability is another advantage of SaaS Project Management software, as clients can seamlessly expand the capabilities of their chosen cloud based project management tool.

By upgrading their subscription level on demand or by buying additional services from their cloud computing services provider.

• Speed and Security

Setting up and signing into SaaS PM systems is easy, while new features and security updates also become instantly available.

Users don't have to wait for months for deployment of updates and new features and in most cases, upgrades are included in the subscription plan at no extra cost.

Securing business systems is a costly and time-consuming affair. Most SaaS services providers take the responsibility of ensuring security of their cloud-based systems. This includes encryption, disaster management and data recovery.