Comments on: REVIEW: Basecamp

By: Tony Mobily

Tony Mobily — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 12:55:47 +0000

Hi,

I got carried away with my previous comment and forgot to point out Apollo’s web address: http://www.apollohq.com

Bye!

Merc.

By: Tony Mobily

Tony Mobily — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 12:53:58 +0000

Hi there,

Disclaimer: I am biased as I work for Applicom! However, my advice here is completely heartfelt!

I just thought I’d add my 2c about this.

Simplicity is king. The two pitfalls you mentioned are, in my opinion, a strength. If you feel the need, for a task, to have percentages of completion, then maybe that task should turn into a task list!

About reporting, pretty graphs are great but in the end BC and Apollo are not about showing pretty graphs to executives, but _communicating_ about a project.

At Apollo, we worked really hard on the interface: it’s very fast, all based on AJAX, without any reloads. We added Google-like calendars, timers, cases&deals, and feel that we have a product that, in its simplicity, is there to get things done quickly. For us, too, simplicity is king!

Merc.

By: Miles John

Miles John — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 14:24:33 +0000

I switched from Basecamp to Dooster which is perfect for small to medium businesses like myself. Highly recommend taking a look at it guys: www.dooster.net

By: Patrick

Patrick — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 22:52:18 +0000

That was a true account for sure. We've used Basecamp for managing Fusion Monarch client projects (online startups etc.) since we've been in business. It works on a basic level, as many of the commentary above has described,but in the end we just weren't satisfied with the level of collaboration (sharing and permissions) across multiple people groups, business units and business assets (people, projects, documents, discussions etc...). We're launching RULE.fm in response as a productivity tool that will solve many of the issues stated in this post and conversation. We'd love to have any input, as we see this as a collaborative effort to improve productivity across the board. Launching on August 3rd, so very excited (as I up the caffeine drip :). Check it out at http://rule.fm to stay in the loop and get a free invite. When we launch we will clearly lay out what's coming and provide a channel for discussion for users to make suggestions, post feedback, or tell us how sexy it is..OK maybe that's to much information.

By: Jon Keefe

Jon Keefe — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 09:58:51 +0000

Glad you are fans of Basecamp and 37Signals, so are we. If you use Basecamp, you can use http://www.bctoolkit.com with Basecamp and get amazing productivity metrics from you Basecamp data. Like for example time spent vs time estimated on a project or todo or time spent vs time available on all projects. have a look at bctoolkit.com

Thanks

Jon

By: Pankaj

Pankaj — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 14:46:47 +0000

BaseCamp is a great tool for ad hoc projects, since its so easy to use. But for teams looking to work together on projects on an ongoing basis, and need some feature weight, a full featured project collaboration suite like HyperOffice may be better. Apaprt from project scheduling, project teams with long tenures need document collaboration, email, calendars, online meetings, contact management, to do lists etc etc.

By: Christian Harris

Christian Harris — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:44:16 +0000

Thanks Jeremie,

This looks interesting. I'll take a look.

By: Jeremie

Jeremie — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:35:51 +0000

Christian,

I know a guy who is a shareholder in a new productivity company.

The name is http://www.producteev.com
They also have a mobile app on every platform (Iphone, android, Nokia, Blackberry)

They also have many cool features if you are a connected worker, and it is very easy to use.

They had many press coverage on blogs and radio we they launched 2 months ago.

If you want more info email me, I can put you in contact with Ilan, the guy who founded the company.

Or you can contact him via his twitter : twitter.com/ilan

Thks for your review on BaseCamp, very interesting.

By: John Matarazzo

John Matarazzo — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 04:03:08 +0000

ProjectDo is a great tool, I was using Basecamp and recently switched to ProjectDo.

The system is simple to use which much more flexibility and functionality.

http://www.projectdo.com

By: Zach Katkin

Zach Katkin — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 19:37:52 +0000

Great review. I agree with many of your points, particularly that Basecamp's greatest asset, its simplicity and ease of use, may be its greatest flaw. However, I find that simple company structure/procedural rules help you navigate around any perceived short comings of the software. Unfortunately with scope creep, comes increased time learning the program and increased confusion for both employees and clients. I would much rather use a simple program where we can dictate how it's used, and what to do in non-conventional situations, and not the other way around.

By: Mike Da Mike

Mike Da Mike — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 09:04:40 +0000

Basecamp is cool and useful for small projects. It's greatest asset is its ease of use since it feels like a part of Internet Explorer... At our company, we use Planzone for this - since it is a bit more advanced and really integrated into the way of working and 'mentality' od our company. Check it out at http://www.planzone.com

By: Christian Harris

Christian Harris — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 09:43:19 +0000

Tom, the Mobile Edition of your software looks tempting. I really like the idea of being able to access my projects on my iPhone.

By: Domenic

Domenic — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 03:18:13 +0000

I have been using Basecamp for 4 years and it is a great tool. However there are less costly and more intuitive online products on the web. One such product is ProjectDo, which is a Project Management & Collaboration Portal. It has much of the same functionality in addition to some of the limitations discussed in your review such as percentage of completion of a Milestone and/or Tasks in addition to having predecessors to a Milestone and/or Tasks.

By: Tom

Tom — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 23:23:22 +0000

Basecamp for a single user or very small teams, 5pm for when you need more with less clicks ( www.5pmweb.com) and something like @Task if you need complex stuff like PPM and money is not an issue.

By: Project Management S

Project Management S — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 15:59:59 +0000

As Dan said, basecamp is really good for very small projects mostly in professional services industry.