Question: As an IT Consultant with people already working as many hours as they can, how can I make more money without adding overhead or needing to find new clients?
Answer: The short answer is -bill faster.
Most IT Consulting shops have thousands of dollars of free cash bottled-up in unbilled time. The problem is either:
- Technicians have been on-site, done the work but haven’t reported their time or
- Their time has been entered but it takes a long time for someone to re-key that time in Quickbooks or another accounting package so that it can be billed to the client.
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We are happy to announce the release of the Vertabase Timer v. 1.5 to track time on projects and track time on clients. This sleek desktop widget runs on MAC and PC (-its been tested on Leopard and Vista).
New Features include:
1. Addition of a PAUSE button.
2. Making the SHOW TIME time usage report editable.
3. Export to CSV for use in applications like MS Excel and Google Spreadsheets.
4. Export to XML with meaningful node names.
5. Easier autosuggest.
To make this all possible, the Vertabase Timer was entirely rebuilt in Flex.
Join the more than 3,000 people who have already downloaded the Vertabase Timer. You can download the latest version of the time tracking application for free at the Vertabase Timer homepage.
The application runs on Adobe’s AIR.
By the way, all these features came from feedback from our Community. Join now and be heard!
Tell us what you’d like to see in Vertabase Timer to make it easier and more useful for you.
Question: How can government be made more efficient with project management software or by using project management in public administration?
Answer: Project management software provides a clear structure in which all steps of a public works project can be spelled out.
A basic break-down of the steps in a project can provide an effective operational overview of municipal or Federal government projects. This gives executives or public sector employees a clear way to track progress, identify bottlenecks and learn from past projects -because the tasks involved and people or departments associated with those tasks are clearly identified. This level of visibility in public administration can breed increased efficiency and transparency in the use of government resources.
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The popular Vertabase Timer now runs on AIR 1.0.
Visit the Timer download site to get this handy widget to track time on clients or on projects. It runs on both MAC and Windows (because its AIR).
The current version is 0.9 and we’re still collecting feedback via the forum on what you’d like to see in the widget.
Thank you to all the great people in California who welcomed me to their companies this week. It was a real pleasure. From San Diego to Sacramento I visited Vertabase users across this vast and exciting state.
We appreciate your business and I look forward to seeing everyone again.
Question: What are alternatives for issue tracking or to track issues on projects?
Answer: Vertabase project management software is a great alternative to commonly used collaboration tools or as an alternative to MS Project and other online project management tools.
The keys to good issue tracking are accountability, communication, and visibility. Vertabase offers several advantages in these areas for web-based tracking.
- Time and date stamp of every post;
- Records the name of the person who made the poster;
- Automatic email notification of posts and replies and;
- Creates a searchable knowledgebase of issues or posts.
The knowledgebase is searchable by project, issue status, post date and other criteria. This facilitates visibility and is great for increasing accountability.
You can easily see the status of all issue posts across projects as well as track down who should be doing what.
Another factor that makes issue tracking practical for organizations with different people working on different projects for multiple clients is the ability very specifically define who can see an issue, who can start and issue and who is able to change the status of an issue. This can help prevent people from “closing” something that hasn’t truly been resolved yet.
You can see a screenshot of the online issue tracking system or sign-up for a free trial of the project software.
Vertabase project management software is now being taught in an MBA course on project management at Lake Forest Graduate School of Management in Illinois.
The software is used in the course: “Successful Projects: Define, Plan and Manager Your Work.”
Vertabase is discussed when the course goes over setting up Microsoft Project and using Vertabase as a compliment and comparison to MS Project.
It is further covered when the future MBA’s learn about controlling and managing multiple projects -using Vertabase. Since it is rare that an organization, and therefore a manager, will only have one project going on at a time.
Thank you to the course instructor for selecting Vertabase as the online project management software for this class.
A project schedule in tools like MS Project or Vertabase is different than in project collaboration tools like Basecamp.
The main idea behind a schedule in project management software like Vertabase is to create a detailed workflow for a project. The schedule is the roadmap of the project and its successful completion. It creates visibility and gives people the tools to do their work.
For example, documents and discussions that people need to work on on the project can all be connected directly to project schedules or even to specific tasks.
Also, project budgets and time estimates can all be connected to the project schedule (though access to this information can be easily controlled). In fact, actual time can be posted directly to tasks on a schedule.
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Question: What are the benefits of project management software for a marketing company or for an ad agency to use project management software?
Answer: Managing workflow on marketing projects can lead to greater profitability for a marketing company or ad agency.
Now, this can be difficult when you have many resources working on a large volume of projects. But by having a clear picture of everyone’s work allocation and easily sharing and communicating tasks on projects you can start to get an accurate handle on the workload. Further, by mapping those tasks across a project schedule, then getting a total company view across all project schedules, you can get a complete picture of your current and future workflow. With this picture, you can make strategic decisions and plan accordingly to use your resources more effectively -and be more profitable.
Think Marketing in British Columbia, Canada implemented Vertabase project management software and was able to really improve the way people use their time.
“This software helps me understand how busy any individual is at any given time. Now, everyone on the team knows they are accountable for how they manage their time! In turn, improved productivity results in superior profitability. It’s that simple,” says Adam Less, Creative Director and Managing Partner.
Vertabase offers project management software that can improve productivity at marketing companies and ad agencies.
The Vertabase Timer is now available for download directly from the Adobe Exchange.
It is a great way to track time on projects or to track time on clients (or really anything).
This is an alpha build so please sign up for the updates or check the time track message board for known issues.
Also, development of the Vertabase time tracking tool will be driven by user feedback, particularly early adopters. So fire away.
