Comparing Basecamp to Vertabase Pro Web-Based Project Management Software

Thinking about buying collaborative project management software?

Have you outgrown Basecamp or are you looking for a replacement to Basecamp or a Basecamp like tool?

Here is a review which compares Basecamp to Vertabase Pro. It also provides a framework in which to evaluate Basecamp against other online or web-based project management solutions.

Project Collaboration vs. Project Management

BASECAMP
Basecamp is a project collaboration tool designed to be used by people looking to bring a level of organization into their work lives.

It accomplishes this by giving team members and project resources a central information portal and some useful, share-able, functionality on which different people can contribute or collaborate.

The Basecamp software is a true web-based solution and works on both Mac OS and Microsoft Windows.

VERTABASE PRO
In contrast, Vertabase Pro is a project management tool designed to be used by non-project experts to centralize and control all project and work information in corporate groups and divisions using proven project management features. It is built to be a deep product that people can grow with and that can scale elegantly.

The Vertabase Pro project management solution is an easy-to-use, web based alternative to traditional project management tools like Microsoft Project, MS Project Server or Primavera’s SureTrak, which are often viewed as too hard for the average worker or manager to learn quickly or to use effectively in every day work environments.

Vertabase Pro is a true web-based solution and works of both Mac OS and Microsoft Windows.

The Vertabase Pro project management product encompasses a wider breadth of functionality than Basecamp and also features deeper levels of project management functionality.

BOTH
Both Basecamp and Vertabase Pro strive to replace the use of programs like Microsoft Word or Microsoft Excel which are often inefficient for managing projects or work.

Overview and Review of Features

BASECAMP
Reviewing Basecamp’s collaborative features you’ll find calendaring functionality similar to what you might find in Microsoft Outlook.

The project collaboration software also has
*milestone tracking
*document sharing
*messaging and
*to-do lists.

Basecamp also offers time tracking on its plus and premium plans.

VERTABASE PRO
Vertabase Pro’s functionality is structured in a different way.

The project management software breaks down work into projects. It then subdivides the project itself into areas of specific project management functionality. These specific areas are project details, schedules, budgets, issues, and documents.

Within each area you then have features like:
*project scheduling
*task tracking
*resource allocation
*issue tracking
*budgeting and
*document/asset management.

Timesheet data in Vertabase Pro can be exported directly to QuickBooks for invoicing.

This is a model or work breakdown approach that is found in more traditional project management solutions but made easier and more accessible in Vertabase Pro than in older tools. Unlike Basecamp, Vertabase Pro does not offer calendaring functionality.

AUTOMATIC NOTIFICATION
Each section in the Vertabase Pro project management software is tied into a notification engine which can send automatic email notifications triggered by various events in the project. For example, it can send an email reminder to someone to finish their task or tell someone in accounting that a particular budget milestone has been reached.

ACCESS LEVELS
Further, access levels and user rights in Vertabase Pro can be controlled and defined down to the specific features within each subsection.

Reporting

Another core difference between Basecamp and Vertabase Pro is reporting.

BASECAMP
The Basecamp software has a dashboard view where Basecamp users can view the elements of data that they feel are important from the main functional categories. For instance, you can see your late milestones, your current to-do’s, etc.

However, Basecamp does not offer any reporting functionality similar to other web based project management software tools.

VERTABASE PRO
The Vertabase Pro project management solution has a comprehensive reporting engine.

Users can create any number of custom reports on:
*project status
*budgets
*timesheets
*resource allocation
*resource utilization
*tasks lists and more.

The reporting engine in the project management software also includes cross-project or overall company views and reports.

Each of these reports in the Vertabase Pro software can be saved as a template to share with other people and the data can be graphically represented in
*pie-charts
*bar graphs
*Gantt charts.

These graphics can be saved and imported into other documents for presentations.

The reporting data in Vertabase Pro can also be exported to Microsoft Excel for further manipulation and analysis.

Scope of the Product

Vertabase Pro is a much larger and more comprehensive web-based solution than Basecamp and is suited for different needs.

Basecamp has set-out to be a project collaboration tool and has functionality which facilitates ease-of-use and rapid adoption of those type of collaborative features which can be a great step in getting people more organized.

Vertabase Pro has set-out to be a project management tool and has functionality, a design philosophy and an overall offering which facilitates ease-of-use and adoption of some more advanced project management features to help people better manage their projects and work.

Training and Support

This difference in approach can be seen when comparing the training and customer support options offered by the two companies.

BASECAMP
People use Basecamp straight out of the box, as it were. It is built to be that way. It comes with no training and limited email and web-based customer support. The software is made to focus on adoption rather than depth of offering.

The creators of the product have claimed that they would rather deliver to market half a product, that people will use, than release a whole product which people will ignore.

They have done a good job with this and Basecamp has become an extremely popular tool because it is simple and easy to understand.

VERTABASE PRO
Vertabase Pro is a deeper and more robust tool. It is built to make powerful and essential management tools accessible and useful to a wide range of users regardless of their experience with project management or project management software in the past.

The makers of Vertabase are focused on providing the tools and service offerings that will aide this adoption to help make companies more efficient.

For that reason, Vertabase Pro comes (for no extra charge) with project management consulting, integration and implementation consulting, extensive training and live ongoing customer support.

Customers can also get training and support on the project management software via email, online help files and an online video training library.

If you are interested in learning more about Vertabase Pro project management software or taking a free test drive of the product, contact us.

          

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 12th, 2006 at 1:06 pm and is filed under Project Management Software, Software and Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.