As a freelance computer consultant, I’m always on the look out for new software, web services or other programs that might help my clients. I came across a new company called 37 signals. Who offer some WEB 2.0 services via their web site. The services include:
My day job manager voiced the need for some basic process tracking. Not necessarily, project tracking. We already use Microsoft Project for IT projects, but we had a couple of problems using MS Project in this situation, first not everyone that would need to be involved has MS Project loaded on their computer. Second some of the collaborators are offsite and wouldn’t be able to access the project. I had run across Basecamp when I was looking into the programing language Ruby. At that point at really didn’t have any interest in their services. I didn’t see where I could use it for my freelance consulting. I don’t do a lot of project type work. It has been mostly technical support type work. Well that has changed I signed up for a free account. This gives you most of the features and the ability to track one project. That is when the excitement started to build. The software was easy to use and there were only a few situations were we had to tailor how we do things to how Basecamp works. I can see using this in a variety of situations. One as a demo tool. Another to create projects as part of my work. Another possibility would be for a teaching aid. Basecamp manages your project by tracking milestones, and to dos, discussions, and by having the ability to upload files that you will need to share. Writeboard which are sort of like electronic whitebaords. You also can have unlimited client/users sign in and have access to your projects.
Details about accounts: One item that I like about the setup is that you can try it for free. You get most of the features, and the ability to see how the software/service might work for you. More expensive accounts allow you to track time against tasks and connect to the site securely. I also like the fact that it is a pay as you go. Only use what you need. Also there are some third party software that extend the functionality of the Basecamp product. And for Macintosh users there are dashboard widgets that will link to your dashboard projects.
I would recommend that you check out Basecamp and see if might meet your needs.
