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I have been looking for a Project Management system to support collaboration across three partners in two locations for our startup. I'm specifically looking for perspective on the Basecamp and FogBugz web based apps.

We need to manage all the business tasks necessary to build and launch a large user generated content site. We are working with an experienced development team who have their own management system in place for the wireframe to coding to testing cycle so we're less focused on features supporting code processes.

In prior jobs, we've used MS Project and have found it too complex and cumbersome. On the other end of the spectrum, we've used simple Excel spreadsheets for tracking - these are OK but don't support strong collaboration and planning.

We've come across Basecamp and it appears to be easy to use and to support collaboration across partners and locations. I've also heard some positive comments on FogBugz but have the sense that is more oriented towards managing code related processes.

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4 Answers

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Given your description (I use basecamp, have used FogBugz in past) Basecamp would work, but I think refining your needs some will get you to a better software fit.

When you say project management, do you mean:

  • collaborative discussion replacing email (Google Wave might be better - see http://maxklein.posterous.com/on-how-google-wave-surprisingly-changed-my-li - but basecamp will get it done)

  • task definition, tracking, delegating? Basecamp simple todo lists might be all you need, but I'd strongly suggest looking at a web/mobile solution. If you are on Macs, Things desktop/iPhone is very very good, but other solutions (lightweight, airtight) exist.

  • Milestone, critical path, resource allocation? Basecamp is not a good fit.

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I have used Basecamp for 4 years and is satisfied with the service. There are plenty of things that I would like where different but overall it works great for most purposes.

Their API makes it easy to customize solutions to your need and there is plenty of third party software.

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up vote 1 down vote

Basecamp is pretty cool, but we switched to Glasscubes a few months back because we heard it was much simpler to use. It's got all the same features (and a few extra on top) and the support team have been able to answer our questions (which essentially sealed our switch).

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It seems like you are asking two different questions. One question is for a collaboration package while the other is for tracking projects. Those can be different requirements as Bob mentioned.

I have not used Basecamp or FogBugz. I have used Highrise and it's a great collaboration tool but not great for tracking projects. Highrise is a simple CRM that does have ways to collect information for specific projects but not any real issue tracking capability.

What has worked for my company is Trac and spreadsheets. Trac is an Open Source Project Management and Bug tracking solution that bolts onto Subversion. It has a wiki input and is pretty good for tracking just about anything.

On the spreadsheet side, we use Key Project Indicators and Waterfalls to look at what we call our "trajectories." MS Project does play a role but only for planning -- we don't track with it, since percent done, is kind of meaningless. If you use a Mac, then OmniPlan is a great alternative to MS Project. Simple to use and gives you just what you need.

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