Web based vs. desktop project management software

Web based project management software includes any program that can provide you with assistance on managing your projects (both individually and in terms of project workgroup), and that works using Web technologies like PHP. This means that such Web based project management software provides UI (user interface) that runs with a help of any appropriate web-browser. Desktop project management software means programs that need installation within operating system. In multi-user regime, desktop project management software is supposed to work via internal corporate LAN as a client-server application, but it also may work through the Internet (using own not web-based application to drive UI). Let’s consider in the following article all advantages and problems of the both kinds.

Investigation

Advantages: Web based PM tools can be accessed from every place where Internet connection is available, and this makes this software popular among people who travel a lot, accessing Internet often from different computers and other devices. Normally web based project management systems offer annual and monthly subscription that makes them convenient for short-term projects and teams, because account in such a system can be easily added and cancelled when a member is out of the team.  

Typical users: that software is quite popular among people with frugal budgets like students and young entrepreneurs because there is a bunch of free programs that can offer just basic functionality while more advanced capabilities can be ordered on paid basis. Web based project management applications are popular among virtual teams where all team members permanently live and work in different locations, so the only way to interconnect them is via the Internet. There are web based products that can be improved by qualified programmers in order of designing their own custom solutions, so such open source shareware doesn’t meet needs of usual users who just want to get workable solution without any advanced modification. Due to disadvantages explained in the following paragraph, Web based tools are not advisable to long-term stable teams where the most of people work within the same office.

Problems: it has a number of essential risks. As far as < eb based packages work via Internet, simple unavailability of net access makes your data unreachable. Besides this, web based project management systems are known of slow performance, remote server time-outs, and even the best web based project management software are subjected to potential risks of remote server crashing and failures.

Investigation on desktop PM tools:

Advantages: it shows much better performance than their web-based competitors, because it is free of problems related to Internet. In other words such software uses internal corporate facilities (server and LAN) that are faster and more reliable than public Internet facilities, so this makes desktop project management tools more secure and rapid in client-server operations. 

Typical users: Project management desktop software is naturally preferred by long-term stable teams where the most of people work within the same office. Due to advantages, such products are basically used by deliberate business users who have appropriate facilities and don’t want “to play” with any additional risks. There are samples of open source desktop project management software on the Web, and they can be interesting to big companies having powerful IT staffs to design tailored specificity-matching solutions. 

Problems: To disadvantages of such solutions we can ascribe their comparatively higher price which repels students and other short-term users that don’t need lifetime software license. In spite of the fact that you can find some free project management desktop software not many of such products can satisfy sophisticated users, because free shareware may have problems with support, usability, quality etc.

Specific example

VIP Task Manager is easy-to-use teamwork program for Windows with three agile interfaces (Task List, Task Tree and Calendar) that enable you to manage business tasks and projects in terms of time and other essential attributes, to assign tasks to employees, to plan working time, schedules and control team performance in real-time regime. This multi-user program is proven commercial software with 30 days of trial period enabling you to fully test it out. This software doesn’t require any advanced IT-skills to be used and configured so it can be installed and used by everyone.