10 Best Project Tracking Software In 2020
This article will help you quickly compare and evaluate the best project management software with time tracking and other project tracking tools.
Project tracking software can be used to gauge where you are at with different elements of your project by gathering and projecting data back to you in real-time. It will help you plan, organize, and manage many aspects of your project while you power towards completion.
If you’re lucky, you’ll find the perfect software that tracks everything you need. That’s what this article is for: to introduce you to the many projects tracking software options and then narrow down which one is the best fit for you.
Quickly Compare & Evaluate The 10 Best Time And Project Tracking Software
Whatever you need to track, there is a PM tool out there that can help you do it. Here are some of the best on the market right now.
The Best Project Management Tracker Tool List
Here’s a shortlist of the best project tracker tools:
What’s The Difference Between Project And Issue Tracking?
Issue tracking might be a part of project tracking, which covers all elements of the project from time tracking, progress tracking, resource tracking, and more. Project tracking covers myriad areas of data, whereas issue tracking focuses on one type of tracking: just issues, bugs, problems, etc.
What Does Project Tracking Software Do?
Project tracking software does exactly what it sounds like: it tracks the various status indicators across your project. Common items that require tracking are time and budget tracking but project tracking software could cover many different areas of any project.
Are There Any Free Project Tracking Software?
Yes! Budget-conscious teams rejoice. Like many project management tools, there are free and freemium options for you to choose from. Check out this list of project management apps that includes some of the best free project tracking software.
How Do I Use Project Tracking In Software Engineering?
Software development comes with its share of project tracking needs. Project scheduling and tracking in software engineering is particularly useful to make sure the project stays on track and on budget. As a software engineer, you need some type of tracking and team collaboration tool to ensure your project team doesn’t miss deadlines or bug tracking to keep a record of any issues that need to be addressed before launch.
What Are The Types Of Tracking Software?
There are plenty of elements of a job or project that you might need to track. Here are some examples of tracking software that you might encounter:
- Time tracking (timesheet apps)
- Task tracking apps
- Budget tracking software
- Construction project tracking software
- PMO tracker or other portfolio-level tracking tools
Not looking for a task tracking tool? Check out our other lists of top project management software:
- Before you get started, you need a plan. Check out the 10 Best Project Scheduling Software.
- Need help allocating resources across your teams and projects? Try the 10 Best Resource Management Software & Tools.
Focused on boosting productivity this quarter? Take a look at this List Of The 18 Best Productivity Apps.
Project Management Tracking Tool Comparison Criteria
What are we looking for when we select project tracking software for review? Here’s a summary of my evaluation criteria:
Key Features
- Objectives and Targets — Is it easy to set, change, and customize objectives for progress tracking so that you see future goals and how close (or far) you are from them?
- Resource Tracking — Can the tool gather data about resources going in and out of the project and make projections accordingly?
- Time Tracking — Time management that can track time according to tasks, projects, subtasks, team members, billable hours, etc.
- Financial Management — Invoicing features, expense tracking, budget dashboards.
- Customizable Alerts — Can alerts be customized to warn of overages in tracking initiatives and can they be deployed across platforms, like email, desktop, and mobile app notifications?
- Reporting — Can the tool produce accessible and actionable reports? Are there tools for automated sending of said reports? Will the report flag any tracking overages?
I also evaluate these aspects of a tool:
- User Interface (UI): Is it clean and attractive? Does the dashboard prioritize tracking essentials (time, budget, resources) or can it be customized to do so?
- Usability: Is it intuitive and easy to learn? Does the company offer good tech support, user support, tutorials, and training? Is their online community support, like user forums?
- Integrations: Is it easy to connect with other tools? Any pre-built integrations with popular file-sharing tools like Google Drive and Dropbox, communication apps like Slack, and other common tools like Jira (for software teams)?
- Value for $: How appropriate is the price for the features, capabilities, and use case? Is pricing clear, transparent and flexible?
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Originally published at https://thedigitalprojectmanager.com on July 13, 2020.
