Can project management software save your company money?

In the last post I talked about trends in project management and mentioned the most up and coming trend being project management software. I wanted to expand on this topic and show how project management software is not only a trend in project management, but also an important tool in saving money within the project itself as well as a way to save your company money. In a sense, project management software puts business owners in the driver’s seat of the company’s profitability. It also helps businesses organize, promotes collaboration and provide the business with the ability to track and plan everything related to any project they may have actively running. Project management software allows the company to track the success of multiple projects occurring simultaneously, individually and collectively. For these many reasons and more project management software can be a great and successful tool in saving a company money.

In the business world time is money and getting employees up to speed on projects ultimately can cost a company a lot of money. If a new employee takes over an existing project or joins a project team, the time it takes to train him is money spent that can otherwise be avoided with project management software. PM software can save a company money by providing a quick and simple way for employee to gather the information they need on a project and have a time-line provided for them of what has already occurred with the project and what still needs to be done.

PM software  also saves companies money by creating an Icloud based filing system. Rather than a company wasting time and money searching for notes, files and documentation, everything exists within Icloud storage system for the PM software making it easily accessible for all that may want to look anything up at any time. This type of filling system makes it much more more comprehensive than a standard filling system and allows for less error and more money savings in the physical filling.

PM software can also serve as a training tool for the business as it is self-contained. This process can save a company a lot of money as well that would otherwise be spent on trainers or on salaries of existing employees to train new employees or staff. The software has the ability to teach employees on how the company manages projects and the tasks that go into completing each and every project.

The final value savings can be found in correcting PM mistakes and making sure they are not costly ones. Mistakes can cause a company to not only loose profits but also customers which in turn causes a future loss of income to the business. Mistakes also require a company  to spend time correcting the mistake that could have been spent working on new tasks or finalizing the project. PM software can help prevent all of these issues and ultimately saving the company money.

As pointed out in these many cases, project management software is not only crucial in managing a project easier and with less confusion, but it is also a key component in cost savings which is on every companies agenda now a days.

http://quickbase.intuit.com/blog/2012/12/26/three-ways-online-project-management-can-save-time/

http://www.jobnimbus.com/blog/2012/09/21/leveraging-project-management-software-to-earn-more/

http://smallbusiness.chron.com/can-project-management-software-save-business-money-1074.html

http://www.tasktrakz.com/blog/whentimetouseprojectmanagementsoftware

 

9 thoughts on “Can project management software save your company money?

  1. These are all great points in how software can lead to a cost savings, but you really need to have forward thinking managers who can see the long-term benefits. All these software packages require significant investments on the front end. You managers have to do the research and be able to see past the front end costs for the back end benefits.

  2. Undoubtedly, I believe that PM software can save your company money, if and only if it is planned and implemented correctly. As stated before, a lot of money needs to be invested to get it right, with all the benefits coming in the long term.

    It is interesting, I work for a fairly young company that is experiencing a rapid growth phase and is trying to implement an enterprise wide management system. The foundation will be based off of Vision software with an ultimate goal to align the business units into one unified and consistent management group. The idea is fantastic and extremely beneficial, but the majority of the time, money, and effort should be in the planning and implementation phases of the project. If the pieces aren’t put together correctly, it can end in an epic failure of millions of dollars and significant resource hours over the two year project. It will be an interesting project to watch unfold as I will most likely review it and analyze it, for fun, as it takes shape within my company.

  3. I think the last section is the one that stands out the most to me. The PM software could pay itself off several times over just by catching several mistakes. When it comes to anything involving human calculation or input there is always the possibility for human error. We can put controls in place like 4 eye checks, but the more controls we have in place the more we can reduce the likelihood of a mistake happening. I work in an environment where there is a large amount of human input, mistakes happen all the time. Each time it usually ends with an account service loss that tends to be fair significant.

  4. Very good points. Josh also has a good point as well. Several years ago my company implemented a new project management software package that saved a ton of time and money. There was definitely a learning curve though that took time and patience. Many of the staff members struggled the first year or so getting used to the idea of keeping everything in one central location, with virtually no hard copies of anything. This was a culture change for sure but looking back now several years later, the project management software package was a huge time and money savings for the company.

  5. I believe in your direction and have seen this in practice. Many companies have matured in the tool to the point where they can use demand planning initiatives based on the way they define projects and resources in the tool. This can be an issue due to the priority made on the deployment and templates used by project managers. While it seems to be a good idea to do, many companies have lost out because senior management still believes they can manage projects the old way and allow manual/paper changes over electronic control. The loss of IP and repeatable processes are immense. I think this is a good note and a good idea for many top consider.

  6. Your post made me think about the time 15 months ago when my request for project management software was denied by my boss, a certified project management professional (PMP) and a master black belt in Lean Six Sigma (LSS). Like you, I believed that project management software could save the healthy system money and I did not understand his decision to deny my request.

    Since then, I have learned that it is not about the software but about having a standard process and sound project management technique. All of the benefits that you have described in your post — having the information that you need all in one place, serving as a training tool, and identifying project management mistakes — can be realized without the use of project management software. And having the project management software without a standard process could also create issues!

    In the Lean Transformation Office, we use a production board to visually track projects from request through to completion. This low-tech solution takes up an entire wall and allows us to see the project management form, project phase (e.g., plan, do, check, act) and status (e.g., red, yellow green) for all work in progress (WIP). Since the project request forms are color-coded, it also shows how projects align with the health system’s strategic initiatives (e.g., service/safety/quality, engaged workforce, aligned multi-specialty group, clinical integration and financial viability). So far, I have not needed project management software to manage my projects!

  7. The greatest accomplishment that our PM software has achieved so far is standardization. At a bare minimum the software allows all users to work from one common interface which makes complicated projects much easier to understand. The hard part, as some commentors have mentioned, is implementing and using the software correctly. Many great software programs suffer from poor implementation or consistent reinforcement which can give them a bad name.

  8. Damian, good insights regarding the software and the advantages of it. Like others have commented earlier, people often focus so much on the initial cost that they don’t always look for the future benefits. Sometimes the the time savings and the efficiency in the quality of work that the software provides will help recover the cost for the initial investment likely within 25% of the overall software life. You are then left with 75% useful life of the software to enjoy the enhanced productivity from it.

    One challenge that I have seen at a few places I have worked is that people are often budgeting expenses over the actual allocated budget and have to find ways to cut expenses. Although those companies at times aren’t against the purchase of additional software or services, but rather they feel that if the work is being done okay in the current manner and we can use the available funds else where, why spend the money. Once again, not realizing that this investment could actually have a positive outcomes years from now.

  9. Eugene, great post on the benefits of project management software. I believe, that PM software is a great tool, which can be used in a variety of ways. I think a great example is not reinventing the wheel. Most software packages now have everything, and more, that any project may need. There is no point in trying to do something your own way if it has worked in the past numerous times. And like you mentioned it is a great tool for new members of a team, saving money, time, and resources, and an all around great asset to any project. As other people mentioned, I think patients is the biggest issue with new PM software. If teams can stick with a specific software over time it will be much more smooth to work with.

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