Free Project Software
The open source community typically positions itself as the only provider of free software, although what it doesn’t disclose is the costs associated with upgrading and customizing applications to meet the needs and requirements of a particular customer. Providers such as Clarizen offer a comprehensive project softwaresolution designed to make project initiation, planning, execution and closure more efficient, more accountable and more integrated with both internal and external stakeholders and vendors.
Better yet, Clarizen allows clients to try its innovative project software solution for free for 30 days, then offers the choice of affordable Professional and Enterprise editions of its software based on the number of users. There’s no risk involved, and users can compare and contrast the Clarizen software with competitors to see which meets their needs and represents the best overall value.
The SaaS Model and Project Software - Ongoing Value
Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) providers understand that prospective customers often want to “test drive” a product and experience it for themselves before committing to payment of an ongoing monthly fee. This enables them to actually incorporate the project management software into their work flow and determine if the users are comfortable with it, if it can be customized according to their preferences, and if it increases efficiency, transparency, and accountability, with an ultimate eye on boosting project as well as enterprise profitability.
For those concerned about data security and integrity, Clarizen’s project software utilizes state-of-the-art technology, IT best practices and a robust, multi-tiered architecture to ensure that confidential data remains private, secure, backed up, and highly resistant to hacking, phishing or spying efforts. The company’s server farms are based in California at a Tier 1 facility which is SAS 70 Type II certified, and backed up by two mirrored and geographically dispersed data centers. All user names and passwords are stored in encrypted MD-5 hash format and are required to start a Clarizen session, and project managers have full control over user permissions on their projects. In short, Clarizen project software is not only highly functional and scalable, but virtually impregnable when it comes to security breaches and potential outside threats.
Clarizen currently offers both prospective and existing customers online access to documentation explaining its products, along with case studies, free downloads, news and information for developers and more. It is encouraging the development of a community around its project software platform and has created the ability for third parties to upload apps for other Clarizen users to access and install, with a future promise to enable the developers the ability to control access to the app and charge a fee for its use if they wish.
Benefits of Clarizen's Project Software Package
Clarizen’s project software platform is available in both Professional and Enterprise Editions. Both offer time and budget tracking, scheduling, resource management, task management, change management, project management templates and a wealth of other features, including an iPhone mobile application and iPad compatibility. The Professional Edition has more limited customization and business rules, along with predefined integrations, while the Enterprise Edition offers more expansive customization and business rules along with full API access for open integrations.
Other benefits include a free knowledge base, free integrations, free Wiki based project support, free software upgrades, the ability to scale according to demand, and the ability to switch between Professional and Enterprise Editions as necessary, among many others.
Clarizen’s project software seamlessly integrates with popular third party applications such asSalesforce.com, Intacct, Zendesk, GoogleDocs, and iCal. In addition to offering both an iPhone and iPad app, an add-on for Microsoft Outlook and add-ons for Autodesk’s AutoCAD and Solidworks CAD are also available so that engineers can work on and update projects from directly within the specified CAD environments.
In closing, in addition to offering a rich and highly scalable project software package on a fairly priced, usage-based SaaS business model, Clarizen offers several invaluable free benefits to its customer base and represents a highly competitive alternative to less comprehensive proprietary solutions as well as open source project software which may appear free upon initial inspection, but has many hidden costs.