Why Choose an All-in-1 Project Management Solution?

Here’s a question--

How many apps do you think you have on your phone?

According to Google, users on average have 35 apps installed on their smartphones. A lot of us download these apps in the attempt to make our lives easier: to streamline, organize, etc. It’s become normal to have our devices brimming with tons of apps.

But the modern norm of having multiple applications or solutions could potentially make us less streamlined, less organized.

Whenever possible, all-in-one solutions offer lucrative benefits over using say, 3-5 platforms to accomplish a goal.

And all-in-one solutions particularly offer an advantage in the field of project management, where historically, different departments have always been siloed into different software platforms.

Check out the high-level benefits of adopting an all-in-one solution for your project management needs.

Benefits of an all-in-one project management solution

Productivity

Think again about your smartphone, the pinnacle of what has been designed to keep us connected, convenient, and productive. But adding app after app can have the opposite effect. So goes it in the project management space. It’s common for small businesses to use a tool like Asana for task management, another for their contracts, plus a time tracking tool like Harvest for project management. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

When bouncing between platforms, your team is suffering from a higher switch cost, which statistically will make everyone less productive. Plus, menial (but necessary) admin work accounts for a lot of this bouncing, work which can be automated in many cases with software. All-in-one solutions are more intelligently designed to cater to holistic project management, while improving your productivity with smart features like:

• Automated alerts
• Dashboards to help you see where (and whom) might be lagging
• Self-driving time tracking
• Automatic invoicing

Cost efficiency

All-in-one solutions that are self-driving and easy to use will innately be more cost efficient versus using multiple siloed platforms. By dropping unintegrated, superfluous licenses and monthly payments, you can do right by your cash flow. Here’s an example:

Digital Marketing Company A with a team of 6 uses Asana to manage tasks and share information around a project. They also use a collaboration tool, Slack, to streamline their communication. To help track time, Company A uses a time tracking solution: Harvest. For contracts, they use PandaDoc. Company A also does manual invoices and billing creation using spreadsheets, which we’ll call (e). That makes their monthly bill something like this:

1. Task Management software monthly cost (Asana): $65.94
2. Collaboration tool monthly cost (Slack): $40.02
3. Time tracking monthly cost (Harvest): $72.00
4. Contracts (PandaDoc): $114
5. Invoice & Billing (6 hours per month @ $20/hour): $120

Monthly total for team of 6: $411.96

Digital Marketing Company B with a team of 6 uses an all-in-one solution to manage tasks and share information around a project. Because their solution has robust integrations, they decided to keep Slack since everyone is used to it. Solutions c and d are eliminated, as are the e costs which have been solved with automation. That makes the monthly bill of Digital Marketing Company B something like this:

1. All-in-one project management solution monthly cost (PSOhub): $75
2. Collaboration tool monthly cost (Slack): $40.02

Monthly total for team of 6: $115.02

This is just one example of how ditching multiple solutions for an all-in-one platform can save you money over time. While this scenario is in the realm of project management, you’ll be able to save money with a robust solution that consolidates your growth stack, regardless of your industry.

Integrations to keep solutions you can’t live without

In the above scenario, Company B chose to keep Slack in their tech stack, even though it could have in theory been replaced with a different communication channel, perhaps a free one like Telegram. The point is, Company B had become comfortable with Slack and wanted to keep it around. We all have platforms that we just plain like, even if at the end of the day they could be eliminated or replaced to save us money. Sometimes, it’s a good thing. You don’t have to train people on another solution and familiarity goes a long way.

The best all-in-one project management solutions have powerful integrations that will let you keep those platforms you can’t live without.

For most digital marketing agencies, that includes HubSpot or Salesforce. The beauty of an all-in-one solution that integrates with your CRM is that all your data will live in the same place. It’s a win for productivity, cost efficiency, and importantly, security.

Security (closed loop)

Finally, one of the top benefits of an all-in-one project management solution is security. We aren’t necessarily talking about protection against malware or hacking (though closed loop automation will provide this safeguard), but rather security from a closed loop system. When all your project data lives in one digital hub-- financials, budgets, time and expense, contracts, CRM-- there’s less chance something will fall through the cracks. Projects are less likely to go off rail when you are leveraging an all-in-one project management suite, as all the data you need is securely stored under one digital umbrella.

Checklist: How to choose the right all-in-one project management solution

By now, you’ve seen the practical and financial benefits of adopting an all-in-one project management system versus going with a bunch of other solutions. What’s next? If you’re looking for an all-in-one solution for project management for your business, make sure it checks the following boxes:

• Really good dashboards backed by solid analytics
• Automated alerts
• Time tracking
• Self-driving features
• Budget management
• Task management and collaboration
• CRM integration
• Contract management

Want to know more about how to choose the best project management platform for you?

This article was intended to be a more high-level explanation of the benefits of an all-in-one project management solution. If you want to learn more, download our FREE ebook with a meatier checklist and all the info you need to help you make the right choice for your business:)