Business Cloud Storage & Project Management

[Alexi]

Hello everyone,

Firstly I apologise if this is in the wrong section!
I am new to cloud systems and am trying to find a solution for a small/medium sized design/architecture company I work with.

To summarise I am looking to create a system that allows effective file and knowledge sharing, effective communication channels and project reporting. As well as making it possible to access information about a project at any time and anywhere, especially helpful as we employ freelancers.

To go into more detail, ideally I'd like to find a way of always being able to access info, so this would be based around a cloud file sharing system. This sharing would apply to all written documentation, from project documents to emails, construction plans and site notes, proposals and samples. This is fairly complex but if the company is to work efficiently and build a bigger team myself and my directors need to be able to always see everything that's going on. For example if I have to look after two technicians, and I am out of the office and need to see a file, and want to check they've sent the right file to the right person. If it's possible to see that information I will A) not worry, and B) be able to act accordingly - e.g send a reminder / chase a client / amend it.

A cloud-based file sharing site for documentation & storage would be quite easy to accomplish. As for emails and project management integrated into this- I'm not sure how to do this. Regarding email, I find it's no good just cc'ing employees in as it's hard to ensure the respondents do this so end up with half a conversation all the time.

Do any of you have an opinion or advice on where to go with this? I have been looking at Dropbox Business with the inclusion of third-party apps which seems like a solution i.e. Asana, Basecamp etc.

I would greatly appreciate any help with this. Also sorry about the length of my post!

Thank you.

 

[KM-Tiger]

If Open Source is of interest, two suggestions that would be worth a look:

Redmine - although designed for IT projects, it may well suit your needs.

Owncloud - this would deal with file/document sharing and management, but entirely under your control. But doesn't have email/project management built in.

 

[Amivbridge]

I have used asana and it is very good for IT project management and can be accessed from anywhere, any device using a browser.

 

[Evercom]

Hi

Microsoft's SharePoint (document management) with Dynamics CRM would allow you to project manage with the inclusion of data such as emails and documents.

The programs are highly customisable and you can also allow as much or as little access to the portal as you want for freelancers and third party partners.


I suggest you also check out 'Huddle' - Just Google Search IT - Look at their Managed Project section.

From what I remember it may do everything you need without the required expertise or developer which SharePoint would need.

Asana as mentioned is good, but you can't track emails. You can however email to task.

Hope this helps

Thanks

 

[philmc1]

Hi
you need to solve 2 problems, where to put your shared data and what applications to use for project management etc, in the cloud.
DropBox or even Google web apps is perfect for storing and sharing the data and files, i have done this for several years. Specifically Dropbox allows teams to share the same data wherever they are, so long as connected to the internet.
If you need a project management tools then Basecamp solves that, everything relating to it is in the cloud but you may need shared sign on to get to each others work.. If you have in place at the minute, eg Microsoft Project, then continue to use this and store the application data files in shared folders in Dropbox (or wherever you chose)