Managing client projects in advertising agency Minkenberg Medien
advertising agency
20+
self-coded app
2014
Advertising agency Minkenberg Medien is focused mainly on projects in digital environment where clients' requirements can change very quickly. We interviewed the company CEO, Elmar Branch, about choosing the right project management solution for the company.
What were the originally used project management tools?
"We used to manage all our project in our self-coded software solution that was customized to our needs. It was a simple to use system with basic task management under dedicated projects."
Why did You stop using the original solution?
"As we grew up and the number of projects increased, we started to suffer with the basic functionality. The company management decided to change it for a more sophisticated solution."
What requirements did you have on the new solution?
"We needed a 360 view of projects in order to deliver a perfect result to our clients. For example, additional request from clients have to be clearly defined so we can then bill extra hours and clearly communicate with the client. The client now knows what he is paying for and is happy with the service."
How did you select the right application?
"At the beginning we started to test open source solutions, later we added commercial ones as well. I browsed about 30-40 project management solutions over the course of one month. It was not easy to choose the right one because every software had some downsides (about 20 to 30 %). During testing, we found out that project management tools that operate with tickets best suit our projects and are exactly what we need."
What convinced you to purchase Easy Redmine?
"Definitely the "full-featured", ticket based approach of the software. There are many solutions on the market but I just felt home with Easy Redmine. In comparison with other solutions it has a better UX."
What is the biggest benefit of using Easy Redmine?
"The "killer feature" for me, in comparison with other tools, is when I edit a ticket, I am able to update the status, track time and edit comments all in one batch. I like this because you need to fill in a few check boxes, update just a few fields and, in comparison with other systems, you don't have to spend much time on this."
What other features of the software have made you more effective?
"I really like the ability of personalization - personal filters and views. I can display overdue tasks, spent hours, assigned tasks and it saves my time."
Could You quantify some specific improvements?
"We are now digitalizing much more data than before. That allows us to measure, analyze and thus have more effective decision making. I can say I am happy that we made the switch and changed to Easy Redmine."
Thank you for the interview and for your feedback.
Used Plugins:
Elmar Branch
"We use Easy Redmine to simplify our work in managing projects. We made a few tweaks ourselves to this Open source application but we are overall very satisfied."
