A Few Customer Case Studies


‘‘ DeskAway saves time by automating project management and task distribution. ’’

Abhishek Rungta
CEO,
Indus Net Technologies


Indus Net Technologies (Rated as #1 IT SME by Dun & Bradstreet in 2008) is one of the fastest growing IT service company in India (Among Top 50 Emerging Companies in 2010 as per NASSCOM) providing web design, web development and Internet marketing services to governments, enterprises and digital agencies since 1997. Indus Net Technologies employs 500 experts in Kolkata, Chennai and Warwick, with plans to open up office in USA in 2010.

How are you using DeskAway and what value is it providing your team?
DeskAway helps in tracking the status of the projects undergoing and helps us to manage the projects effectively.

Were you using any other tool before before DeskAway?
ZOHO projects.

Was there a learning curve associated with DeskAway? How did your team adapt to a new application?
New application is user friendly so adaptation was not an issue.

What features does your team use the most?
Uploading tasks, Documents, time sheet.

Are you emailing (sending tasks, attachments etc.) less because of DeskAway?
Yes as the tasks assigned to every person is visible in it and the responsible person gets the notification so need to send the reminder mail.

How has DeskAway helped in lowering project costs, profitability or improving efficiency?
DeskAway saves time by automating the project management and task distribution. The document management system is also good, providing effective way of managing the resources.

‘‘ The interface is really zippy, and we feel very comfortable working on DeskAway. ’’

Munish Bansal & Niraj Ranjan Rout
Founders,
Mobicules


Mobicules is an agile web and mobile app development company, working with new technology ventures and some of the biggest brands around, helping them build sophisticated world class products while meeting aggressive go-to-market times required for web and mobile products today. We are a 40 people team and work with some very demanding clients spread all over the world. We have been at the forefront of the technologies we work on, and are very quick to adopt and adapt to technical and methodology changes.

Mobicules was founded by Munish Bansal and Niraj Ranjan Rout, who have a combined experience of more than 15 years in diverse technical areas such as the internet, VLSI design, EDA and mobile technologies.

How are you using DeskAway when growing your business?
In the last six months, we have moved the project management for all the projects running at Mobicules to DeskAway. DeskAway has helped us in communicating with our clients better, in keeping information documented, and in helping large teams collaborate better to achieve project targets.

Were you using any other tool before DeskAway?
We were using a combination of Redmine, Google Sites and BaseCamp before we switched to DeskAway.

Was there a learning curve associated with DeskAway? How did your team adapt to a new application?
It hardly took any time. Not just our team, our clients too switched from whatever we were using to DeskAway in time. The learning videos interspersed throughout the site greatly accelerated the learning process on DeskAway. Messages, Tasks, Files and Issues work in a very intuitive manner. The interface is really zippy, and we feel very comfortable working on DeskAway.

What features does your team use/like the most?
We use Messages, Tasks and Files very heavily. Being able to add comments to just about everything really helps.

Are there any other thoughts that you would want to share with us regarding our service, product etc.?
As for now, everything in DeskAway works really well for us. As a services company, we'd love to see features like time-logging by developers and automated timesheet creation for projects or developers. We find the pricing to be very good. We haven't had a reason to contact the support team till now, but we have no reason to believe that the support would not be stellar.

‘‘ It has totally stopped the flow of emails with attachments and the inevitable confusion with version control. ’’

Jonathan Senior
Founder & CEO,
Sharp End Training

Sharp End Training is an online training company. It provide training for small business and small business owners with dedicated sites for different countries and parts of the world. Content can be adjusted to suit different market conditions.

At the moment, they have dedicated country leaders in India, Malta, the USA and Singapore.

How are you using DeskAway and what value is it providing your team?
We use DeskAway to keep track of the projects we are working on. As a project manager, I love the flexibility it gives me to allow and disallow access to certain people and projects. It has totally stopped the flow of emails with attachments and the inevitable confusion with version control.

Were you using any other tool before before DeskAway?
We looked at bug tracking software, both hosted and self hosted. We looked at other solutions but they were far too technical. We pride ourselves on making things which are complicate, simple. We had no need to share code or other technical data.

Was there a learning curve associated with DeskAway? How did your team adapt to a new application?
No learning curve. One team member remarked "Oh so it's like facebook. It emails me when there is a message and I delete the email and go read the message."

What features does your team use the most?
We tend to have one "thread" per topic, that's either an issue or a task. We don't use the file storage much because we share big video and sound files. We can hotlink to the url in DeskAway easy enough though...

Are you emailing (sending tasks, attachments etc.) less because of DeskAway? How has DeskAway helped in lowering project costs, profitability, improving efficiency or just simplifying work?
Sending email attachments has stopped totally. When a new associate comes on board, we have a definite methodology that we work with and that is part of the deal.

‘‘ Superchooha saves 48 minutes per team member per day. ’’

Aditya Rao
Co-founder and Chief Troublemaker,
Superchooha

Superchooha is a Social Business Communications firm from Mumbai, India. What that means is that we use social media to engage customers with brands, and teams within the organisation for efficient business operations.

We believe in spreading social everywhere on the web. Things on the social web change every second, in real time, and so do requirements of our projects. It was all fine when we had just started with a two person team but things got real ugly now that we have expanded, handling clients like ICICI Prudential and Idea Cellular with colossal frequencies of user touchpoints.

Information and tasks assigned used to get lost in mails, we had tons of papers on the notice board to remind us of stuff. Things were never seamless. We finalized on DeskAway after a lot of test runs with Basecamp and such, and it was worth it. We are actually saving around 48 minutes per day per member now. Things get done on time. We know who is accountable for certain task, who is working efficiently etc. We can assign tasks seamlessly via mails. In addition, we can easily work from home if need arises.

In short, it's been a lifesaver :)

‘‘ DeskAway is my everyday keeping-my-sanity tool. ’’

Lamees Abourahma,
Bright Founder,
Webbright Services, LLC

Webbright is a Richmond, Virginia company that provides web design and Internet marketing services for small businesses and membership organizations.

How are you using DeskAway and what value is it providing your team?
I came across DeskAway more than a year ago as I was looking for a project collaboration tool to use with other teammates long distance. I reviewed a few options and summarized the results in this blog post.

Currently, Webbright uses DeskAway to track customer support issues, manage time and tasks, and design systems.

DeskAway is my everyday keeping-my-sanity tool.

Were you using any other tool before DeskAway?
No.

Was there a learning curve associated with DeskAway? How did your team adapt to a new application?
The video tutorials and help faqs were very sufficient to get started. DeskAway is very intuitive and have a simple and slick user interface.

What features does your team use the most?
At Webbright, our goal is to provide consistent outstanding experience to our customers every time, on time. This can be accomplished by systemizing our services. DeskAway has the ability to turn a project into a template. This is a great feature for designing systems. You can start a project, add tasks, details and milestones then save the work into a template to use for a future project.

Are you emailing (sending tasks, attachments etc.) less because of DeskAway? How has DeskAway helped in lowering project costs, profitability or improving efficiency?
DeskAway is keeping me organized and efficient by giving me the tools to manage my tasks and my time.

Are there any other thoughts that you would want to share with us regarding our service, product etc.?
Innovation is a big part of Webbright business. DeskAway has been a great tool for this innovation. I highly recommend it for small businesses looking to manage and organize their everyday activities as well as their long-term goals.

‘‘ It is SIMPLE and EASY TO USE! It captures the most important aspects of PM and focuses the attention on those issues. ’’

Virginia Dickenson
Owner / President
eLumenata, Inc.

eLumenata, Inc. is an instructional design company specializing in virtual world educational design.

How are you using DeskAway and what value is it providing your team?
Using it for project management - outlining projects, task lists, assignments; it is an amazing value - this way, I have the milestones, deadlines, etc - and can build the task lists around those issues. More important, it is SIMPLE and EASY TO USE! It captures the most important aspects of PM and focuses the attention on those issues.

Were you using any other tool before DeskAway?
I was using Google docs spreadsheet and prior to that, the Microsoft PM app online (not MSProject) - however, it was far too complicated to be of value.

Was there a learning curve associated with DeskAway? How did your team adapt to a new application?
Learn as you go - no time needed. My team LOVES IT.

What features does your team use the most?
Task assignments and groupings.

Are you emailing (sending tasks, attachments etc.) less because of DeskAway? How has DeskAway helped in lowering project costs, profitability or improving efficiency?
Yes - DeskAway eliminates the need for con calls that explain spreadsheets, gives our clients a place to see progress, and also allows for quick and efficient project changes.

Are there any other thoughts that you would want to share with us regarding our service, product etc.?
KISS!!!!! Keep It Simple Simon! Thank you!

‘‘ The app itself is straightforward enough. ’’

Sandra Dametto
Project manager
WiderFunnel Marketing Inc.

WiderFunnel Marketing Inc. is a full-service marketing company and the developer of the industry-first Kaizen Method(tm) for continuously improving your online conversion rates on landing pages, microsites and web sites.

How are you using DeskAway and what value is it providing your team?
File management, collaboration, signoff, task assignment, project timeline.

Were you using any other tool before DeskAway?
Not since I've been with this company.

Was there a learning curve associated with DeskAway? How did your team adapt to a new application?
The app itself is straightforward enough. It's adapting processes that have taken longer - so "how" we use the tool.

What features does your team use the most?
Files, tasks, messages.

Are you emailing (sending tasks, attachments etc.) less because of DeskAway? How has DeskAway helped in lowering project costs, profitability or improving efficiency?
It improves efficiency to have files and comments on files centralized. That is a great benefit in a collaborative environment and also to manage workflow/approvals.

Are there any other thoughts that you would want to share with us regarding our service, product etc.?
Yes. It would be a HUGE improvement to your product/service if the task lists templates were editable. We are constantly improving our process and making changes to our standard task list. It would be good to be able to access a template, and then edit and save changes so that the next time I select the template, the new changes would be included. Instead, how it works now is that I have to create a new project and new task list from scratch - just so I can add a new task to the list.

‘‘ Some of my contract staff prefer working together on DeskAway instead of via email or Skype. ’’

James Welsh
Owner
Conscious Web Solutions

Business Consulting and Web Solutions for Your Business

How are you using DeskAway and what value is it providing your team?
Team collaboration for project planning and completion.

Were you using any other tool before DeskAway?
Yes. Dotproject and Storm for Drupal.

Was there a learning curve associated with DeskAway? How did your team adapt to a new application?
Very intuitive, however still learning about how to streamline my business using this system integrated with FreshBooks.

What features does your team use the most?
Trying to use it all to realize it's power.

Are you emailing (sending tasks, attachments etc.) less because of DeskAway? How has DeskAway helped in lowering project costs, profitability or improving efficiency?
Still training my clients to use this system. Conversely some of my contract staffs prefer working together on DeskAway instead of via email or skype.

Are there any other thoughts that you would want to share with us regarding our service, product etc.?
Yes, I am wondering if it is possible to add two fields to tasks. Task status field with options such as: requested, estimated, approved, in progress, complete, archived. the second field would be estimated time to complete task.

‘‘ Even a 50 year project member who's not so IT savvy says she has little problems navigating around the DeskAway interface. ’’

Farihan Bahrin
Web Content Manager
Singapore International Foundation

How are you using DeskAway and what value is it providing your team?
I am using DeskAway to manage internal and external projects but that's just a nutshell description. What it helps is to provide a platform to track milestones and synchronize the updates from the different project members. It's a centralized location and that is useful because our organization's intranet is not very accessible from home and does not provide functions for interfacing with external parties.

Were you using any other tool before DeskAway?
I tried Basecamp and and ClockingIT.

Was there a learning curve associated with DeskAway? How did your team adapt to a new application?
I must say it was pretty straightforward. Even a 50 year project member who's not so IT savvy says she has little problems navigation around the DeskAway interface. So the learning curve in general, for me and my team, is rather low.

What features does your team use the most?
Mostly file uploads, task function and the doc/wiki feature for exchanging of ideas.

Are you emailing (sending tasks, attachments etc.) less because of DeskAway? How has DeskAway helped in lowering project costs, profitability or improving efficiency?
Most definitely. My inbox was flooded with content from my project members and it became very annoying with Outlook's reminder telling you to keep archiving your inbox. I'm not sure about lowering of costs but it has certainly improved the efficiency since now it is now easier as a project lead to coordinate between project members and allocate resources.

Are there any other thoughts that you would want to share with us regarding our service, product etc.?
It's been a good and responsive service so far, which is very surprising for me. My concern as always is security and options for exporting data should one day, we decide to switch platforms.

‘‘ Once I got into the DeskAway interface, I knew it would be perfect for our company! ’’

Natalie A. Schloesser
www.unchartedshores.com

We are a website design and development company focusing on small to mid sized businesses. I spent months searching around for the perfect project management software; even subscribed to a different one for awhile. Once I got into the DeskAway interface, I knew it would be perfect for our company! No more searching for emails or files in your inbox, everything is all in one place - wrapped up in one neat little package for my contractors all over the world to see.

How are you using DeskAway and what value is it providing your team?
We use DeskAway to manage our website design projects and keep in contact with contractors around the world. It has increased communication between the steps - from sales, to designer, to developer, to the people that maintain my cloud servers. DeskAway makes any project information easily accessible at any time; preventing the sending and re-sending of emails.

Were you using any other tool before DeskAway?
Yes! I researched project management apps for months, tried 2 different ones, "settled" on one for about a year, but continued to look because we weren't completely happy with its functionality and interface. DeskAway changed all that; it fits perfectly with our needs.

Was there a learning curve associated with DeskAway? How did your team adapt to a new application?
Very little, if any! My team finds it extremely intuitive and easy to use. From contractors that had not used a project management app before, to those who had used our previous app, they all found the transition to be quite smooth.

What features does your team use the most?
Messages, Docs, and Files.

Are you emailing (sending tasks, attachments etc.) less because of DeskAway? How has DeskAway helped in lowering project costs, profitability or improving efficiency?
Absolutely! We are definitely emailing less, and personally when I receive a message from a team member via DeskAway, I find it easy to login, answer any questions, and then delete the email - knowing it's saved in DeskAway. DeskAway itself is extremely cost effective, and as a whole has improved our efficiency as a team.

Thank you DeskAway!

‘‘ DeskAway has bumped up our efficiency far more than any other online tool I have encountered thus far. ’’

Martin Adams
CEO, Tree of Life Publishing, Inc.
www.WisdomTitles.com

WisdomTitles.com provides iPhone and iPod touch users with the world’s best ebook reader for the world’s most essential titles in the area of personal development, success and spirituality.

How are you using DeskAway and what value is it providing your team?
We're using DeskAway to keep track to-dos across departments, meet our project due dates, assign documents to specific to-dos, as well as an online collaboration tool.

Were you using any other tool before DeskAway?
We've looked into at least 10 other project management apps, including BaseCamp. We found that DeskAway meets all of our needs far better than the other apps.

Was there a learning curve associated with DeskAway? How did your team adapt to a new application?
If one considers an hour a learning curve, then, yes, there was an hour's worth of learning. That's it. Intuitive interface.

What features does your team use the most?
To-dos & Project timelines.

Are you emailing (sending tasks, attachments etc.) less because of DeskAway? How has DeskAway helped in lowering project costs, profitability or improving efficiency?
Yes. Sending attachments by email no longer makes sense when you can simply upload it to DeskAway and keep track of the outstanding task there. DeskAway has bumped up our efficiency far more than any other online tool I have encountered thus far.

‘‘ "Thanks to DeskAway we are now more organized and efficient - every task is recorded and tracked." ’’

Avi Goldfinger
CEO, Goldfinger Applications Ltd.

Goldfinger Applications initiates, develops and maintains web projects. Among our recent projects: makemebabies.com, pictreat.com and commentsbar.com.

How are you using DeskAway and what value is it providing your team?
We're using DeskAway primarily to track tasks and issues both for development and everyday maintenance.

Were you using any other tool before DeskAway?
Yes, but it didn't last long. Not long enough for me to remember its name ;)

Was there a learning curve associated with DeskAway? How did your team adapt to a new application?
That was very quick. Within a couple of days everybody was on DeskAway and we started using it on a daily basis.

What features does your team use the most?
We mostly use tasks and issues. We also keep project documentation on DeskAway.

Are you emailing (sending tasks, attachments etc.) less because of DeskAway? How has DeskAway helped in lowering project costs, profitability or improving efficiency?
Certainly. Thanks to DeskAway we are now more organized and efficient - every task is recorded and tracked. We barely mail about tasks and issues - but use only DeskAway for that.

Are there any other thoughts that you would want to share with us regarding our service, product etc.?

Thank you for such a great product!

‘‘ Sometimes 2-3 days can go by and I haven't talked to a single employee but the work was getting done! We went from being able to get 2 full projects done per day to now getting 4 projects done per day. So DeskAway has doubled our efficiency! ’’

Justin & Chaunna Brooke,
Owner, Mpyre Marketing
http://www.SiteFling.com/

"Where Dominating Google Is Like Riding A Bike"

We are a "done for you" SEO service that specializes in getting high rankings for local offline businesses. Our service includes link building, social media marketing, and content generation.

How are you using DeskAway and what value is it providing your team?
We use DeskAway to organize and assign project tasks to our team in the Philippines. Now everyone always knows exactly what they should be working on in order to keep the business growing.

Were you using any other tool before DeskAway?
Before using DeskAway.com it was a nightmare for us to manage everything on paper. We were constantly creating new spreadsheets that just weren't working.

Was there a learning curve associated with DeskAway? How did your team adapt to a new application?
It did take a few days to get comfortable with the software. But we persevered through that and now we are like a well oiled machine.

What features does your team use the most?
Being able to upload and download files from a designated area within each project is huge for us. Also it's very nice to be able to login and immediately see whats been assigned, what of that is completed, and what hasn't been completed.

Are you emailing (sending tasks, attachments etc.) less because of DeskAway? How has DeskAway helped in lowering project costs, profitability or improving efficiency?
Sometimes 2-3 days can go by and I haven't talked to a single employee but the work was getting done! We went from being able to get 2 full projects done per day to now getting 4 projects done per day. So DeskAway has doubled our efficiency!

Are there any other thoughts that you would want to share with us regarding our service, product etc.?
DeskAway is a must have for any Internet based business and should even be highly considered for offline businesses. When we talk to people about our business the first thing they ask is how we are able to run everything so smoothly - We tell them it's all about DeskAway!

Thanks for your great software!

‘‘ We are using Deskaway to manage projects and tracking of individual tasks with these projects. It is very helpful in determining what has been completed and what is outstanding. ’’

Matthew Philogene,
Owner, raramuridesign
http://www.raramuridesign.com/

raramuridesign is an established web design/web development company that focuses on functional websites for both the client and the user.

We make use of open source tools to achieve this, therefore development time and cost is reduced. We have been dealing with South African and International (mostly European) clients since the company was formed in 1999.

With extensive marketing experience we are able to offer our clients not only a website but a marketing tool which will increase brand awareness and provide company exposure.

How are you using DeskAway and what value is it providing your team?
We are using DeskAway to manage projects and tracking of individual tasks with these projects. It is very helpful in determining what has been completed and what is outstanding.

Were you using any other tool before DeskAway?
Emails, dotproject, basecamp

Was there a learning curve associated with DeskAway? How did your team adapt to a new application?
Small learning curve, but our team is savvy with this sort of service.

What features does your team use the most?
Task setting, comments, reminder email.

Are you emailing (sending tasks, attachments etc.) less because of DeskAway? How has DeskAway helped in lowering project costs, profitability or improving efficiency?
YES and NO. Time tracking has been important and DeskAway has helped us with this. Also setting deadlines has been a huge plus to show clients.

Are there any other thoughts that you would want to share with us regarding our service, product etc.?
Service is stable, which is VERY important.

‘‘ I am very impressed with how quickly Sahil got back to me in answering my questions initially. Your friendliness and product is exceptional and one that my business will use for many years to come. Thank you for providing such a wonderful product! ’’

Kelli R. Claypool,
Owner, Briefcase Diva
http://www.BriefcaseDiva.com

Primarily, we are a full service firm dedicated to the small business, both established and start-ups. Focusing on Web design, marketing, blogging, etc. Each person on our team plays an important role in offering our clients exceptional service. Depending on what the client's needs are, we are able to draw from our team of experts to meet those needs. Additionally, coaching small businesses to move them forward in the right direction in turning a profit is also a focal point of our firm.

How are you using DeskAway and what value is it providing your team?
Before learning about DeskAway, my team and I would communicate via email and conference calling. When working on several projects at one time, the multiple emails became confusing and sometimes got lost in the mountain of paperwork required to complete projects. We absolutely LOVE DeskAway! I am very particular with organization of each project and expect my team to be as equally organized and to document everything. With DeskAway, this expectation is met with extreme ease. My team actually finds DeskAway a "cool product" and they enjoy learning more and more about the program.

Were you using any other tool before DeskAway?
As embarrassed as I am to say, the only tools that we were using before were email, conference calling, and hard copy journaling to document our progress. Needless to say, this was not an efficient way to handle a project.

Was there a learning curve associated with DeskAway? How did your team adapt to a new application?
As with any new product, there is a learning curve. However, DeskAway has proven to be user-friendly and easy to understand. My team has remarkably taken well to the program. They actually challenge each other to learn something new about the program everyday.

What features does your team use the most?
I think the task and milestones at this point.

Are you emailing (sending tasks, attachments etc.) less because of DeskAway? How has DeskAway helped in lowering project costs, profitability or improving efficiency?
Yes, much less emails back and forth. Basically, DeskAway has helped us move to the next level in that we are more efficient in handling our projects. Everything specific to the project is in one place, so we save time that would otherwise be spent in hunting and searching for an email or a file. I like that!

Are there any other thoughts that you would want to share with us regarding our service, product etc.?
I am very impressed with how quickly Sahil got back to me in answering my questions initially. Your friendliness and product is exceptional and one that my business will use for many years to come. Thank you for providing such a wonderful product!

‘‘ DeskAway may very well have saved Crockett Dunn, LLC's business during a 6 month transition from a "mom-and-pop" size company to a national, soon to be global operation. ’’

Crockett Dunn,
Founder, Crockett Dunn, LLC
http://crockettdunn.com

Crockett Dunn LLC, headquartered in Monterey County, California, USA (just south of Silicon Valley), establishes long-term partnerships with an elite group of clients, providing a holistic approach to a TOTAL web strategy (design, content management, search engine optimization and marketing, intranet/extranet, web based software development). Client's web apps are built on a platform that adds value now, and will grow with them for the future- optimizing business processes by leveraging the latest internet technologies.

How are you using DeskAway and what value is it providing your team?
We have 25 to 100 projects at any given time, with 2 to 10 team-members assigned to each project. The Executive dashboard and viewing all our projects in one window, along with the central file repository, and delegation of issues, has been extremely valuable to help us manage and track our multiple projects.

Were you using any other tool before DeskAway?
I had a dry erase white board. When Crockett Dunn, LLC outgrew that, I purchased a second whiteboard. Then came the promises of web-based collaboration and project management tools. I couldn't browse for 5 minutes without hearing about Basecamp or Highrise. So I signed up. I was disappointed (to say the least), and inferred they spent their entire budget on marketing and forgot about the engineering. Hence, after coming across DeskAway, we signed up for their free plan, evaluated it, and since then have become paying customers - using it to run most of our business.

Was there a learning curve associated with DeskAway? How did your team adapt to a new application?
Absolutely not. DeskAway is entirely intuitive, for all of the Crockett Dunn, LLC team. Not only that, but for those who prefer guidance over exploration, there is a video tutorial associated with EVERY ASSET- team/project/task/issue/milestone etc.

The software was so intuitive to me that I skipped most of the video tutorials. Perhaps one day I will revisit these and discover some features that will be "easter eggs"!

What features does your team use the most?
From the top down, the Crockett Dunn, LLC team creates all of its client Projects with the following naming convention. CLIENT: DELIVERABLE. The top-level Team section helps us keep track of our best in industry contractors and their respective specialties, and then assign them to a project's issue that matches their specialty.

Within a project, Milestones, Tasks are set and created, numerous Files are shared, and perhaps the most valuable feature to me (as a business owner) is the way DeskAway handles Issue tracking and delegation for all my projects. I can deputize one of 100's of Crockett Dunn, LLC's team members to take responsibility for a given deliverable. If it is urgent, I can create 2 or 3+ issue requests for the same item, and only allow the first contractor to win the business.

After I receive confirmation that responsibility has been accepted, I monitor files and comments until completion. The excessive back-and-forth emails, phone calls, faxes, IMs, and other repetitive information dissemination is eliminated with DeskAway.

Are you emailing (sending tasks, attachments etc.) less because of DeskAway? How has DeskAway helped in lowering project costs, profitability or improving efficiency?
YES, AFFIRMATIVE, ABSOLUTELY! (see above), we have definitely streamlined our operations.

DeskAway may very well have saved Crockett Dunn, LLC's business during a 6 month transition from a "mom-and-pop" size company to a national, soon to be global operation. Without an executive dashboard, a list of team members to select from and delegate to, along with a centralized file repository and project listing, the company would have collapsed under its own weight.

Are there any other thoughts that you would want to share with us regarding our service, product etc.?
THANK YOU for delivering the best online project management tool. DeskAway's customer support is excellent and even feature requests are taken seriously!

There is no better value when seeking a hosted business & total project management tool. With DeskAway, Crockett Dunn, LLC is capable of managing projects ranging from 2 team members up to dozens.

‘‘ With DeskAway, everyone is on the same page - that results in transparency, accountability and clarity. Partnering with DeskAway to deploy Functional Methods online client workspaces is one of the best business decisions that we have made. ’’

Chris Peters,
Managing Director,
Functional Methods

How are you using DeskAway and what value is it providing your team?
We use DeskAway as our primary online workspace both for our internal team and for our customers to:
  • Manage and track projects engagements with our clients.
  • Store internal and external documents. (project plans, tools, templates)
  • Manager milestones and tasks related to the building of Functional Methods as a business. (infrastructure, marketing, finance, templates, etc...)
  • Maintain internal blogs.
Were you using any other tool before DeskAway?
We tried many tools before we found DeskAway:
  • @Task
  • OpenAir
  • BaseCamp
Was there a learning curve associated with DeskAway? How did your team adapt to a new application?
Very short learning curve. Our internal teams and external customers and vendors adapted to DeskAway and were productive very quickly.

What features does your team use the most?
  • Project, Milestone, Task Tracking.
  • File storage and collaboration.
  • We plan to get more into using "messages" and "issues".
Are you emailing (sending tasks, attachments etc.) less because of DeskAway? How has DeskAway helped in managing your projects and team?
Yes, very much so. All project milestones and tasks are maintained in DeskAway and assigned either to individual users or to groups (internal teams, external customer teams). All project related documents are stored on DeskAway. I'm able to perform the project manager/project coordinator role much more effectively for local and remotely based project teams by using DeskAway. The reports also look great! From the profitability standpoint, I like paying one flat fee for DeskAway and being able to add as many users as needed to bring people into the projects. Not having to have the "how much will this cost?" discussion is very helpful.

Are there any other thoughts that you would want to share with us regarding our service, product etc.?
You have a great product and I intend to leverage DeskAway for all of my internal company projects and external client engagements. Your customer service and support services have always been excellent. You really embody a spirit of service. I would like to be able to articulate a clear message to my clients when they ask how "secure" the workspace is. They need to know that the data we maintain for them in DeskAway will not be compromised. The ability to create and name folders for particular types and groups of documents would be cool.

I really like the overall speed of the system (my clients have commented on that too!). DeskAway is very feature rich while also delivering a solution that is simple, fast, and efficient.

READ CASESTUDY - Getting Functional with Online Client Workspaces

‘‘ I love the tool and will continue to use it. ’’

Nina E. Woodard,
SPHR/GPHR, Director, Business Development,
Strategic Human Resource Management India Pvt. Ltd.

How are you using DeskAway and what value is it providing your team?
I am a member of a virtual team that is a mix of members from inside and outside our company. The idea was that this way all details of the project could be posted for everyone involved to review and update as necessary - even if they did not have access to the organizational intranet and software.

Were you using any other tool before DeskAway?
No

Was there a learning curve associated with DeskAway? How did your team adapt to a new application?
The initial attempts to use DeskAway were met with some resistance and that persists. However DeskAway has improved and provides faster response times and better user interface.

What features does your team use the most?
Posting of documents for common review.

Are you emailing (sending tasks, attachments etc.) less because of DeskAway? Has DeskAway helped in having all your work in a central location?
Yes! This feature is the leading contribution that DeskAway brings to the working team.

Are there any other thoughts that you would want to share with us regarding our service, product etc.?
I love the tool and will continue to use it.

‘‘ We were impressed with the user-friendliness of the Dashboard (and general interface) and relieved that we could finally organize our relatively newer projects and business models. ’’

Aditi Sheth-Kejriwal,
CTO,
Parksons Games & Sports

What were your first impressions about DeskAway when you signed up?
We were impressed with the user-friendliness of the Dashboard (and general interface) and relieved that we could finally organize our relatively newer projects and business models.

How were you managing your projects and work before DeskAway? Was the transition to DeskAway easy?
We had no central project managing system. The Accounts dept. used their own system (they still do) and everyone else worked on their own, only coordinating through e-mails or meetings. The transition to DeskAway was easier for staff that works directly under us. I suppose, it depended more on us giving our employees time and our willingness to set standards for management.

How many people from your organization are using DeskAway? How many projects are you managing?
10 people from my organization have access to DeskAway but only 8 are using it. We are managing 8 projects currently. At the moment, I can see this going up to 10 projects - at a time.

Is anyone outside your office (consultants, partners etc.) using DeskAway? If so, how are they helping you within your projects?
Yes, we have outside partners using DeskAway from time to time. Currently, they have only used it as a file management system: for uploading and downloading information and artwork.

Was there a learning curve associated with DeskAway?
It has been very person-specific, and dependant mainly on the person's technical ability/familiarity with a PC.

What problems is DeskAway solving for your team?
The most helpful features so far have been:
* Contact aggregation and organization
* The "share-ability" of files (and its versions) with Office staff as well as outside vendors
* Organizing projects

What is the most popular feature in DeskAway for your organization?
Using the Calendar and Contacts features

Does DeskAway help your team communicate better on projects by having a common place to share information, feedback and commitments (tasks)?
Yes it does.

How much of your work time is spent on/using DeskAway?
We have made it office policy for the people using DeskAway to have it open all day along with their Outlook Express. This way, it causes them to check on it from time to time.

Are you emailing (sending tasks, attachments etc.) less because of DeskAway?
In-house - definitely.

Read more articles on how Parksons use DeskAway:
CIOdecisions.in: Collab and conquer
CXOToday.com: Parksons Plays SaaS Card for Project Management
CXO Today.com: What CIOs Want and How They Plan

‘‘ What I like most about it is that all information related to the current project I am working on is available at one go. ’’

Rajnikant Rao,
Entreprenuer


How are you using DeskAway and what value is it providing your team?
DeskAway is a stress-buster!

What I like most about it is that all information related to the current project I am working on is available at one go. There is no longer the need to search my email (earlier that was what was done) or my hard drive. I find it particularly convenient that it is on the web and saves the headache of storing files locally.

Were you using any other tool before DeskAway?
Yes, in the past I have used a tool called dotproject.net. It was way too complicated for our needs - which led to the team members not using it! This is not the case with DeskAway.

Was there a learning curve associated with DeskAway? How did your team adapt to a new application?
Yes. It took less than a day!

What features does your team use the most?
Document storage and review and Discussions. Our current project is not very milestone oriented though that is an important feature.

It was interesting to see how they used the discussions to record thoughts which otherwise would have been diluted in the large mails that all of us receive or worse left to the individuals who would have discussed it over phone.

Are you emailing (sending tasks, attachments etc.) less because of DeskAway?
Email? What's that?

Are there any other thoughts that you would want to share with us regarding our service, product etc.?
I like the advantage we have in the SaaS model of getting updates regularly. Some of the features of simultaneous update of status of documents was neat. While I did not suggest it myself I got the benefit of it because of the update. And now I wonder how I did not feel the need. In short, I am getting the best of practices of my fellow DeskAwayers!

‘‘ Product is great, user friendly, FAQ's are self-explanatory, and the service is exceptional! ’’
Rajan Nanda,
Hotel Pali Hills

How are you using DeskAway and what value is it providing your team?
We are using DeskAway in various applications:
1. As an effective tool to manage tasks involved in projects/ maintenance tasks for various departments.
2. As an effective medium for document control - to save various versions of important files.
3. As an efficient & effective tool for inter-communication.

Were you using any other tool before DeskAway?
No - just the conventional manual methods.

Was there a learning curve associated with DeskAway?
Not really - it was a great learning experience.

What is the most popular feature in DeskAway for your team?
Creating milestones & reporting.

Are you emailing (sending tasks, attachments etc.) less because of DeskAway?
Yes!

Are there any other thoughts that you would want to share with us regarding our service, product etc.?
Product is great, user friendly, FAQ's are self-explanatory, and the service is exceptional!

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