Central Desktop: Powerful, Centralized Project Management

Project management applications all attempt to do the same thing, but as you might expect, some management applications are geared for enterprise users. Central Desktop is one of those, a robust application for project management with an impressive set of functions.

To better understand Central Desktop, let’s go through it. Starting from the free 30 day plan, we set up our company. We name it and take a look at the Dashboard. What we see is an interface that has broken down the elements of project management into tabs for tasks, calendars, reports, and meetings. At this level we can track activity or run reports across all projects, or filter the results by workspace. If we were managing a number of projects, this would be resource to see the big picture. For managers that require a real time update of activity while working, Central Desktop has made the CD Sidebar, a popout window which updates activity within the projects as it happens.

To initiate a project we should first go to the pull down menu for Workspaces. Workspaces is the label that Central Desktop uses for projects, and when you set up your workspace you are looking at a project that can be viewed by itself or with other projects. This can be useful when you want to focus on one project, but we’re getting ahead of ourselves.

As we set up our workspace, Central Desktop prompts us for what kind of workspace we want. Do we want a public workspace, or a private one? What kind of function do we want our workspace to have? There are workspaces for project management, wikis, databases, corporate blogs, user forums, or a mix of custom features. For the purposes of this review we’ll select a project management workspace. Once we’ve created the workspace there are two ways to access it. One is through the dedicated url we first saw on our workspace creation page, and the other is through the Workspaces pull down menu. Once we’ve opened our workspace we see another dashboard, this one just for the project. The tabs we see are true to their names; there are tabs for Files and Discussions, Tasks, Milestones, Calendars, and Reports.

Each of these tabs has special features, so let’s work our way from left to right. The Files and Discussions tab puts all of your documents and discussions into one page, creating a reference point that can be quickly accessed. In this tab you can create discussions and have team members give feedback. This is also the tab for documents, and with Central Desktop you aren’t limited to uploads. Central Desktop allows you to create your own documents - text documents or spreadsheets - and then let’s you organize them into folders. Sort them by name, comment on them, or mark them by type (draft, approved, etc.). For project members this is a one-stop shop for documents that can act as a key reference point, integrating all the documents related to the project as well as relevant discussion.

Under the Tasks tab users can create tasks, assigning them a team member and a due date. You can also assign a priority, or drag and drop tasks into the order you like. Next to the task name, a small clock icon allows members to enter in time spent on the task without leaving the page. There is also a quick link from the task page to the calendar tab, which will give users a view of the calendar with only tasks on it.

The Time Tracking page, accessible through the sidebar links from the Task tab, opens a window showing all of the time logged. It is also filterable by date or user, a critical feature for managers that need to track hours. Through the settings tab on the page there is also the ability to create custom fields for the Time Tracking dialog box. A useful item for time management, custom fields allow manager to have extra information when assessing the project investment.

The Milestones tab lets you create milestones, providing you a place to post important goals and steps in your project’s development. This is done through a text field, but this is a good point to show a bonus for  Central Desktop users. As part of the standard text entry for discussions, comments, and milestones, Central Desktop offers not only the common text modification tools such as bold and italic, but also insertable tables and highlighting. This is true in under the Calendar tab as well, where users can customize their calendar items as they like. Last of the management tabs is Reports, where three types of reports can be run. A Project Status Report shows milestones and tasks, giving a manager a view of how the project is progressing. An Activity Log Report can be run by date, allowing managers to see and track activity within a time frame. Login Reports show member activity, and can be used by managers to track involvement.

Central Desktop is packed with features that are application wide, such as RSS feeds for project updates, a search function that searches the entire project (including documents), filters to isolate files and results, calendar subscription (iCal), and public workspaces. At the higher levels of the pricing model ($99 a month and above), Central Desktop also provides tagging for easier searches, SSL encryption, API access, and custom branding options. Also a separate fee (starting at $47), but useful is the ability to web conference with up to 25 attendees.

With such extensive features it is difficult to be critical of Central Desktop, yet there are a few points where there could be improvement. One is the interface itself, which gets the job done, but lacks a friendliness that more careful design could bring. Part of that would be improve the calendar view so that there were ways to see the project in timeline, week, and month views. Other improvements would be to add more settings for priorities (currently portrayed by a low, medium, and high), and to add an area to manage contacts and personnel.

Improvements aside, Central Desktop is a powerful tool for project management, one that all levels of users can benefit from. It is easy to use and made easier by the how to videos on every page when you set up the account. To find Central Desktop, or applications that are similar, there is the Listio search  manage+projects.

Previously in this series: 5pm: Project Management Made Simple
Next in this series: Comparing Product Management Tools: 5pm, GoPlan, Central Desktop, and Basecamp

Application: Central Desktop
Listio Profile: http://www.listio.com/web20/app/Central-Desktop/
Website: http://www.centraldesktop.com

Collaborate with others online by using Central Desktop. Central Desktop is a web-based collaboration tool for business teams and workgroups to share information and communicate with others both inside and outside the firewall. Collaborate in real-time (web & audio conferencing), manage projects, c... Learn more

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Tags: business, develop, manage, organize, projects, track
Posted in: Project Management | Respond
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