B2B Project Management Systems in 2024: Beyond Gantt

Project Management goes beyond systematic activity scheduling, and Gantt even with digital enrichments falls short of being comprehensive. The fact that the Gantt Chart is a 100-year-old classical tool cannot be denied[i]. Work in 2024 is asynchronous, hybrid, and dynamic. And project management techniques are evolving to suit these trends.

Grand View Research, Inc suggests a market of $7.38 Billion as of 2023 with an expected CAGR of 15.7%[ii] till the end of this decade. Innovations are anticipated to mark differentiation.

While heavily modified Gantt tools still exist, like Microsoft Dynamics 365 Project Operation, we now have more forms of task visualisations like Boards, Calendars, and Timesheets. The popularity of agile methodologies has particularly pushed boards with the Kanban framework[iii].

SaaS start-ups like monday.com [iv] and Asana [v] are two popular players in the start-up environment.

Enterprise Application Suite (ERPs)

Enterprise Management Systems with project management modules come with real-time communication, resource management, file management, activity tracking, and automation. ERPNext is one such open-source player that provides Kanban and Gantt inside a project module.[vi]

SAP offers S/4HANA Cloud for projects[vii] similar with Boards and Gantt. At the same time, 甲骨文 has Oracle Cloud ERP Project Management[viii]. Indian-born Zoho has an extensive suite of products and comes with Zoho Projects [ix] with timesheets and automation features.

Being inside the enterprise-wide application ensures seamless communication and monitoring, all while containing all the data in a single cloud enabling a higher degree of data privacy.

Dedicated Project Management Systems (PMSs)

ERP systems often have project management as an additional module made to entice users to stay in their ecosystem, which is why they may not be as intuitive and robust as new-age specialised software.

Atlassian 's 2 products Trello [x] and Atlassian Jira [xi] Rank at the top of Capterra listings[xii]. As per 6sense , Atlassian is the leader with a 23.3% share in team collaboration[xiii], and Jira has strong 88.9% share in Bug and Issue tracking[xiv] use case of PMS.

Gartner 's top rankers[xv] are 2 distinct players. Smartsheet [xvi] designed for work management focuses on intuitiveness as expected from a SaaS. At the same time, Planview focuses on enterprise agile planning[xvii] and value stream management[xviii] for lean transformation offering extremely advanced features to suit large enterprises with a very professional feel.

Systems like these offer industry-tested frameworks and models built into their product offerings along with consulting services making them relevant for established businesses.

No-Code Builders (PM Focused)

With the flexibility of implementing custom operations models come project management-focused No-Code builders. Usually coming with pre-built templates included, these platforms aim to become the unified system for the business that too cheaply often at the cost of dependency, scalability, and speed.

ClickUp emphasises becoming the everything app but essentially is a task management tool. Its portfolio of features nudges it towards project management[xix]. Notion , on the other hand, feels like a content management system that also has Gantt and Kanban-based project templates[xx].

Confluence by Atlassian is also in a similar category.

Conclusion

Although with AnyDesk Software , Zoom , and Loom nearly all work-related communication gaps during projects can be solved. One startup, Gather has taken a wholesome approach towards online communication. They have created an 8-bit gamified world and proximity-controlled voice and video communication. It was refreshing to use GatherTown with my team at Adiflow Consulting during asynchronous prototype development.

These virtual office spaces or metaverse office spaces intrigue me. Kumospace and Topia are two interesting implementation on a similar concept.

I believe technologies like these will bring the much need human emotions to the rapidly digitising world of project management.

What a time to be alive!

Bibliography

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Atlassian Cloud - Market Share, Competitor Insights in Team Collaboration [WWW Document], n.d. . 6sense. URL https://www.6sense.com/tech/team-collaboration/atlassian-cloud-market-share (accessed 2.15.24).

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Geraldi, J., Lechter, T., 2012. Gantt charts revisited: A critical analysis of its roots and implications to the management of projects today. International Journal of Managing Projects in Business 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/17538371211268889

Inc, G., n.d. Best Project and Portfolio Management Reviews 2024 | Gartner Peer Insights [WWW Document]. Gartner. URL https://www.gartner.com/market/project-portfolio-management-worldwide (accessed 2.15.24).

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?

[i] (Geraldi and Lechter, 2012)

[ii] (“Project Management Software Market Size Report, 2030,” n.d.)???????????????????????

[iii] (Atlassian, n.d.)

[iv] (“Project Management Software,” n.d.)

[v] (Asana, n.d.)

[vi] (“Upgrade Your Work Style With An Open Source Project Management Software,” n.d.)

[vii] (“SAP S/4HANA Cloud for projects, collaborative project management | BIM Collaboration Platform,” n.d.)

[viii] (“ERP Project Management | Oracle India,” n.d.)

[ix] (“Zoho Projects | Online Project Management Platform,” n.d.)

[x] (“Manage Your Team’s Projects From Anywhere | Trello,” n.d.)

[xi] (“Jira | Issue & Project Tracking Software | Atlassian,” n.d.)

[xii] (“Best Project Management Software 2024,” n.d.)

[xiii] (“Atlassian Cloud - Market Share, Competitor Insights in Team Collaboration,” n.d.)

[xiv] (“JIRA Software - Market Share, Competitor Insights in Bug And Issue Tracking,” n.d.)

[xv] (Inc, n.d.)

[xvi] (“Work & Project Management Platform Features | Smartsheet,” n.d.)

[xvii] (“Enterprise Agile Planning,” n.d.)

[xviii] (“Value Stream Management Software,” n.d.)

[xix] (“ClickUpTM for Project Management Solutions,” n.d.)

[xx] (“Notion – Powerful project management, without the chaos,” n.d.)