Online VS Desktop Project Management Applications

There are many online project management solutions available to choose from by the project and program managers. These tools by and large have similar functions and features and can be utilized for project management in most cases. In the current environment where most of the project teams are geographically dispersed, the online tools provide a great advantage in collaboration. Though it seems advantages to go in for the online project management applications, if truth be told it is not all rosy. There are some key factors which make these online tools not the top choice in some situations:

• Speed: Most often the key disadvantage that the project managers and team find in the online tools is that they are much slower than the desktop versions. But because of the developments in the computer technology very soon we might be able to use online project management tools which are in line with the desktop applications in terms of speed.
• Offline Access: These tools also have the disadvantage of not being able to run when offline. One needs to connect online to access any data or information. But with mobile browsing and other developments in connectivity even this disadvantage can soon disappear.
• Security: Though the online applications have been built using the top of line security standards, yet there is a fair chance of security leaks when accessing the project information online. This is because, in parallel to the security standards development, the hacker community too is active in breaking the security.
• User Experience: Another drawback of these applications is the poor user experience due to the performance related issues and the browser limitations.
• Inability to meet peak usage: In case the online solution provider does not have the competency to meet the peak demands in case of concurrent users this can be a major disadvantage.

Finally, the benefits far outweigh the disadvantages The setbacks mentioned above though are currently valid, because of the developments and the progress being made in the web based applications area will soon be redundant. Even now, we can see that the benefits far outweigh the disadvantages and more over most of these factors can easily be worked around. One needs to carefully verify the features, benefits, disadvantages of the various applications available online and then make the choice. By analyzing carefully and making the right product choice one can easily enjoy the benefits of tighter collaboration, access to real-time data, ease of monitoring and other such features that the online project management tools provide.