SaaS-Based Project Management Solution Delivers Efficient Communication; Role-Based, Real-Time Views; CRM Integration; and Enhanced Resource Allocation and Collaboration
IRVINE, CA--(Marketwire - September 14, 2010) - Project Insight, web-based project management software, announced that solar energy system provider Namasté Solar is successfully leveraging its project management solution for leading edge commercial and residential solar energy systems as well as internal company projects.
Namasté Solar has earned a national reputation as an innovator for its commitment to renewable energy and its progressive business model. As director of information technology (IT), Brian Moore oversees residential and commercial project teams, in addition to managing efficient IT support for internal marketing and sales. At any given time, project managers can be working on 10 to 15 active commercial projects in addition to residential and internal projects for a total of approximately 110 concurrent projects.
Previously, Moore said, "Our project management process was rudimentary. We were using a combination of Microsoft Outlook and Excel spreadsheets. The biggest problem was communication -- with a typical project duration of 18 months, we found it very difficult to communicate adequately, especially with our larger project stakeholders."
When seeking an improved project management solution, Namasté Solar's primary requirements were:
- A true project portfolio management system to manage projects across the organization
- The ability to collaborate internally, and with external team members and outside contractors in a secure manner
- A web-based system with minimal training requirements
- Easy access to role-based project views
- Integration with the existing CRM system
In the beginning, Moore admits the search was very frustrating. "There's a whole list of lower-tier applications, but when you want to increase that functionality or leverage that across the organization, there's an enormous gap that exists, and to get to the other side of that gap, you're talking about a completely different tier in terms of cost," he explained.
Another key requirement was secure external collaboration features. "We have strategic relationships with key vendors, subcontractors, engineering firms, our project stakeholders and our clients and they also want to be part of the project team, view information and look at budgets," said Moore.
After an exhaustive review, Project Insight was selected on the strength of its architecture, ease of use and role-based access control. The SaaS-based solution delivered immediate benefits, allowing Namasté Solar team members to readily and efficiently communicate internally across the organization and with external partners. Project Insight quickly provided role-based, real-time views of project information to key team members and partners, integration with the CRM system and enabled resource allocation and collaboration in-house and with contractors.
Project Insight has also helped Namasté Solar's sales efforts. "Our commercial sales process has even benefited. A couple of specific, large projects were awarded where we had some pretty serious competition. We were able to demonstrate that we had tools above just being able to generate a Gantt chart, showing efficiency of the company, showing that there was an infrastructure and a process and an application that supported our project management staff."
Ramping up an even more powerful implementation, Namasté Solar has expanded Project Insight organization-wide, to include sales administration, accounting and marketing. "With the integration into Project Insight, we'll be able to provide the project data, financial data, performance data, and scheduling data to the entire organization so that we also even augment our customer service," said Moore.
About Project Insight™
Project Insight, the leading mid-market project management software solution, is targeted to experienced project managers that need a powerful feature set, yet want a solution that is easy for project team members to learn and adopt. It is offered in three editions for flexible, scalable project management, including hosted Workgroup, Professional and Enterprise. An on-premise or installed option is available with the Enterprise edition. Project Insight has performed software development since 1996 for its clients in the information technology, healthcare, manufacturing, financial, advertising and other industries. Project Insight is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and Developer.
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