Small Business

Zoho Projects 2.0 Adds Wikis, Chat, and Microsoft Project Integration

By Rick Broida

Updated on: July 3, 2009 / 10:04 AM EDT / MoneyWatch

Back when I worked for Faceless Giant Corporation, LLC, I was part of a team that desperately needed a project-management tool. We were all over the place -- Excel, Lotus Notes, countless PDFs and Word documents -- to the point where the project simply couldn't be managed efficiently.

Oh, how I wish I could go back in time -- and take Zoho Projects 2.0 with me. (I'd also have to convince the IT department to let us use a Web-based tool, which would be impossible -- but so is going back in time. A man can dream, can't he?) Watch this quick video highlighting what's new in Projects 2.0, then meet me at the next paragraph for some details:

So here's a recap of the new stuff:

Project Stream is a visual representation that lets users see the latest activities pertaining to their project.
Group Chat and "always on" Chat Room give users a single place where they can go to quickly discuss issues. Multiple chat rooms can be opened to discuss different issues.
Project Wiki lets users maintain all the project-related content in a centralized place where other project members can contribute easily.
Revamped UI provides quick and easy navigation. New dashboard includes user status, team information, and other project data.

Other noteworthy features include Zoho Office integration, built-in timesheets (which can generate invoices to be sent via Zoho Invoice), and support for Microsoft Project (MPP) files.

You can sign up for a free Zoho Projects account that includes 100MB of file storage, wiki and chat capabilities, and unlimited users -- but only one project. If you need to manage multiple projects, plans start at $12 per month.

Anyone interested in Web-based project management should also check out Basecamp, which I think has a spiffier interface but doesn't come close to matching Zoho's features.