AMTdirect vs. Basecamp

I think for medium to large companies AMTDirect would be invaluable to have the "whole" picture of all properties at your finger tips. For smaller companies with 10 or fewer properties maybe not as "necessary".

Basecamp is a wonderful tool for teams of varying degrees of technical knowledge, teams managing lots of different types of "agifall" and waterfall projects, and teams that are remotely distributed. It's probably less useful for more strictly agile-focused development teams, compared to other more flexible software applications like Jira and Asana.

Incentivized

• AMTDirect allows for customization to your specific needs in a snapshot. One area I appreciate is that I am able to change most labels/field names to coincide with our specific naming conventions.
• AMTDirect has wonderful support. They respond very quickly and I always feel that I am important and matter to them.
• AMTDirect is always interested in what I would like to see added to be even more useful to my needs. They listen to me and strive to make those changes.

• Task management - It is very easy to add, organize and discuss tasks within Basecamp's interface.
• The "Campfire" function is great for communicating when you just have a quick question for someone on the team.
• Notifications - Basecamp lets you decide how often and about what you'd like to be notified. The ability to respond to messages in Basecamp directly via email saves a lot of time.

Incentivized

• Initially when I started using AMTDirect it was a little overwhelming because it is a lot of detail. At times I would like to see it a little more simplified. However, I will say they have over the past 6 years done that exactly. It is becoming more simplified to use, but with the same important outcomes.
• The software is much faster than it was when I initially started using it. Some of that might be resolved if there were some drag and drop type situations more I think.

• High Learning Curve. It's true that it can be easy to use, but to use well and effectively takes some time to learn. It's recommended to have an agreed-upon system in your team of what tools to use and when.
• Notification Overload. If people aren't careful they could send a notification to everyone when only a couple people were meant to be prompted. And since emails are sent by default, you could have your mailbox overloaded with unnecessary updates. This is where it takes a bit of training in your team to have an agreed-upon system.
• Lack of organization with Archived Projects. I will often need to reference an archived project to make a new one, but there is only a list of archived projects in alphabetical order, with no way to organize by archive date, or even search.

Incentivized

When I bring new people onto a project, it's immediately obvious how to use Basecamp. I don't have to worry about teaching them the features or walking them through it, it's just incredibly user-friendly. For this reason, I'll continue to renew my subscription even as new people are brought onto production jobs or the client changes.

From my experience, AMTDirect does have a bit of a learning curve, but once you pass that curve the system has details and information that are vital to the decision process of lease negotiations, lease & facilities management as well as project management. I've said it a thousand times, AMTDirect is the only reason I am able to manage 50+ retail spaces by myself with regards to all of the above decisions.

It is easy to use, even for clients who have no experience with the platform. It can only get a little cumbersome to ensure that a client can't see certain documents you might want to keep in the Docs & Files folders. And sometimes, getting a client to actually use an unfamiliar platform can be a challenge.

Incentivized

I've never experienced downtime while using Basecamp, or been unable to access it when I needed it. That's not to say they've never had downtime, but I've been lucky enough not to encounter any, and I work odd hours, including late nights when maintenance is often undertaken.

Incentivized

For the many reasons I've given, Basecamp is a very strong program. There are a few features I can imagine that might make it even better, but I don't have a basis for comparison to be able to say that there is definitely a better one out there. I've noticed that Basecamp has evolved a bit from the time I started using it until now, so that makes me think that the producer of this program values it and believes in continuous improvement. If you could use the features offered by Basecamp, I would think you could use it with confidence.

Incentivized

I have not listened to any of the on-line video or webinars, but I have used the "help" guides and they are very easy to understand and for the most part that is how I have taught myself to use features I have never utilized before.

Decide the process before implementation - i.e. when it's due 8/9 does that mean 8am, noon, 5pm, 11:59pm? Check your to-do list frequently Set-up templates - just not with the dates (they can be funky)

Pretty good, but [Basecamp] has its drawbacks. Honestly I find the interface non-intuitive and sometimes have trouble figuring out how to change the status of a task. Perhaps it has something to do with the way it was originally set up by the admin, but I'm not sure. I liked Jira's drag and drop obvious functionality, but the project management side of the software was lacking. Smartsheet has excellent project management functionality, but the task management isn't as good.

Incentivized

• AMTDirect has positively impacted our company for the simple fact that 1 person is able to handle 54 properties with regards to lease management, maintenance/repair and projects for those locations. We were at the point of needing to hire additional help, but AMTDirect has made it possible to delay hiring additional employees until we grow a little more.
• AMTDirect has made it possible to be able for me to work from any where and not in an office with a bunch of files, because the information is at my fingertips. I am able to travel to our stores and still be able to take care of issues and answer important and at times timely questions.

• It has saved me time when having to get the same message out to multiple restaurants
• It has helped us make smarter operational decisions because we can all collaborate on an answer in a shorter amount of time (instead of calling a meeting!!!)
• The calendar function allows us to plot out our marketing agenda for the month and add/change it together as needed. The chef will post his recipe, the managers will cost it out, the social media manager will post pictures on it, and ultimately we will get that information out on an info sheet to the staff by printing the page.

Incentivized