B2W Maintain vs. Basecamp

We use the full suite of features in Maintain as it covers most of our needs, it is nice to have most of your data in one system, much easier to manage. We use telematics from third parties and even though we use the Parts/Inventory/Purchasing we sometimes need to go through the vendor portal to order but for the most part those work well most of the time, very little issues or minor ones at that. We can manage our shop/fleet/mechanic departments through this one program for the most part and users adapt to it very quickly.

Incentivized

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

• Automatic Scheduling of Maintenance through Programs
• Other users can submit requests through track
• Telematics plug-ins help keep track of hours/mileage
• GPS location to track equipment

Incentivized

• 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

• Viewpoint Vista sync limits level of detail exchanged between systems
• Telematics import occasionally missed some readings
• Dashboards could be easier for common end user to configure

Incentivized

• 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.

Very easy for users to learn the system. The interface is easy to navigate. Contains fields for all the info we want to capture. Very little bugs occur and maintenance is low. Available on mobile (tablet/phone). Doesn't take long to perform most functions. Configuration isn't difficult except for when integrating with third parties for telematics and other data transfer. Aside from those few integrations, it performs most of the functions we need within the program.

Incentivized

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

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)

B2W Maintain is the only program we used day-to-day to manage our fleet. We also have Viewpoint Vista but it isn't really used for equipment other than to track the financials (purchase, sale, depreciation, taxes, etc.). Vista does have features for fleet management but they aren't as good our easy to use as B2W Maintain and it isn't close. Vista as a whole is an older program (getting retired 1/1/2027) without a web interface or easy to use user interface, it doesn't really compare, but it is what we we use for accounting so equipment records need to be stored there. I would never use Vista to actually actively manage the fleet and shops.

Incentivized

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

• Regular maintenance is scheduled before a problem occurs
• Items are easily created and prioritized for the shop
• Mechanic hours (work orders assigned) can be easily managed

Incentivized

• 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