Basecamp vs. Integrify

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

If you know workflow programs, and if you are tech-savvy, then this program will help you with nearly everything. If you need a workflow made better or just need one period, then this will help. You can use it for nearly anything where there is a process. Unfortunately, in any of these scenarios, if you are not tech-savvy, then you do not want to use this program. It will be frustrating. Same can be said if you are handing the program off to someone. It can be too complex for some people. That said, if they are willing to learn the program, then you may be OK. But ultimately, you will lose time and effort. For us, Integrify was used in Admissions - the workflow had to be very specific, and was very complex when it came to the re-enrollment process; however, I would not have suggested it to HR. While it could have helped them, it would have resulted in many hours lost because of the complexity of the program if I were to have left. I'm not saying I was the be-all, end-all for it in HR! I am saying that they had never worked with a workflow program before, and it was going to cost her more time than she could spare.

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

• Easy to develop an intake form.
• Workflow diagram is simple to follow and make adjustments to.
• Dashboard is helpful in identifying bottlenecks in the process.

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

• It's complicated. No, really. When you log in, you won't know much about what you're doing and you may only get about 10% of what the program is capable of. This is not a good thing as some will just give up before delving further into the program. If it is too complicated at the outset for someone who doesn't understand forms or how these kinds of programs work, you will not gain new clients unless you are there the moment they create an account. You can have someone reach out, but - in my experience - the decision to continue with a program or write it off is in the first ten minutes.
• When I first looked at it, printing larger flows was an issue. They have since addressed this, so the point of mentioning this is that (while they eventually looked back at the bigger picture) looking at large and small views would have been helpful.
• The people I consulted had issues with Javascript. There were ways to get around it, but these people did not have the time to spend on that and asked me to find another solution.

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.

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)

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

I think Integrify was a good product for its cost. The only thing it really lacked was project management capabilities. It was difficult for our manager to go into the dashboard and see what work his employees were working on, who has what, and how long they have had certain tasks. It is doable, but just not very quick and simple.

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

• For the people I consulted - it helped them put more into the personal aspects of the business. While certain processes ran, they could keep an eye on the data, but were otherwise free to focus on the important aspects of the business. They were a marketing group. Their copywriter was able to be a copywriter instead of just filling out forms all day!
• It's adaptable. You can cross-pollinate any department with it, provided you know what you are doing. So, you are not getting a program for HR, and another for Marketing. Integrify can span the whole business. You can cut costs in focusing on one workflow product rather than a handful.
• It did have one negative impact on the place I consulted. Their tech-savvy person left in early 2019, and nobody else was able to use the program. Nor did they want to try when opening it up and trying to understand it. I was able to help out, but ultimately they were discouraged. I would recommend training multiple people if you use this product, and emphasize their support team!

Incentivized