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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Lightning Tools Lightning Conductor

    Score9 out of 10
    Mid-Size Companies (51-1,000 employees)
    The Lightning Conductor is a content aggregation tool for Microsoft SharePoint Online and Microsoft Teams. Users can build rich, modern content reports based upon SharePoint lists, SharePoint Search, Microsoft Graph or Microsoft 365 Groups. Content can be aggregated from lists and libraries, and other applications such as Planner, To Do, OneDrive, and Teams.

    $2,200

    per year per installation

    Zoho Projects

    Score8.1 out of 10
    N/AZoho Project is online project management and planning software that provides project teams with a web-based collaborative environment. Zoho Projects can also include a bug tracking module specifically design to support software development project. It is integrated with other Zoho products including Zoho CRM.

    $5

    per month per user

    Pricing
    Lightning Tools Lightning ConductorZoho Projects
    Editions & Modules
    Lightning Conductor WSP
    From 1950
    per year One WFE
    Lightning Conductor Enterprise Edition
    POA
    per year Four or more WFE
    Lightning Conductor Online
    From 2200
    per year per installation
    Lightning Conductor Plus (Includes Data Viewer)
    From 2500
    per year per installation
    Lightning Conductor Online Enterprise Edition (>10,000 users)
    POA
    per year per installation
    Free
    $0
    Premium
    $5
    per month per user
    Enterprise
    $10
    per month per user
    Project Plus
    Contact Sales
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Lightning Tools Lightning ConductorZoho Projects
    Free Trial
    YesYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoYes
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    YesYes
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeOptional
    Additional DetailsPrices stated are minimum per installation for "stock" products. $2.20 per user/year on top of base price. Enterprise editions can be amended to suit business needs if deemed necessary, additional costs incurred and TBD. All packages include free technical support. Free upgrades available to latest versions of tool as they are released. (online version)Discount offered for annual billing.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Lightning Tools Lightning ConductorZoho Projects
    Considered Both Products
    Lightning Tools
    No answer on this topic
    Zoho
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    No answers on this topic
    75%
    Would buy again
    6 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    7 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    No answers on this topic
    88%
    Happy with the feature set
    7 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
    71%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    5 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    No answers on this topic
    57%
    Implementation went as expected
    4 Answers
    Features
    Lightning Tools Lightning ConductorZoho Projects
    Project Management
    Comparison of Project Management features of Lightning Tools Lightning Conductor and Zoho Projects
    Feature
    Lightning Tools Lightning Conductor
    8.6
    2 Ratings
    11% above category average
    Zoho Projects
    6.6
    20 Ratings
    15% below category average
    Task Management8.82 Ratings7.520 Ratings
    Search8.42 Ratings00 Ratings
    Resource Management00 Ratings7.019 Ratings
    Gantt Charts00 Ratings6.517 Ratings
    Scheduling00 Ratings5.518 Ratings
    Workflow Automation00 Ratings6.014 Ratings
    Team Collaboration00 Ratings7.520 Ratings
    Support for Agile Methodology00 Ratings6.35 Ratings
    Support for Waterfall Methodology00 Ratings8.011 Ratings
    Document Management00 Ratings6.016 Ratings
    Email integration00 Ratings6.016 Ratings
    Mobile Access00 Ratings5.018 Ratings
    Timesheet Tracking00 Ratings7.519 Ratings
    Change request and Case Management00 Ratings6.96 Ratings
    Budget and Expense Management00 Ratings6.014 Ratings
    Professional Services Automation
    Comparison of Professional Services Automation features of Lightning Tools Lightning Conductor and Zoho Projects
    Feature
    Lightning Tools Lightning Conductor
    -
    Ratings
    Zoho Projects
    5.0
    13 Ratings
    42% below category average
    Quotes/estimates00 Ratings5.55 Ratings
    Invoicing00 Ratings5.012 Ratings
    Project & financial reporting00 Ratings6.55 Ratings
    Integration with accounting software00 Ratings3.013 Ratings
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    Lightning Tools Lightning ConductorZoho Projects
    Small Businesses
    Flock
    Score9.5 out of 10
    Any.do
    Score8 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Troop Messenger
    Score9.8 out of 10
    KanbanFlow
    Score7.3 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Cisco Business Edition 7000 (discontinued)
    Score9 out of 10
    Microsoft To Do
    Score7.9 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Lightning Tools Lightning ConductorZoho Projects
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.0
    (4 ratings)
    6.5
    (24 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    9.9
    (3 ratings)
    Usability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    5.6
    (4 ratings)
    Availability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    7.4
    (9 ratings)
    Online Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Lightning Tools Lightning ConductorZoho Projects
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Lightning Tools
    Having experience of SharePoint On Premise and also SharePoint Online, there isn't an out of the box app/webpart that enables you to 'roll up content' from a variety of source's (in my case SP Lists, but there are many other data sources it works with) across site collections with an easy to use and intuitive interface which is what Lightning tools excels at.
    Read full review
    Zoho
    My work involves projects of 5-15 people with numerous projects running simultaneously. Prior to Zoho, I did not have a central location from which to view all project statuses at once. Zoho looks to provide this and also looks like it will deliver. I am anxious to see how our organization's use of it develops. At this time, I feel I am likely to recommend Zoho Projects because my organization has made great software decisions in the past so I have a level of trust already that the research has been done that Zoho is the best solution for our line of work.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Lightning Tools
    • Aggregate documents across SharePoint site & libraries
    • Filtering for owner/person responsible & due dates
    • Ease of end-user filtering on columns
    • Color-coding & other formatting
    Read full review
    Zoho
    • We use it to manage our sales orders as there are lots of moving parts which are necessary to get client orders done properly.
    • I use it anytime I have a new idea I want to put into motion. As I can create a list for brainstorming, feedback, specific actions necessary in order to test and or implement the idea.
    • Unrelated to business, it's a great way to plan travel in order to make sure you don't forget those important things like passport, flight arrangement, client meeting confirmation, and meeting prep as far as what specific documents or things do you need to bring with you.
    • And since everyone is on the go and expected to keep up with work, the mobile/tablet app makes it a breeze to keep up, work on, and create new projects.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Lightning Tools
    • Mobile Friendly
    • Calendar/Gantt views
    • Complex/Custom Logic
    Read full review
    Zoho
    • There is no ability to add custom fields in the "Bugs" module - for example, if we want to add fields such as Version Number.
    • Reporting is not integrated - its a fairly expensive add-on.
    • There is no easy way to track actual and completed dates for tasks - so historical variance analysis is not easy.
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Lightning Tools
    No answers on this topic
    Zoho
    I've reviewed about 8 other project management solutions and Zoho Projects is the best I've seen without being overly complicated. Zoho Projects keeps getting better! Recent new enhancements makes it even easier to navigate. There are new keyboard shortcuts that cut my time way down. The tools are very easy to use.
    Read full review
    Usability
    Lightning Tools
    No answers on this topic
    Zoho
    Zoho Projects is an easy project management tool to use. It provides all the functionality that we required for handling projects. We can easily create personal forms for projects and tasks, allowing us to add and report on our own desire. Apart from this we can create and edit documents in real time which saves our time. This allows us to share text docs, presentations, tables with the whole team and we can work on them together
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Lightning Tools
    No answers on this topic
    Zoho
    Has not been down to my knowledge.
    Read full review
    Performance
    Lightning Tools
    No answers on this topic
    Zoho
    Speed meets my expectations.
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Lightning Tools
    The Lightning Tools support team responds quickly, and team members are very friendly and helpful.
    Read full review
    Zoho
    Although it might lack intuitiveness, once you get a hang of how Zoho Projects works, you can do a LOT. The impact good project management has on profitability is huge, and it has helped not only improve communication and coordination when working on a project, but more importantly have adequate tracking of time, due dates and potential bottle necks
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    Lightning Tools
    I haven't found another product to compare this one to. Only in SharePoint Online which has a similar App 'Highlight Webpart' ... it's far too complicated to set up and requires learning yet another language and exporting and importing via PowerShell to get any real results that would be useful.
    Read full review
    Zoho
    Zoho Projects provides a more limited set of functionality and customization options than other task/bug trackers on the market, but what it lacks in functionality it makes up for in ease of use. It probably has 80-90% of the features of its competitors but takes about a third of the time to get up and running and realizing value.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Lightning Tools
    • Policies easier to portray
    Read full review
    Zoho
    • We needed a system to organize our growing business, so anything was better than what we had, which was nothing.
    • Recording time spend is a huge reason for using project software. It has made me aware of the tasks that are taking too long and where we are not being profitable as a company.
    • It has kept our team accountable for what needs to get completed and when projects are not in motion or completed timely. It's helpful to know in order to get billing out faster.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Lightning Tools Lightning Conductor Screenshots

    Screenshot of MODERN SHAREPOINT LIST ROLLUP
The Lightning Conductor is a SharePoint Content Aggregator that can be configured quickly by business users. The Lightning Conductor can be used to aggregate content from SharePoint Lists such as Tasks, Document Libraries, Contact Lists, and Custom Lists making it easy to view content in one place even if it is distributed across many sites and site collections. Key data can be highlighted using conditional formatting and data-bars as shown. Content from Search and Microsoft Graph can also be aggregated with the Lightning Conductor.Screenshot of CONTENT AGGREGATION WITHIN MICROSOFT TEAMS
The Lightning Conductor Web Part can be used within Microsoft SharePoint or Microsoft Teams. Even if content is stored within SharePoint sites, it is useful to have aggregated Documents, Tasks, Announcements, Calendars or Custom Lists from multiple sites displayed in a single handy view in Microsoft Teams. The Lightning Conductor can be added as a Teams Tab in any Microsoft Teams Channel.Screenshot of BUILDING REPORTS ON MICROSOFT GRAPH
The Lightning Conductor can be used (without code) to aggregate content from Microsoft Graph as well as Search and SharePoint Lists. This example displays Microsoft Planner Plans and Microsoft Planner Tasks where users can Add new Tasks, Assign Users to Planner Tasks, Delete Tasks, and Complete Tasks. The same can be performed on Microsoft To Do items and displayed within Modern SharePoint pages or Microsoft Teams Tabs. The Lighting Conductor can also contain multiple views of content, making it ideal to display all of your tasks from SharePoint Task lists, Microsoft To Do and Microsoft Planner in a single web part or Teams Tab.

*Microsoft Graph Reports are only available for SharePoint Online and not SharePoint 2019.Screenshot of BUILDING REPORTS ON MICROSOFT 365 GROUPS
Powered by Microsoft Graph, the Microsoft 365 Group Rollup Provider enables users to aggregate content by browsing and selecting Microsoft 365 Groups. Within Microsoft 365 Groups, you’ll be able to select entities such as Drive Items, Owners, Members, Planner Plans, Planner Tasks, Events, Posts,  Sites, Lists, and Calendars.

*Microsoft Graph Reports are only available for SharePoint Online and not SharePoint 2019.Screenshot of AGGREGATING USING SEARCH
When performance is critical, search can be used for rollups. The Lightning Conductor offers three data source configurations to get to content. Object Model (Real Time Aggregation from SharePoint Lists), Microsoft Graph (Aggregation from Graph Entities such as Planner, OneDrive, Outlook), and Search. The Search Data Source enables the aggregation of content from large SharePoint lists and libraries when performance is critical. Thousands of documents can be displayed in under a second using Search.Screenshot of HIGHLIGHTING KEY BUSINESS DATA WITHIN VIEWS
End users and Site Owners can highlight the data that is important to them, the data that they need to prioritize. Using conditional formatting, data bars, and icons, conditions can be configured to highlight the data that is most important. Icons and Data Bars can be any color or size desired. Examples include highlighting High Priority tasks, Showing data bars for the completion progress of Tasks, or indicating which tasks are assigned to any particular user.

    Zoho Projects Screenshots

    Screenshot of Task Automation with Blueprint - Map out your entire workflow with no code as flowcharts. Automate your tasks and notifications and set approval criteria with blueprint.Screenshot of Intuitive Gantt Charts - Say what, say who, say when. And done. Zoho Projects' Gantt chart comes feature loaded with advanced operations such as Critical path and Baseline.Screenshot of Inbuilt Issue Tracker - You can log, organize, track, and fix any problems. Features such as status and workflow, can be customized to suit the exact needs of your project.Screenshot of Drag, Drop and Done - A view of your tasks as cards placed along columns. Helps you identify bottlenecks and reorganize quickly using drag and drop.Screenshot of A quick pulse of all your work - The Portfolio dashboard, is a compact overview of all the work that's been happening across projects with widgets that address the project level timeline, status, ownership, budget health, and clients.Screenshot of Looks that matter - A refreshing UI that supports multiple themes, including an eye-catching dark mode.