Likelihood to Recommend Kantata (Kimble + Mavenlink)
It is appropriate and even exceeds expectations 90% of the time. It makes project tracking very easy and visually accessible for most cases. The only occasion where Mavenlink came slightly short was for a special project that required more interaction options among project members. I am certain there are ways to work around that issue, but we did not find them.
Read full review If you're looking for a system to help you address accounting that's not suited for marketing agency structures, this is the right tool. It is a bit cumbersome, but it has streamlined our reporting, billing, estimating, and tracking. As for project management, it's great that it integrates with the estimating and finances, but it's just not enjoyable to use. The interface is clunky. So if project management is your main criteria, I'd choose something else. We would never use it to collaborate with clients either because I'd be afraid of making them frustrated by the tool, so we use Basecamp to do that.
Dacia Coffey CEO | B2B Marketing Strategist | Founder | Fractional CMO
Read full review Pros Kantata (Kimble + Mavenlink)
With Mavenlink when starting to assign tasks to people, set deadlines and milestones, and add files to our projects we can look at it all from a variety of perspectives, including a task tracker view and a Gantt chart view Through Mavenlink each project also includes an activity stream where we can view all project details as they come up, as well as an activity feed for all the projects it is linked to. Read full review The Platinum version has a particularly robust time tracking system, down to a 'timer' function that can be critical for an agency like mine where you want to be accountable for billing a client arruately The ability to make projects available only to those who are permitted to assign their time to it has apparently been very helpful during our revenue reconciliation meetings where time incurred is reviewed against scope The mobile app, while I still feel needs some work, is pretty handy for a quick calendar check if I'm in a client meeting and cannot utilize my browser to get information Read full review Cons Kantata (Kimble + Mavenlink)
The Gantt chart does not allow for baselines to be stored There is no means to upload an excel task tracker and build a plan using an upload The schedule does not allow for planning of holidays The status report functionality needs to be improved Read full review WMJ's interface is dated. Despite an html5 driven "sheets"-based interface, it takes a lot of time and effort to manage the interface, which could be streamlined considerably. On a UX/UI scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the best, WMJ would earn a 6 from me. Despite the amount of documentation available, there is a distinct lack of clarity in that documentation, and it doesn't fully cover everything you would expect. Branching thoughts, for instance, are not addressed. Additionally, because there are two editions of the software online, there are two support sites that aren't sequestered. So information from both commingles, creating confusion. Support is available on an email and phone basis. They strongly encourage you to use email, however, and they are resistant to phone time. This is likely because the support staff is limited in number, but has a great depth of knowledge. If you want immediate phone support, however, YOU ARE OUT OF LUCK. You are placed in a queue and the odds of same-day help are low. For email, the response is usually within an hour, but when you are stuck with a configuration issue, or need to generate a report and don't know how to do something, waiting is not optimal. That said, the support team is TERRIFIC. Read full review Likelihood to Renew Kantata (Kimble + Mavenlink)
Although the company I currently work for does not use the product I have recommended that we do switch to Mavenlink. We will be opening some new sites internationally this year and I can see that Mavenlink would be a great product for us to use
Read full review Usability Kantata (Kimble + Mavenlink)
I think Mavenlink is the most robust and best project management tool out there for an organization like ours. However, some of our staff feel like it isn't as user-friendly as it could be. From a Director point of view or a Project Manager point of view, Mavenlink is exceptional. From the point of view of a task-doer, it could be more visually appealing. Also, the mobile version isn't great.
Read full review Reliability and Availability Kantata (Kimble + Mavenlink)
Mavenlink gives advance notice for system upgrades, and they're not during our business day. Mavenlink has always been available when we needed it.
Read full review Performance Kantata (Kimble + Mavenlink)
Very good integration with Google apps. Some complexity is called however in the synchronization between Google Tasks and Maven links tasks. This can sometimes lead to duplicate records in Google Tasks. It has been dissolvable that becomes cumbersome if not properly curated.
Read full review Support Rating Kantata (Kimble + Mavenlink)
Mavenlink support is fantastic! Any issues that arise are always handled quickly and efficiently. Granted, we haven't had many issues to report. Typically, my team tends to only reach out to support if they need assistance remembering how to do something or asking about an improvement. We had Mavenlink build an integration when we first started using the software, and the support team worked hard to listen and improve the integration.
Read full review In-Person Training Kantata (Kimble + Mavenlink)
We prepared questions in advance, and our trainer was an expert in what Mavenlink was and wasn't able to do. We were able to have multiple people trained at once.
Read full review Online Training Kantata (Kimble + Mavenlink)
The training was very well-organized. We were able to send questions in advance so the instructor knew what to cover, and the brought up related topics to maximize the usefulness of what they were teaching us.
Read full review Implementation Rating Kantata (Kimble + Mavenlink)
Dedicate as much internal time to the implementation effort as possible, even if you're using a 3rd party or Mavenlink services. Your team knows your processes the best
Read full review Alternatives Considered Kantata (Kimble + Mavenlink)
We have since switched over to
JIRA and let me tell you, it was probably the best decision we have made as a company. We chose Mavenlink based on promises from the sales team about future roadmap work that really never happened. We thought Mavenlink would easily integrate with our billing software but we couldn't have been more wrong. We ended up never utilizing Mavenlink invoices as they don't even allow you to fully customize your invoices that go out to clients!
Read full review Workamajig was definitely a lot easier to keep track of projects, timesheets, and out of office calendars all in one.
ClickUp and Zoho were good for project management but JIG definitely has more to offer and it's a little easier to clean. Keeping track of campaigns is much easier in JIG as it assigns project numbers and task numbers to each assignment.
Read full review Scalability Kantata (Kimble + Mavenlink)
It's very easy to add users and contractors into Mavenlink. There's also an option that let's you manage access for teams in multiple locations.
Read full review Return on Investment Kantata (Kimble + Mavenlink)
Manvenlink is perfect for showing expenses and income over time and across people. Manvenlink is adaptable for the integration and automation of the processes of each of our projects in order to optimize resources and improve operational performance. Mavenlink allows us to determine if our projects are profitable or not, as well as save significant time by automating components such as recurring tasks and having templates, among other things. Manvenlink is advantageous for our operations due to its simple portfolio management of our projects: manage several projects at once and receive a complete perspective of the development of each one at a glance. Manvenlink kindly provides us with robust discussion threads, access restrictions, and built-in document management, allowing us to contextualize communications. Read full review Workamajig allows for a more flexible, productive workflow, especially for people working remotely. Team members on a project are more aware of budgeted hours and timelines because of the various alerts. Workamajig is such a timesaver because it's such an easy quick reference on current or past projects. Read full review ScreenShots Kantata PS Cloud Screenshots