What is WorkOtter PPM?

WorkOtter is presented by the vendor as a simple, flexible, and scalable project portfolio management (PPM) solution for IT, Engineering, and Professional Service PMOs. The software manages the lifecycle of work from ideas through project planning, control, lessons learned, and close. Projects can then be rolled up to Programs (multi project efforts) or Portfolios (Roadmaps with What If Scenarios).

All features were designed to support Project Teams with simplicity and usability in mind. WorkOtter offers Gantt, Kanban, and Agile views and integrates directly with JIRA, MS Project, Excel, and more. Its interactive interface helps project teams who want to focus on getting work done verses struggling with complex tools.

WorkOtter resource management features enables businesses to move assignments from over-utilized staff to available resources. It helps project managers plan daily demand or capacity based on the number of resources available for the day. The web-based calendar displays entire project schedules along with extensions and deadlines.

WorkOtter integrates and synchronizes data between multiple third-party applications such as Dropbox, Sharepoint, Outlook, Office 365, Box, Google Drive and others.

Other key features include project budgeting, time & expense tracking, Earned Value management, financial reporting, lessons learned, and real-time alerts.

Categories & Use Cases

Media

Resource Usage for People, Tasks, Time, Budget

Project Management Workflow - Customizable

Project goals management with budget, timelines

Easily assign people and resources to projects by role, availability, budget

Adding team members with customized fields and filters

Forecasting reports for projects, budgets, resources

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Task Management
This includes the ability to plan, track, collaborate and report on tasks.
Category average: 9
Resource Management
Resource management is workload planning to maximize resources.
Category average: 8.2
Gantt Charts
Gantt charts are charts that show tasks or events along the y-axis displayed against time along the x-axis.
Category average: 7.9

Timesheet Tracking
Timesheet tracking is the ability to track all billable and non-billable hours for each project.
Category average: 7.9
Change request and Case Management
Change request and change management enables tracking of all customer requests including priority and timeframe.
Category average: 8.6
Team Collaboration
Team collaboration capabilities let team members work directly with each other and provide team updates.
Category average: 8.8

Adam Gordon View profile

IT Project Manager in Information Technology at Ryder System, Inc. (1001-5000 employees employees)

Pros

It allows you to know when someone who is running late on another project is going to be late on your project.
It has a good reporting/analytics.
Easy to communicate with others on projects.

Cons

Nothing significant. Maybe could be faster at times but I'm not sure if that is our own internet connection.

Return on Investment

Most tools like this are a lot better than the desktop tools that everyone used to use because it is a central system that gives visibility across all the projects.
Easier to work together and track what happened in the past.
More projects are being completed according to expectations.

Verified User

Employee in Corporate (10,001+ employees employees)

Pros

Users find it easy to use which is important if you have a large number of users who don't have time for a lot of training or when new hires come on-board.
WorkOtter has a lot of advanced features that we don't use but when we do need one, it is nice to know the feature is waiting for us. We have used several of these features for special projects.
It does a good job with resource management.

Cons

I can't think of anything major that is missing. I understand it was challenging to integrate it with our commercial banking application but I wasn't involved in that process.

Return on Investment

I think it has really helped us make sure we are using resources effectively but I think it is hard to prove. Although we don't have hard ROI numbers, I believe the general feeling is that you really need a good PPM tool or will waste a lot of time and money.
It helps with communication since we have a standard process.