Item: Adobe Workfront
Rating: 9
Author: Matthew Estes

Overall Satisfaction with AtTask

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use AtTask to manage requests, individual tasks, projects and portfolios enterprise-wide. AtTask allows the executive and management teams to understand the current state of the project portfolios. AtTask also allows groups such as our IT Help Desk to manage and prioritize incoming requests for assistance. AtTask provides much more robust functionality than email, which was the previous method for such things.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Helping individuals understand and prioritize the work being requested of them.
Helping project managers and executives understand the status of individual projects and the overall project portfolio.
Consolidates communication and documents around specific tasks and projects to keep everyone on the same page.

Cons

Some users have difficulty keeping track of information in AtTask. I think this is just a natural consequence of having so much information stored in the application and am not sure what could be done differently to assist with this.
Users need to fine tune their email settings to avoid being deluged by notifications from AtTask. Striking the right balance between too many and not missing something vital is tricky. Relying less on email and more on managing work directly out of AtTask has helped with this.
The security model was not well structured for enterprise use. We had to implement a number of inconvenient workarounds to get AtTask to shield certain information (like the CEO's ToDo list) from other users. AtTask is in the process of implementing a new security model that should address nearly all of our concerns.

Return on Investment

Better visibility into project status allows us to intercede earlier to correct problems, saving time and money.
We are still working on this, but once ALL employee work (ad hoc, project, requests, etc.) is consolidated into AtTask, we expect that employee efficiency will increase. Also, manager visibility into what employees are actually doing ensures that we have effective resource utilization.
Knowing what the company is doing (and not doing) focuses our efforts and keeps us on track in implementing initiatives that provide the most benefit to the company and our customers.

Alternatives Considered

Planview Enterprise,Innotas

After four months of evaluations (starting with 21 vendors), the choice came down to three vendors: Planview, Innotas, and AtTask. We eliminated Innotas due to its strong IT focus. They were in the process of moving to an enterprise model, but the IT origins were plainly visible and we felt would hinder our enterprise aspirations. Planview was a strong contender, but was considerably more expensive, focused squarely on PPM and larger, strategic initiatives, and did not have as intuitive of a user interface as AtTask, which we thought would hinder user adoption. AtTask's main differentiator was its focus on Enterprise Work Management: essentially all enterprise work would be tracked in AtTask, from the most menial task to the most strategic project. This approach resonated strongly with us. Ultimately, all work boils down to individual employees deciding what to do next. By presenting all available options for "what to do next" in one place, employees, their managers, and senior management can understand the competing priorities and make good decisions about how to direct resources to provide maximum benefit. While easier said than done, the potential for massive improvements exists and we are steadily working to unlock this potential each day with AtTask at the hub.

Likelihood to Renew

AtTask has become pivotal to our day-to-day operations and is a key system that we use to manage the company.

Likelihood to Recommend

Companies must be ready to define, adopt, and enforce policies and procedures around project management in conjunction with an AtTask implementation. Ultimately, AtTask is just a tool. If the underlying processes for project initiation, for example, do not exist, users and companies will continue to struggle with this after the implementation. However, the combination of solid processes and AtTask make for a good solution to many problems with PPM and enterprise work management. AtTask is getting better about providing the best practice process information and consulting along with their implementations to help ensure customer success. Companies should strongly consider process consulting services from AtTask as part of the implementation.

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