Changepoint v2010 - Not for the Faint of Heart
February 02, 2014

Changepoint v2010 - Not for the Faint of Heart

Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 3 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Software Version

2010 SP2

Overall Satisfaction with Changepoint

CP is being used across the whole organization, with certain features being used only by my specific department. Across the organization it is being used for time reporting and expense submission. In my department, the additional features of team folders and invoicing are used. The system administrator feature is used occasionally and the report designer feature has not yet been utilized. The major business problems it is being used to address are tracking time and expenses and allocating those time and expenses internally and among our clients, expense reimbursement for our employees, and invoicing our clients. We also have an integration with Salesforce to populate some of the company data into Changepoint.
  • Changepoint has significant reporting capabilities, though of course, the data that comes out is only as good as the data that goes in. I enjoy being able to use the standard reports to understand exactly how much a project has cost us and to compare it to how much we are charging. This allows us to more accurately set our prices. Though we have not used the report designer capability, I understand that custom reports can be designed with relative ease.
  • Changepoint has a versioning capability for changes made to user profiles in the system manager, which I find particularly helpful. As a non-power user, it is valuable to be able to see what changes I have made to various profiles so that I can troubleshoot a problem down the line.
  • Changepoint has significant functionality well beyond the features that we are currently using, and for this reason, I think it is affordable and a good deal. Particularly if your organization is interested in dedicating the time and resources into using all of the features around project planning, resource allocation, etc., the price is well worth the value.
  • The usability of Changepoint leaves something to be desired, at least as far as basic features are concerned. It has significant functionality, but our users find basic tasks--like creating expense reports--needlessly complicated and not user-friendly.
  • The user interface is clunky, outdated, and difficult for a basic user to navigate. The locations of items are not always intuitive and it is annoying to have to go to different views in order to see information that should be grouped together. For example, in order to view task information, you have to go to the projects tab. You cannot drill down from the project or engagement level.
  • I don't believe Changepoint has any video training for basic functionality, but this is an important addition to standard help files. When my users have problems with the software, myself or another administrator must sit down with them and show them how to accomplish their goal. Videos showing how to use basic functionality would be very helpful.
  • Browser support is minimal. In v2010, only IE is supported, which is ridiculous. We are upgrading to V2012, which will greatly improve the array of browsers that our users can use, but even then certain features do not work with Firefox. In 2014, robust browser compatibility should be a basic feature.
  • Decreased employee efficiency - As I've mentioned, basic functionality is ore difficult than it should be and is frustrating for many of our new users. The learning curve is steep and the software isn't always intuitive. For new users, basic tasks take up an inordinate amount of time.
  • Better Reporting - The reporting functionality allows us to better understand our own costs and decide which employees are more efficient, which projects are correctly priced, and accurately our project plans reflect the work that is actually done on the ground.
  • More Accurate Invoicing - Changepoint has helped us to improve invoice accuracy and tracking by linking the project management feature with the invoicing feature. It helps us to be sure we have invoiced for the proper products and services on the proper date.
I have not used any other similar products so I cannot compare them. Changepoint was selected before I joined the company.
Our users are now used to the idiosyncrasies of Changepoint and we have significant data accumulated in the system. I do not imagine that we will have a strong enough need in the near future to disrupt the business to the extent that it would be worth it to move to a new system. We are also about to upgrade to V2012, which will hopefully solve many of the problems with basic functions that I highlighted in my review. We will likely stay with Changepoint for the foreseeable future.
Changepoint is well-suited for consulting firms and other companies that charge clients for their time and have a need for significant project-management capabilities along with reporting and invoicing. It is not well-suited for companies that want a more basic solution to time reporting and expense reimbursement. The key questions to ask during the selection process revolve around this basic question: how are you going to use this software? Though it has a lot of functionality, the learning curve is steep and basic functionality is not as easy as one would expect.