Workfront was the right choice for me. Is it the right choice for you?
February 17, 2016
Workfront was the right choice for me. Is it the right choice for you?
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Overall Satisfaction with Workfront
Workfront is used by my department and others, but not by the whole organization. We use it to estimate projects, track work, manage resources, and provide workflows. It addresses the business problems of accessibility to the project plan, visibility to others' tasks, communication, approval flows, document sharing, and project status. One of my favorite features is the use of approval flows for designs and UAT of new web pages. It eliminates a clunky task relationship because it more accurately reflects the collaborative process used by my teams.
Pros
- Workfront is highly customizable. I can configure access to projects, tasks, issues and workflows at a granular level by group or by user. I can create reports, views, and dashboards - applying filters and search criteria to see any level of detail I choose. I can do the same for users to help them manage their work better.
- Workfront facilitates communication beautifully. Users comment on projects, issues, tasks, etc., which can generate email to recipients. In this way users receive messages in the way they are accustomed (via email) but the history is also linked to the object for posterity.
- I don't have to contact Workfront technical support often, but when I do, the service is top notch. Every time I call, I speak with a knowledgeable representative who understands the product AND customer service. Other script-based "help" desks are put to shame by the responsive, informed team at Workfront.
Cons
- I'm a fan of the Gantt chart, but it doesn't appear to get much attention. In fact, it's called "Legacy Gantt".
- Occasionally I encounter bugs that are annoying. For instance, when I update a task, sometimes the dependent tasks don't change until I jump through a few hoops, like closing and reopening the project in a new browser. Also, once a date/time constraint has been applied, I can't remove it even when I make the task "ASAP".
- Admittedly, I haven't spent much time trying to figure it out, but I don't see how Workfront can be used for agile projects.
- By selecting and implementing Workfront, I took my company from paper and spreadsheet project management to "real" project management, with project templates, task and project tracking, workflows, improved communications, reporting, and so much more. The executive and sales team were so impressed that they used it to show clients we could manage their projects effectively and efficiently.
- Employee efficiency was improved dramatically with the implementation of Workfront. Using templates for key business processes like lead conversion, on-boarding, and analogous projects, we could provide clients with ACCURATE estimates in a fraction of the time. We took the strain off of seasonal work flood by maximizing resource utilization and program insight into arranging projects to prevent bottlenecks.
- Within a few cycles, we became proficient and extended Workfront benefits to clients, helping them be more efficient in their processes as well, which increased customer satisfaction and retention in a competitive industry.
For agile, I prefer the Atlassian suite, but for waterfall projects, Workfront was the right choice. In choosing Workfront (then AtTask), I made a weighted grid of features and benefits of a number of project management tools, including WorkZone, Asana, Celoxis, MS Project, TouchBase, BaseCamp, Project Insight, and others. I rated each objectively based on stated features and research, then narrowed the field to the top 10. I investigated further to choose the top five, then installed sample or trial versions of each. From there I evaluated the strength of each product based on my company's needs. This included feature set, adoptability/ease of use, interface, customization, support options, cost, integration, and several other factors. In the end, Workfront stood out. Not only was the implementation a success, it was a significant feather in my cap and my boss, the CTO.
Adobe Workfront Feature Ratings
Using Workfront
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Like to use Easy to use Technical support not required Well integrated Consistent Quick to learn Convenient Feel confident using | Lots to learn |
- Communicating with other users.
- Creating a project from a template.
- Attaching documents or project artifacts.
- Gantt chart
- As with most things initial setup can be complex, though Workfront support was there every step of the way. This is mostly because of Workfront is highly configurable and powerful.
Yes, but I don't use it
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