Planning and Scheduling

Includes milestones, tasks and resource assignments (can also include WBS and CPM).

Dependency and Milestone Tracking

Ability to define project development stages and task dependencies while setting milestones to mark specific points in a project

Workflow Management

Includes ability to support flexible and comprehensive workflow-based capabilities.

Collaboration

Includes ability to view, share and direct work between co-workers in real or near real-time.

Hierarchical Task Management

Ability to create both templates and unique projects and support tasks that can be divided into sub-tasks and delegated

Time & Expense Tracking

Ability to track time for planning and estimating

Document Management

Includes features such as check-in/check-out and versioning controls on documents and artifacts.

Budget Management

Includes financial planning, cost management, and payroll budgeting.

Resource Management

Includes resource allocation, expense tracking, and resource planning.

Reporting

Straightforward data storage with ability to create any reports easily. Dashboards for any role with ability to easily build and modify.

Quality of Features

Feature quality is just as important as quantity. Use this data to determine if this product will do what you're purchasing it to do, easily, intuitively, reliably, and effectively.

Business Value Created

Software needs to create value for employees, customers, partners, and, ultimately, shareholders. This data expresses user satisfaction - or lack thereof - with the product's business value.

Ease of Implementation

Successfully implementing new software is necessary to realize its full value and promote end user adoption. This data indicates whether or not the product is easy to implement.

Usability and Intuitiveness

End user learning curves cost the organization money. Pay attention to your end users' technical ability to determine how important UX is in your purchase.

Ease of IT Administration

This data indicates whether IT personnel will be able to resolve issues and perform configurations efficiently and effectively.

Vendor Support

The importance of vendor support will vary for each organization depending on internal capabilities, but there will always be issues that only the vendor can resolve.

Product Strategy and Rate of Improvement

Vendors who don't stay on top of emerging needs and trends won't enable you to meet your business goals. Use this data to separate innovators from imposters.

Ease of Data Integration

Use this data to determine whether the product will cause headaches or make data integration easy.

Breadth of Features

Users prefer feature rich software that enables them to perform diverse series of tasks. This data expresses user satisfaction with the product's breadth of features.

Availability and Quality of Training

Effective and readily available training enables users to get the most out of the software you've chosen. Use this section to make sure your vendor's training programs and materials measure up.

Ease of Customization

Don't get bogged down in a difficult customization; use this data to make sure you can easily achieve the functionality you need for your particular situation.