Running head: Wrike a Web 2.

0 Tool

Wrike a Web 2.0 Tool Daniel A. Brown University of South Carolina-Aiken ET 746, Fall 2013 October 30, 2013

On my honor as a University of South Carolina (Aiken) student, I have completed my work according to the principle of Academic Integrity. I have neither given nor received any unauthorized aid on this assignment.

Daniel A. Brown

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Web 2.0 Tools As web 2.0 was released a vast amount of different resources became available including a new market known as SAAS. SAAS, which stands for software as a service, are applications and software that are hosted on a central server for a group of people to use. Examples of SAAS include many business tools including instant messaging software, development software, virtualizations, customer relationship management, content management systems, help desk management, and project management tools. Due to technological advances, there will be many changes to the overall way that organizations handle internal operations as well as their external customers. While there are many different types of Web 2.0 tools that benefit businesses, one of the central tenets of Web 2.0 is the ability to get your information anywhere you have an internet connection, so web-based project management software makes a lot of sense, so project and program management applications are especially beneficially (Miller, 2008). While project management software has been available for years, online project management systems became increasingly popular as project method methodologies became widespread and there were low cost solutions that were easy to use, especially for smaller companies. There are many online project management systems that work for different size companies and corporations. Larger corporations usually need enterprise applications that have more complex features including the ability to produce reports and manage multiple projects while smaller companies can deal with systems that only utilize a single project with multiple subtasks. For single projects, there are free versions of a number of online collaboration tools--such as Basecamp, Huddle, Wrike, Yugma, and GanntProject, which offer to-do lists and file sharing (Fitzgerald, 2008). Wrike is one of the top inexpensive project management systems for smaller teams in a wide variety of industries. About Wrike Wrike Inc. is a company formed in 2006, which released its first beta project management system, called Wrike, in 2007. Wrike is a full web based system and the main benefit of that is that those types of systems are the easiest to deploy because you merely e-mail participants a Web address to bring them in and, typically, a third party maintains the technology (Sawyer, 2004). Therefore managers and IT staff do not have to worry about system requirements because Wrike works on a variety of desktop and mobile platforms. Once an administrator signs up for an account they can start adding people via their e-mail address to their organization within Wrike. This allows people to join the website or reject the invitation by simply not responding or clicking a link to disable invitations from that user again. Once a user signs up for an account, the administrator can assign them access to different high-level folders so they will only be able to read or write certain tasks or folders within the selected hierarchys. One of Wrikes strongest points is that it is extremely easy to use and it is easy to see why users already feel familiar with the product. To start with Wrike uses a display similar to Microsofts Windows Explorer application that many people have used for years. On the left hand side is a set of hierarchical collapsing folders and the right hand side loads the list of tasks for the selected folder.

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When setting up a task, users must enter in the name of the task, the folder or subtask that it is related to, the people that are assigned to it, a description, start and end dates, time estimates, priority, and the status of the project. Once a task has been created, anyone that can access the task, whether they are assigned to the task or not are able to edit all of this information as well as provide updates, except the task creator who will always get update on that particular task. When a user modifies any of the above information it creates a threaded feed at the bottom to show what day and time information was updated. In addition there is a threaded discussion at the bottom of each task that people can collaborate with other individuals to collaborate via text and upload files. There are smart tags that can be used so people are tagged in a task but are not subscribed to that task and associated with the deadline. Additionally, each user has a private folder where they can create tasks that are not publically available to other users in their organization unless the creator assigns other users to the task. Depending on the way a project management system is setup; a user may be assigned to numerous tasks. While people may be forced to join Wrike by their company it is sometimes hard for individuals to remember to check the system for their tasks, especially if they are use to working individually. Wrike has several e-mail settings that give a user overall control of the communication they receive. By default users get an e-mail when a new task is assigned to them or when a task they are assigned to is updated in any way. This can be a hassle for individuals with multiple tasks especially if the tasks are updated frequently between team members; however, for time sensitive tasks as well as users with fewer tasks assigned to them this may be reasonable. Other options are to receive a daily e-mail, weekly e-mail, or unsubscribe from e-mail reminders all together. The periodic updates show a full list of task that the user is assigned to that is not yet marked cancelled, complete, or back logged. For management and individuals reporting can seem essential. When logging into Wrike the right pane originally loads the dashboard, which by default shows, all tasks that are overdue, assigned this week, overdue by the user, and marked as backlogged. This provides a quick overview for a users personal task. There is also an activity stream that is similar to Facebooks that shows the most recent activity for a particular set of task that the user is assigned to, follows, or is a part of the overall system. Each subfolder also provides a list of all tasks, even within subfolders, a timeline of activities, a time log by user, and a Gantt Chart. Executive managers can easily see how groups of individuals and tasks are performing based on these different views. Disadvantages While Wrike has many benefits there are a few noticeable disadvantages of the system. While it is free up 5 users with a storage capacity of 2gb, there are charges associated beyond that; however, smaller organizations that go beyond those limits may have to pay $49 a month which is nearly $10 per person ("Project tracking software"). Larger organizations that have 50 users only have to pay $199, which is only $4 per person so the price point is much reasonable as you, add more users ("Project tracking software"). Wrike is reasonably priced and easy to use, but without offline capability and lacking in some basic functionality such [] the ability to add a time to a task, it still has room for improvement (Miller, 2008).

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Another downside is the way that Wrike stores dates. Currently, Wrike enables each task to have a date associated with it; however, to be more effective and convenient the folder level needs to have a date assigned to them since managers are typically under a deadline for a particular assignment rather than pieces of it. Individuals that have access to the folder can continuously add tasks or modify the deadlines on existing task, which can throw the original deadline off. The biggest downfall is the structure of Wrike and the lack of offline capability. While the application is extremely flexible for many different types of organizational structures, individuals that are less experienced with project management may struggle to implement Wrike in the most effective way. Individuals that order a premium account have access to Wrikes fantastic support team that can provide many different suggestions on how to organize the folders; however, they may not know the users company well enough to make the best recommendation. Use of innovative information technologies will enable the organizations to modify their strategies, products and services (Karata, & Mahirolu, 2013). The gains from the use of the tool in terms of managerial, communication, and tool have been put forward (Karata, & Mahirolu, 2013). Appropriateness in the Workplace Wrike is a prime example of the fact that Even enthusiasts are quick to say Web-based project collaboration is not for every job. But the tools have found sweet spots on high-value, long-duration work that stresses collaboration (Sawyer, 2004). While it can be a critical central point for the collaboration of projects, the tool may not be appropriate for every work environment. In 2012, my employer, the Office of Public Health Practice at the University of South Carolina switched to Wrike as their project management system and I have witnessed first hand the appropriateness of this tool. The Office of Public Health Practice is divided into several functional teams including: Informatics, Practice and Placement, Workforce Development, Research and Evaluation, and Training and Development. Overall, the office has struggled to successfully implement the system in a uniform matter; however, managers were advised to use the system the way they thought would best suit their teams. All members of the Informatics Team successfully used the system without a problem and not only because there was a higher technical understanding of the application but the type of tasks and collaboration involved. The Informatics team is comprised of a server administrator, developers, media specialist, and data entry personnel who collaborate frequently using the system. The tasks that the IT team had were very concrete with set deadlines for the most part. When collaboration was required on a task very detailed instructions were given for the deliverables that were expected. Common deliverable were help with a programming function, a graphic for one of the clients, or creating a backup before a huge upgrade takes place. It also helped that since this team was online most of the time both when at work and not they responded faster to the tickets and used the overall system more. The other departments within the Office of Public Health Practice struggled with successfully using the system. While the system is relatively easy to use, compatible on multiple devices, and is required by the Director of the office many people still do not use the system as requested. Some users dont log in for weeks and fail to input any of

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their tasks; however, it is much harder to use this system for things like implementing students to use a particular system or develop a scholarship matrix. One of the main reasons is that these tasks were interlocked between departments and the managers had a hard time negotiating who would be responsible for what. The deadlines for many of the projects were also not very concrete compared to those that the informatics team had. Then, most of the managers did not know how to effectively break down projects into sub projects that could be easily identified and completed within a project management system. Conclusion I think that Wrike is a great Web 2.0 Tool for a variety of companies; however, several factors must be considered before deciding if Wrike is the right tool. In Information Technology departments, specifically in web and application development, it is almost critical especially when the company has more than one two technicians that do similar tasks. Another good point is that a skilled project manager is required to manage the structure of Wrike or it could become too confusing for users to use and unclear tasks without specific deadlines and deliverables could be created. If a company has concrete goals, a good manager that known how to well structure the task, and a group of individuals that are technology friendly then Wrike is a great solution to start out with.

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References Fitzgerald, M. (2008). Go Ahead and Take It. Inc, 30(5), 52. Karata, E., & Mahirolu, A. (2013). Development of online collaborative tracking and management tool for content development and the effectiveness of this tool. (English). International Journal Of Human Sciences, 10(1), 1640-1673. Miller, R. (2008). Wrike. Econtent, 31(6), 20-22. Project tracking software, project planning software wrike: Pricing. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.wrike.com/price/ Sawyer, T. (2004). Online Management Tools Excel At Empowering Project Teams. (Cover story). ENR: Engineering News-Record, 253(14), 24-26.