Collaboration:  

Central Desktop’s collaboration capabilities help keep your employees on task. Collaboration is a key feature in project management software. Though the program lacks some elements that our higher-ranked programs have, between its central collaboration center and its general collaboration features (which include dashboards, calendars, timelines and email integration), Central Desktop is a step above your average project management software.

Resource Management:  

Project management software’s ability to manage resources effectively will help you circumvent snags and stumbling blocks that come up in your project. Unfortunately, Central Desktop has minimal resource management tools. Its real strength comes in facilitating collaboration with your resources to make sure tasks and milestones are completed on time.

Project Management:  

As far as the average project management software goes, Central Desktop boasts your typical features, including task management and calendars. The automatic email notifications let project managers keep tabs on the project’s progress without having to log in to Central Desktop. However, the project management software does lack some features that come in handy, like Gantt charts and budgeting options, which kept Central Desktop from receiving a higher ranking.

Ease of Use:  

Central Desktop is very easy to use. The project management software uses easy-to-spy tabbed browsing to navigate the interface. Though adding tasks and milestones isn’t set up in a spreadsheet-style format, the program makes it simple by listing links on a menu on the left side of the screen. Adding resources is also very easy (done with a simple email invitation) and has zero waiting time, making resources available for assigned tasks immediately.

Help/Support:  

Central Desktop has a full range of options for help and support. The project management software’s online video demo gives you a rundown of the program, and the FAQs section helps you with general questions. For more specific enquiries, you can use email and phone support. The online chat section lets you converse directly with other Central Desktop users. Because Central Desktop is an SaaS (software as a service), it works on all recent Windows, Mac and Linux operating systems.

For the average project management software, Central Desktop does the job—and does it well. It lacks some features that our higher-ranked programs boast, like Gantt charts and resource management options, but it’s a great choice for everyday, standard project management as its calendars, scheduling and task management features make it easy to use to keep your project up-to-date.Be sure to check out our top three product reviews, @task, Daptiv PPM and Clarizen.