Comparing Teamwork and Basecamp

While checking the new language Ruby, I stepped on Basecamp, a web based "project management software", which is actually bundled with a hosting service, at http://www.basecamphq.com . Some things I found interesting, so I took some notes:

Pro of Basecamp:
- simpler interface
- no setup
- centered on the owner conpany
- no security

Pro of Teamwork
- setups on your intranet (think of all data prvacy issues of usin a software on another company server)
- not centered on the owner's company :-) : you can model more complex situations
- can handle large amounts of data, has powerful filters
- can model project trees
- can model complex security requirements

The field on which Teamwork 3 is really hard to beat, is system integration:

- seamlessly integrates your server and database structure
- it's compatble with almost all possible corporation standards and certifications
- a beginner java developer can build powerful extensions with

• custom fields and layout
• custom workflow module

Actually, you can't really manage work with Basecamp, as the reference model is too simplistic. But there are some ideas which we should pick up:

- ease of use and the amount of help effort, integrated examples
- special role of the main company
- put on any object the "send by mail" button

Teamwork 3 and Jbpm 3

We did it! We managed to integrate JBoss'Jbpm workflow engine in Teamwork 3 alpha. This is a technological integration, in the sense that we have integrated the Hibernate layer, and built a basic backoffice. For the moment the user will see nothing of this, but it will make building powerful workflow management modules very easy.

By the way, Jbpm 3 really rocks as a workflow engine.