This allows a client full transparency when it come to seeing where his or her project is at and this can go a long way to ameliorating any miscommunications. Beginning with the dashboard, which is an overview and central location where members of the groups would start, it is a very intuitive and easily navigated piece of software. No training is involved or needed if one has any rudimentary knowledge of basic computer skills. Anyone can start in right away which is always an excellent selling point. At first the project overview screen seemed to be restating the dashboard, but upon closer examination it proves to be a more project task and milestone screen that presents a refined idea of what is going on, or has gone on, in the project up to the time of view.

In a way the seeming redundant features of Basecamp.com to other programs and services works to its advantage. By creating a platform that has all the familiar functionality of programs such as Outlook, or Google Docs, and the usual e-mail protocols, makes Basecamp.com readily accessible and easy to use for anyone. Couple that with centralizing all these different functions and they have created an exceptional yet simple concept that has a wide range of uses from entrepreneurs working from home to companies organizing different projects within the organization.

Its relevance to this course and to this era is...

Basecamp.com creates a versatile platform that can unite workers from either different locations throughout the world or just in different departments of the same company. While one might think that the same could be accomplished by e-mail, which certainly covers the communication aspect, tracking individuals and their responsibilities becomes a daunting task without a central hub that can analyze the various inputs of individuals.
Having worked on committee projects that required using and transferring files, it was also difficult to make certain that everyone was working on the current version of a file. There were times when productivity was certainly lost by group members working on different versions of the same file. It was also difficult to track progress and asses where a project was if there was not a central calendar that held all the information. Working on a network that has Exchange and Outlook linked up can solve this problem for those working in an office setting but it is difficult to accomplish if the group is only attached via the Internet. For this writer it would certainly be a valuable tool when trying to run a project outside of a typical office setting. There are also several levels of membership, ranging in price from $12 / month to $149 / month, that anyone from a small group to a large organization would certainly find a place in.

Basecamp.com