How to Enhance Software Design with Online Collaboration
“The interface is very clean and immediately intuitive.The task management makes it easy to see who is responsible for what tasks at a glance, which helps for general project management. Not to mention the pricing is reasonable, and affordable.” Jason Winder — President.
The Story
As go many stories, the birth of MakeLeaps came from a growing need in the business community. In 2003, Jason Winder started up an IT infrastructure services company in Japan called Webnet IT. Over the next several years, Webnet IT grew into a bustling IT services firm serving foreign companies all over the country.
While building his company, Jason needed to make workflow within his organization more effective. He did so by designing software systems to automate labor-intensive bottlenecks, enabling Webnet IT to maintain high service levels during growth periods, automate invoicing and payroll, understand project profitability in real time, and comprehend critical data about customers, employees and accounting.
When Jason shared some of the tools he developed internally with his current client base, these customers started asking him to develop similar solutions for them. These requests became more frequent, and the solution did not require much customization. To satisfy this growing need, Paul Oswald and Jason formed a new company called MakeLeaps. There was one last place they realized they could afford to be much more effective. It was in the area of project management and collaboration. Up until this point, Webnet IT was using Google docs to manage projects. File sharing was great, but updating task lists on spreadsheets and trying to determine what was and was not completed was impossible. With their projects becoming more and more complex, requiring input from developers around the globe, they needed to find a better online tool to help them manage their projects. Before going through the trouble of developing a system, they decided to look for something on the market.
This is when Paul came across Teambox and signup for a free account. After creating a project, playing with tasks, and looking at the other tabs, it was starting the first conversation that got the MakeLeaps team hooked.
“The business we're trying to build is a bit complex with many different facets,” shares Jason, “so the ability to have a running conversation during development was key for us. It enabled us to talk in detail about what we're doing, and keep it all relevant and linked to our respective responsibilities.”
When asked what they like most about the interface Jason shares that it is its simplicity.
“The interface is very clean and immediately intuitive.The task management makes it easy to see who is responsible for what tasks at a glance, which helps for general project management. Not to mention the pricing is reasonable, and affordable.”
As a startup in the business of helping other businesses grow, MakeLeaps started use Teambox to do much more than just discuss and track software features. They started to use the system to manage marketing objectives and sales opportunities. It is easy to see that while MakeLeaps is making it easier for their clients to get things done, the way they are getting things done now starts with Teambox.