Mavenlink is a software as a service (SaaS) project-delivery system that automates business best practices for creative and professional service providers. With one platform to manage the entire customer lifecycle from proposal to invoicing, users can improve business outcomes and successfully manage and scale people, projects, and profits.
Single source of truth: Mavenlink centralizes project management, project accounting, and custom reporting into a solution known as Professional Services Automation (PSA). Mavenlink’s cloud application provides a single workspace for executives, project managers, team collaborators, and contract resources. This includes powerful features for collaboration, file sharing, time and expense tracking, resource scheduling, and more.
Move the levers that drive performance: Mavenlink helps organizations optimize utilization rates, improve margins, accelerate cash collection and accurately predict future work and revenue. The application’s optional enterprise-grade Business Intelligence (BI) layer, Mavenlink Insights, offers expert-built dashboards and custom reporting for project health and profitability. Mavenlink Insights enables organizations to build unlimited custom reports in only a few clicks; this includes the ability to look at key business metrics by specific drill-downs.
Create connections between business systems to unite teams and processes: Thanks to strategic integrations with leading CRM and accounting solutions (including Salesforce, Intacct, and QuickBooks), Mavenlink customers can build a unified platform for planning, delivering, and recognizing revenue related to services delivery across their entire business lifecycle.
Designed by services experts, for services experts: Mavenlink’s customers include consulting firms, marketing agencies, IT services, and other professional services providers. Typical clients are growing companies that need a software solution to successfully manage client demand with maximized profitability at scale. Mavenlink clients reside in more than 100 countries at both public and private companies.
Pros
- Integrations and API - An excellent Salesforce bridge is available and can be fully customised (if you know Java!). You also get other connectors for Jira, Slack, and an API that allows you to do virtually anything.
- Integrated GoodData reporting - If you are technical enough you can improve your workflows by adding custom fields and creating custom metrics. I used this solution to monitor the performances of the entire Professional Services team at Emarsys.
- The software itself is essentially like Microsoft Project but online and with conversations & invoices generation - you can manage anything from a very small and basic project to a massive 2 years project thanks to the versatile task management interface. GANTT charts are available and, of course, if you know how to use GoodData you can dig even further into the project reports.
- Resourcing wise it has a Master Planning tool which looks a bit like Resource Guru but completely integrated with the software, so you are really buying the full package with Mavenlink.
Cons
I believe the biggest flaw in Mavenlink is the absence of a "real" administrator. Essentially, you can be an admin but if a project is set to "Invitation only" you cannot join it unless someone invites you.
So being a Mavenlink admin is not like being a Jira admin where you can do anything you want, you are more of a "open projects administrator".
The workaround is to have an integration user creating the projects and a good integration with your CRM that allows you to update fields that would be otherwise not accessible.
Mind that you can still remove the integration user from the project, and at that point the only way to re-enter the project is to ask the project lead to invite you.
This should clear any security concerns, if your projects require extreme privacy.
We implemented Mavenlink specifically to disabuse our organization of several disparate systems we were using for tracking time, task-level project management, and reporting on specific measurements/metrics like utilization, margin and capacity saturation so that we could improve operational efficiencies. We've found that the tool is very flexible, has some great native reporting capabilities that become exceptional when coupled with the Business Insights add-on, it integrates well to SalesForce, it has given us a much better ability to manage projects for clients as well as internal product development projects, and it provides us with much better capabilities toward planning organizational growth and managing to margin at the business unit level down to the project level. While there are still some glitches/issues with the Gantt views, and there are still things we wish it did better, Mavenlink has proven itself to be an exceptionally valuable (and very cost-effective) management tool; the company is consistently providing updates that are meaningful and adding value with subsequent releases that clearly indicate a willingness to listen to the voice of the customer in new feature requests. Overall, I'm personally very impressed with the software, given my team's requirements and unique operational environment.
Pros
Flexible, provides the ability to set up multiple templates for different types of projects, supports T&M and Fixed Fee contract types, integrates to SalesForce, provides multiple views toward project status, continually adding new features and capabilities
Cons
Gantt charts are still in need of a lot of work and help. Still buggy, no user-defined view preferences can be saved.
I have been using Mavenlink as the primary account administrator for two different companies over the course of four years. The suite has proven to be an integral tool in my everyday professional life within the Marketing industry. It allows my teams to see only what they need to primarily be involved with for any particular day and clears away other clutter they may not be associated with. However, most importantly, it allows many different views when it comes to upcoming work capacity and profitability. This is the feature we were primarily after when signing up for Mavenlink. The instant-update gantt charts allow us to see both all of our current projects and each individual project. This, in addition to the robust resource management tools that are constantly being improved, as enabled our Production team to kick project input and scheduling into overdrive! Our Copy and Design teams love the real-time proofing module as well. The comparison tools are really slick.
Pros
Depth of data analysis and business intelligence, gantt charts, deep task detail options, resource scheduling tools, built-in expense and budget tracking
Cons
There is an intermediate learning curve and may come across as immediately complex to the uninitiated creative. However, 10-15 minutes of poking around and taking advantage of the learning tools and startup tutorials offered by Mavenlink's stellar customer service program will address this minor concern. Mavenlink is a fantastically powerful information source, and with that power comes some proper approach and learning. It's all intuitive, though!
Pros
We have only been using Mavenlink for a little over 3 month and have already started to see visibility and transparency across the organisation. Mavenlink Insights and analytics reports provide the company with a holistic view of all projects and accounts. We are now easily able to identity project metrics and figures without all of the manual collation and reconciliation which takes an enormous amount of time.
Mavenlink have been extremely helpful and accommodating to get us to this point with help of the guys from the MavenOps Program. The 3 months of MavenOps has been fantastic as the team who have been working with us are always willing to help and offer suggestions. Mavenlink were very responsive to our requirements and always willing to help and provide alternate solutions or workarounds if system could meet the requirements.
Additionally MavenOps were very quick at turning around reports that we requested. The reports were completely customised to our needs. If a feature could not be achieved the company can submit a "feature request" which means there is a chance that feature can be built later down the track.
Mavenlinks 24/7 chat support has also been fantastic in helping the wider organisation with any questions.
Overall the software is great but the level of support really helps to lift the product and the overall engagement.
Cons
Given we are an Australian based company there are a few things within the software which are set for the US, for example the date is in the wrong sequence and data refreshes happen at awkward times. These are only minor and don't stop us from achieving our main objectives. It would be helpful to have a little more control over these settings.
It would be also good for Super Admin users to have a greater level of visibility. At present even admin need to be invited to a project to view the tasks and approve time etc. It would be helpful for Super Admin users to have this level of visibility with having to rely on a project lead to invite them to a project.
Our overall experience has been wonderful over the past few years. We were able to enable our PM team to become more metrics and data-driven, expanding their capabilities. Change Orders are a big business process that we solved by using Mavenlink. Approval and communication have been GREATLY streamlined! Before, we were managing change orders through written communication and supporting documentation, but now we are able to have the discussion in project meetings, then pass through the Change Order approval as a budget change and there is an affirmative action on their part. It's great!
Pros
The activity dashboard is the best part of Mavenlink. A feed that allows you to keep track of official communications and notes is perfect, plus it keeps clients involved. The API is also very strong and allows us to generate reports FAR beyond what is offered by Mavenlink. Our ability to manage projects and people has greatly increased due to the features that have been implemented since we switched to Mavenlink.
Cons
The Gantt chart needs a lot of work. The interface is slow and clunky, plus it is not a great view for the executives and sponsors, visually speaking. The purpose of this chart is not really to "manage" the project, but instead show a high level overview of everything. There is currently no great way to show this to execs and sponsors. There needs to be a better mobile experience as well. We need a fully functional way to log time, complete tasks, post activity and generally manage projects from Android and iOS.
Mavenlink offers several plans to meet your needs. Choose from basic project management to complete PSA with advanced BI. Try any plan for free today!
Mavenlink Teams: Collaborative Task Management
$19/month for five users, additional users $4/month (paid annually)
Mavenlink Professional: Project Management with Financials
$39/month per user (annual contract)
Mavenlink Premier / Enterprise: Professional Services Automation
To receive accurate pricing information, contact Mavenlink directly.
Project Management:
Plan projects with multi-level Work Breakdown Structures (WBS). Interactive Gantt charts track dependencies and also perform critical path analysis. After assigning teams, managers monitor status updates in real time. They can also compare actual performance against a baseline to identify roadblocks and keep things on track.
Project Accounting:
Track time and expenses against budgeted estimates to better understand your costs in real time. Easily approve timesheets and expense reports. Then invoice each client directly from Mavenlink or through an integration with your preferred general ledger or ERP solution.
Resource Planning:
Forecast resource needs with role-based resource planning and accurate real-time utilization rates. Allocate staff with with project and task-level resource scheduling, then see who’s available to optimize your team’s utilization.
Business Intelligence:
Answer the questions that determine business performance with interactive revenue, margin, utilization, and resource analytics. Build custom reports to automate time-consuming reporting calculations.
Team Collaboration:
Streamline your team’s project delivery with a convenient, cloud-based workspace. Team members log in from anywhere to efficiently plan projects, assign tasks, share files, and post messages. Link to your Google Drive files to eliminate email attachments and version-control issues.
Growing a business requires more than just a good strategy and a keen financial sense. It requires the right tools. Mavenlink is a cloud-based solution that combines advanced project management, resource planning, collaboration, and financial tools into a single platform. With detailed time tracking, expense management, and budget management features, business owners can improve both productivity and profitability.
Mavenlink’s integrated business and project management software enables businesses of all types and sizes to stay in control throughout the complete lifecycle of their projects. Service businesses can take advantage of enterprise-grade software, with advanced features for team collaboration, task management, file sharing, time and expense management, and Gantt timeline management.
At its core, Mavenlink is a tool for helping businesses focus on growth. The platform’s advanced project management, financial management, timeline management, resource management, and analytics and reporting features all serve the common purpose of enabling users to run their organizations with enterprise-level efficiency.
When businesses use Mavenlink, they’re able to work together with anyone, anywhere, at any time. Using the business management software’s emerging technology, organizations are able to run more effectively. This increase in performance output tends to boost profitability, which is always a desired side effect for businesses.
When it rains, it pours. Most business professionals are expected to juggle multiple projects simultaneously, without dropping the ball with regard to the important tasks and milestones that must be met to keep clients happy.
Create a new project to get started using Mavenlink, making sure to select whether you’re the provider or the customer in a given setup. You can use project templates to quickly populate a project’s tasks, or add tasks manually. Mavenlink gives you the option to add a due date for the project, and to invite key players within your organizations who are also responsible for working on the project. Only these colleagues will be able to see the details of the project that you have uploaded.
Mavenlink centralizes and prioritizes conversations, activities, and tasks within a unified platform, which means business users can spend more time communicating with one another and less time struggling to stay organized.
Post a message in your Activity Stream to collect contributions from teammates who are working together with you on a project. Mavenlink gives you the option to view all your projects in a global feed or view projects individually in separate project feeds. In addition to posting written comments, you can also attach Google files or upload your own files within an Activity Stream.
Tasks are an incredibly important part of collaborative work, which is why Mavenlink developed a series of task management features for its users. Drag-and-drop prioritization allows companies to re-order tasks based on the level of importance or in order of due dates. Meanwhile, time and budgets are also tracked and reported on the task level.
Click on the Task Tracker tab to view the tasks that have been set up for a specific project you’re working on. In addition to creating basic tasks with due dates and tags, you can create subtasks that add granularity to project tasks and deliverables. Mavenlink allows you to sync your tasks into a convenient location with Google Tasks, as well.
Gantt charts allow businesses to create dependencies between tasks. The visual timelines that users create by enabling Gantt charts help organizations get a better handle on where various projects stand in relation to one another. Gantt charts are especially useful for identifying resources, tasks, and dates at the beginning of a project.
View your Gantt charts to quickly assess the status and progress of any project you’re affiliated with. From the Gantt View, you can define how two tasks are related to one another, and you can assign dependencies. When a project timeline or scope changes, Mavenlink’s “Cascade Changes” feature automatically adjusts all dependent tasks to reflect the changes that have been made.
Mavenlink offers a number of integrations with popular providers. The integrations most frequently taken advantage of by Mavenlink users are those with JIRA, Infusionsoft, FogBugz, QuickBooks Online, Google Apps, PayPal, Salesforce, and Zendesk.
In addition to a free trial plan, Mavenlink offers two tiers of pricing. Organizations that opt for Team accounts can expect to pay $4 per user, per month. Larger businesses will want to consider Premier accounts, with custom pricing options.
Combines project management, resource planning, collaboration, and financial tools.
Helps service businesses improve productivity and profitability.
Detailed time tracking, expense management, and budget management features.
Group collaboration encourages colleagues to stay on task.
Allocate resources to tasks and deliverables.
Below are some frequently asked questions for Mavenlink.
Mavenlink offers the following pricing plans:
Starting from: USD 19.00/month
Pricing model: Free, Subscription
Free Trial: Available
Mavenlink offers several plans to meet your needs. Choose from basic project management to complete PSA with advanced BI. Try any plan for free today!
Mavenlink Teams: Collaborative Task Management
$19/month for five users, additional users $4/month (paid annually)
Mavenlink Professional: Project Management with Financials
$39/month per user (annual contract)
Mavenlink Premier / Enterprise: Professional Services Automation
To receive accurate pricing information, contact Mavenlink directly.
Mavenlink offers the following features:
Mavenlink has the following typical customers:
Large Enterprises, Mid Size Business, Small Business
Mavenlink supports the following languages:
English
Mavenlink has the following pricing plans:
Free, Subscription
We do not have any information about what devices Mavenlink supports
Mavenlink integrates with the following applications:
APIANT, Azuqua, Bitium, Cyfe, Hubstaff, QuickBooks, QuickBooks Online, Time Doctor, VisitorTrack, Zoho Flow
Mavenlink offers the following support options:
FAQs, Forum, Knowledge Base, Online Support, Phone Support, Video Tutorials
The only way to describe this would be "It has been and still is fun to work with". It's a great piece of software, and once you get used to its logic you will be able to do great things - and by great things I mean measure exactly how much you sell your services for and how much resources you are actually using.
This, plus see employee performance, project performance, you can create custom fields to cover for any special requirement.