I don’t know about you, but when I start a new RPG game, I really enjoy the part where I get to create my character. Okay, “create” is not the right word because I’m not drawing anyone from scratch. However, I am given choices for body shape, face shape, hair style and color, eye shape and color, voice, etc. By the time I am done selecting my choices, I have a unique character.

In a similar way, when our clients implement our Spitfire Project Management System, they make several choices and end up with a system that is uniquely theirs. I’ve written about this system configuration before, because I think it is one of the strengths of the Spitfire Project Management System.

Prospects want to know if our system was designed for general contractors, project owners, specialty subcontractors, program managers, or design/builders and we say, “Yes.” Even project managers who are not in the construction industry can configure Spitfire to work well for them.

Some examples:

One of our clients, a nationwide specialty subcontracting company, chose to set up our integrated Cloud storage feature with Box.com because the company’s project participants, scattered all over, were already comfortable using Box.

Another client, a national hotel management company, turned on all of Spitfire’s budget controls to ensure that costs would stay within the budget and only specific, authorized people could increase spending limits, because—for this company—budget control is of paramount importance.

A third client, a publicly traded marine construction company, configured Spitfire to focus on bidding, market share analysis, and forecasting because—for this company— staying competitive to maintain profit starts with smart decisions about bid margins.

The truth is that a project management system that is not configurable is limited. It may work very well for a small group of companies, but will only work to a point for most other companies. It is not enough to find software that will do one or two tasks well; it is important to find a system that will incorporate all tasks involved in projects, whatever they are.

If you are in the market for a new project management system, consider carefully what you want it to do, what you want it to track, and how you want it to help you throughout the life of a project. While it is true that tasks need not be done in a certain way just because “that’s how it’s always been done,” a good project management system can accommodate all the tasks, tracking and reporting that are unique to each company. So, during a demo, ask questions along the line of “we need to do/track/communicate X. How can I use your system to do that?”

Keep in mind that project management software that emphasizes how easy to use or implement it is, may very well be inflexible. You are better off looking for a system that offers many configuration options, so that you can end up with your very own and unique system that works beautifully for you.

To learn about the Spitfire Project Management System specifically, schedule a free demo. And come prepared with your questions. It’s all a matter of choices and configuration.