Project management software - Workamajig (formerly Creative Manager Pro)

Update (Feb 2009): I've spent the last few months integrating Workamajig into our company.  While there has been some nightmares (usually more our fault than Workamajig's) we are now up and running.

While this type of software is always hard to integrate into a company, it makes it even moreso with four offices, currencies and timezones on three continents. The Workamajig interface is night and day better than the previous Creative Manager Pro.  After the initial setup, our users are able to learn to log time and expenses in a matter of minutes.

As some of the commenters pointed out below,  it isn't perfect.  Anything that is this overwehlming will take take some learning and some change of process.  Having been through it, we are starting to feel much better for having made the effort.

As an IT Manager by day, I am tasked with evaluating software that can help our company be more productive. The company is a 60 person creative agency that has a footprint on 3 continents. Overall we are run very well but we could be more efficient with the proper software. I am not talking about Microsoft Office or Adobe Creative Suite here.

As a small-to-medium sized business, the most important software we run is our agency management suite of applications. This includes accounting, project management, time forecasting and more. Until last year, these processes were managed by a few different applications and even some shared Excel spreadsheets.

My predecessor made the valient attempt to bring all of these functions into one new agency application. After testing the many software suites out there (Clients and Profits, Epicor, Adman, etc.), he went with what was then called Creative Manager Pro. On paper, it seems to address most of the needs that our business requires. From their website:

Increase Sales
Contact & Lead Tracking/CRM
Calendar & Contact sharing with iCal/Address Book/Outlook
Stay in Control
Project Management, Gantt charts, Project Calendars, Tasks, Staff Scheduling, and more!
Make every Job Count
Knowledgebase estimating, purchasing, timesheets, and billing
Collaborate with Clients
Free Client Extranet, Digital Asset Management, proofs and comps.
Account for your Success
Full Ad Agency accounting or interface with your current accounting system.
Measure and Adjust
Creative Industry specific business metrics that keep you on track.

The application was a standard installation on a Windows 2003 Server and needs a single SQL Database. By the time I entered the organization, the software was already installed and running for 9 months - but not in production.

The first thing you'll notice about the application is that it is ugly in a 1990s sort of way. The icons look like clip art from an old Print Shop CD. As an IT professional, I can forgive this but this is not something you'd think would be welcomed in the creative environments that Creative Manager Pro serves.

Uglieness can be forgiven. Unintuitive design and confusion can't. I've used many ERP solutions from SAP to Epicor to FileMaker built to Microsoft's Dynamics and this is by far the most confusing.

This is a 2008 Application? 1995 called and wants its GUI back!

Creative Manager Pro is supposed to receive a facelift via (get this!) an Adobe Flash makeover. If you thought this program couldn't get more cumbersome, get ready for Workamajig. From the screenshots I've seen, it is just as unintuitive, it just has a Flash interface - which means it won't work on most mobile devices.  Back/forward buttons, bookmarks and browser navigation won't work.  This just isn't feeling very good.

Let's review:

1. Backend: Windows server with SQL Server requirement. For creative agencies. Bad call. Php/MySQL like everyone else would have been a better decision. It is cheaper, more reliable and more efficient. It would also let more Macintosh based agencies use their platform of choice.
2. FrontEnd: Poor graphics and incredibly poor user interface soon to be updated with Adobe Flash. Another poor choice of platforms. Look at the market. Everyone else is going to AJAX enabled web interfaces. This isn't a video game, it is productivity software.

Support is ALSO horrible..

So I am stuck with this program that the agency has already paid for. It looks horrible and is not intuitive at all. However, with the right help, I may be able to get this thing running and properly train my employees.

We've purchased a great deal of support with the software and have already worked our way through half of our support hours. I've been given a few email addresses and contacts at the company to get help.

One of the contacts is our trainer. He sometimes works from home (because of the timezone differences in our offices) and does remote access sessions one hour at a time. Sometimes he can't connect to our server so the whole hour is wasted. We are connected at the same time from Europe and we haven't been able to diagnose the international routing issues that could cause these issues.

To make matters worse, when scheduling training I get the run around from their arrogant Training Coordinator. When I address this arrogance with sarcasm, their Client Satisfaction Specialist has the NERVE to email all of the principals of my company whining that my emails aren't professional. To me, this defines unprofessional.

I have never had such a bad experience with a software company in my 15 year IT career. If you are considering agency management software, my personal reccomendation would be to steer FAR clear of Creative Manager Pro..or Workamajig...or whatever they change their name to next.

I am still determined to get this product working ... or at least give it a chance. I will follow up soon to report on how it goes.