Ticket versus Projects
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We've just implemented a ticket system to keep track of support requests. In our case we went with Zoho Desk after looking at a few different ones like Freshdesk, osTicket, HESK.
Is there a similar tool that we can use to keep track of our projects?
And also there is some confusion between tickets and shorter projects. How do we define what is what? When does a ticket become a project? What do you do in your organization?
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Well,.. I'm not authority on the matter - but you have to look at the aspect of both Tickets and Projects.
Tickets
Tickets (IMO) refer to things that just broke and need to be fixed, or issues or requests, such as add a printer, map a drive.Projects
Project infer planning and implementation steps. All which could have additional items inserted making the tasks needed to complete the project longer.I don't believe the two are even closely related. As for what system you should use, I'm not certain. I have used HESK, osTicket, Zoho, (the state's) home grown system and now Service Now. Of the ticket systems, I'd say you picked a decent one that can be customized well enough that it should well suit your needs, and grow with them as well.
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@gjacobse You made some great points.
If we take a practical example like adding a printer.
If it's just a question of adding a printer (to a windows client) then it's a ticket.
But what if it means adding a new printer in the physical world? Is this still a ticket?
You have to be on-site to do that. Perhaps the customer already have bought the printer but it might involve some switch configuration. Is it still just a ticket?
It might even involve someone running cat 6 cabling and installing a new outlet somewhere. Is it still just a ticket?
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My thoughts on this all, as well as a definition I found of project that matched my preconceived idea:
Tickets: problems, incidents, change, service requests, etc. from those you provide your service... e.g. Stakeholders, end users, customers, ...yourselves, etc.
Project: (lots of definitions for project) A temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service or result... Which, could be a means to accomplish a linked ticket or tickets.
But it doesn't matter what u call it.
I'd keep tickets where they belong, and manage projects where they are easier to manage. For some, kanban, etc... Others, take your pick.
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@Pete-S said in Ticket versus Projects:
@gjacobse You made some great points.
If we take a practical example like adding a printer.
If it's just a question of adding a printer (to a windows client) then it's a ticket.
But what if it means adding a new printer in the physical world? Is this still a ticket?
You have to be on-site to do that. Perhaps the customer already have bought the printer but it might involve some switch configuration. Is it still just a ticket?
It might even involve someone running cat 6 cabling and installing a new outlet somewhere. Is it still just a ticket?
This is border line - especially when you start talking about cabling and switch config.. but barely.
Generally, I'd say printer = ticket, not project.
But then the question becomes - how do you need to track it? Does anyone care about all the bits to your printer install versus, say, a new phone system (now that's a project).
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@Pete-S said in Ticket versus Projects:
Is there a similar tool that we can use to keep track of our projects?
Zoho has a few. Zoho Projects, but it's not cheap.
Zoho Connect has a Task system that is Kanban based and works for projects for cheap. That's what we use.
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@Pete-S said in Ticket versus Projects:
And also there is some confusion between tickets and shorter projects. How do we define what is what? When does a ticket become a project? What do you do in your organization?
When a ticket isn't discrete and is for coordinating a number of non-immediate tickets, that's a project.
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@Pete-S said in Ticket versus Projects:
But what if it means adding a new printer in the physical world? Is this still a ticket?
Yes, but maybe to different people.
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@Pete-S said in Ticket versus Projects:
You have to be on-site to do that. Perhaps the customer already have bought the printer but it might involve some switch configuration. Is it still just a ticket?
It's still tickets, they are immediately actionable (within reason.) but it's not ONE ticket, it's two in that example.
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@Pete-S said in Ticket versus Projects:
It might even involve someone running cat 6 cabling and installing a new outlet somewhere. Is it still just a ticket?
Yes, it's not something that requires someone to manage. It's just a series of discrete tickets that have a dependency on each other.
That's the atomic rule, each ticket should be atomic and actionable. Tickets can depend on other tickets, that's fine. Do X when Y is done. Easy.
No project manager, no planning, no discussion, just steps to be done.
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@Dashrender said in Ticket versus Projects:
But then the question becomes - how do you need to track it? Does anyone care about all the bits to your printer install versus, say, a new phone system (now that's a project).
Phone Example
Install a new phone: ticket
Plan, Design, Choose, Implement a Phone Platform: projectPrinter Example
Install a new printer: ticket
Install a new printer, run a new wall port, buy a bigger switch: multiple tickets
Plan, Design, Choose, Implement a Printer Strategy: project -
@scottalanmiller said in Ticket versus Projects:
@Pete-S said in Ticket versus Projects:
Is there a similar tool that we can use to keep track of our projects?
Zoho has a few. Zoho Projects, but it's not cheap.
Zoho Connect has a Task system that is Kanban based and works for projects for cheap. That's what we use.
Thanks, I've looked a little at Zoho Projects but I'm going to check out Zoho Connect as well.
Regarding projects I've also had a look at Asana. We have MS Project for making big complex stuff for one project at a time but really need something to plan and schedule many smaller projects.
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@Pete-S said in Ticket versus Projects:
We've just implemented a ticket system to keep track of support requests. In our case we went with Zoho Desk after looking at a few different ones like Freshdesk, osTicket, HESK.
Is there a similar tool that we can use to keep track of our projects?
And also there is some confusion between tickets and shorter projects. How do we define what is what? When does a ticket become a project? What do you do in your organization?
At my last job, we used Planner within Office 365 for tracking projects. It mostly got the job done. As far as the definition of a problem, we didn't have a standard definition. Generally something that wasn't break / fix, had multiple steps for completion, was deploying something new (or replacing / upgrading something current), or had to involve multiple team members was a "project."
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@Pete-S said in Ticket versus Projects:
@scottalanmiller said in Ticket versus Projects:
@Pete-S said in Ticket versus Projects:
Is there a similar tool that we can use to keep track of our projects?
Zoho has a few. Zoho Projects, but it's not cheap.
Zoho Connect has a Task system that is Kanban based and works for projects for cheap. That's what we use.
Thanks, I've looked a little at Zoho Projects but I'm going to check out Zoho Connect as well.
Regarding projects I've also had a look at Asana. We have MS Project for making big complex stuff for one project at a time but really need something to plan and schedule many smaller projects.
Asana is great and free for a lot of use cases.
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@EddieJennings said in Ticket versus Projects:
@Pete-S said in Ticket versus Projects:
We've just implemented a ticket system to keep track of support requests. In our case we went with Zoho Desk after looking at a few different ones like Freshdesk, osTicket, HESK.
Is there a similar tool that we can use to keep track of our projects?
And also there is some confusion between tickets and shorter projects. How do we define what is what? When does a ticket become a project? What do you do in your organization?
At my last job, we used Planner within Office 365 for tracking projects. It mostly got the job done. As far as the definition of a problem, we didn't have a standard definition. Generally something that wasn't break / fix, had multiple steps for completion, was deploying something new (or replacing / upgrading something current), or had to involve multiple team members was a "project."
Part of my definition of a ticket is that it can be assigned. If you can't assign a thing, it shouldn't be a ticket.
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One wide definition of project that I learned was that project is any situation where you need to complete more then one task to achieve a goal.
We tried Asana and Freedcamp and I think they are both good for tracking tasks/projects within team.
However, I have not yet found app that can fullfill all our wishes for tracking tasks within teams. -
@Mario-Jakovina said in Ticket versus Projects:
One wide definition of project that I learned was that project is any situation where you need to complete more then one task to achieve a goal.
However, it is not efficient to define and track as "project" a small group of simple tasks (like example above with installing printer, LAN cable...)
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@Pete-S said in Ticket versus Projects:
@scottalanmiller said in Ticket versus Projects:
@Pete-S said in Ticket versus Projects:
Is there a similar tool that we can use to keep track of our projects?
Zoho has a few. Zoho Projects, but it's not cheap.
Zoho Connect has a Task system that is Kanban based and works for projects for cheap. That's what we use.
Thanks, I've looked a little at Zoho Projects but I'm going to check out Zoho Connect as well.
Regarding projects I've also had a look at Asana. We have MS Project for making big complex stuff for one project at a time but really need something to plan and schedule many smaller projects.
We have Zoho Projects here, it works mostly like Kanban. Tracks the time separately from the Zoho Desk and CRM. So you have to do a sync between them for certain things. It has Reporting and Gant Charts (I don't use those). It has Invoicing and Expenses as well.
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@dbeato said in Ticket versus Projects:
@Pete-S said in Ticket versus Projects:
@scottalanmiller said in Ticket versus Projects:
@Pete-S said in Ticket versus Projects:
Is there a similar tool that we can use to keep track of our projects?
Zoho has a few. Zoho Projects, but it's not cheap.
Zoho Connect has a Task system that is Kanban based and works for projects for cheap. That's what we use.
Thanks, I've looked a little at Zoho Projects but I'm going to check out Zoho Connect as well.
Regarding projects I've also had a look at Asana. We have MS Project for making big complex stuff for one project at a time but really need something to plan and schedule many smaller projects.
We have Zoho Projects here, it works mostly like Kanban. Tracks the time separately from the Zoho Desk and CRM. So you have to do a sync between them for certain things. It has Reporting and Gant Charts (I don't use those). It has Invoicing and Expenses as well.
Looks like we're going to go down the same exact path - Zoho Desk, Projects and CRM.
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@Pete-S said in Ticket versus Projects:
@dbeato said in Ticket versus Projects:
@Pete-S said in Ticket versus Projects:
@scottalanmiller said in Ticket versus Projects:
@Pete-S said in Ticket versus Projects:
Is there a similar tool that we can use to keep track of our projects?
Zoho has a few. Zoho Projects, but it's not cheap.
Zoho Connect has a Task system that is Kanban based and works for projects for cheap. That's what we use.
Thanks, I've looked a little at Zoho Projects but I'm going to check out Zoho Connect as well.
Regarding projects I've also had a look at Asana. We have MS Project for making big complex stuff for one project at a time but really need something to plan and schedule many smaller projects.
We have Zoho Projects here, it works mostly like Kanban. Tracks the time separately from the Zoho Desk and CRM. So you have to do a sync between them for certain things. It has Reporting and Gant Charts (I don't use those). It has Invoicing and Expenses as well.
Looks like we're going to go down the same exact path - Zoho Desk, Projects and CRM.
Same here, we are nearly "all in" on Zoho.
