Month: January 2011

New York, NY – Elementool Inc. (www.elementool.com), a developer of integrated Software-as-a-Service project management software, announced it has reached a partnership agreement with web-conferencing provider Fuze Meeting.  Under this API agreement, Elementool has developed a web-conferencing tool that is integrated with the existing suite of seven Elementool project management tools and applications.  The result is a web-conferencing tool that competes in the same market as WebEx and GoToMeeting, offering Elementool clients the ability to integrate global face-to-face conferencing into their project management processes.

Elementool customers such as State Street Bank, Johnson & Johnson, BP and GE, which have teams located across the globe, are able to communicate with far flung colleagues within the integrated Elementool project and application lifecycle management dashboard.  Communication is the key to successful project management for companies both large and small. 40% of Project Managers cited lack of communication as the leading cause of IT project failure. This partnership is the direct result of Elementool customer requests for a more efficient way to integrate connectivity and communication into the project management process.  Many of those in project management, particularly in IT, are constantly faced with having to explain issues or bugs over telephone or e-mail. Without the use of a visual aid, understanding the issue or bug may prove to be very challenging and ultimately, frustrating.

Additionally, with so many companies having globally distributed teams, Elementool’s clients have discussed a need for better communication amongst virtual teams. Many of the organizations who deploy virtual teams frequently leave out virtual members from corporate meetings. Many of Elementool’s customers acknowledge that in these instances, resentment and lower team morale are inevitable. In addition to lowering team morale, the lack of communication may also result in a loss of production. Virtual members might receive a list of project requirements, and perceive the requirements to mean something other than what’s intended.  Since these virtual members do not attend meetings, they are unaware of their incorrect perception. This may result in a loss of production, dissatisfied clients, and an inability to meet deadlines and requirements. In fact, 84% of IT development projects don’t meet cost, time, and quality standards. The problems facing virtual teams and IT teams are a direct result of a lack of communication. Conferencing enables effective communication by allowing global clients to share screens, trouble shoot or simply hold a team meeting directly from their Elementool dashboard from anywhere in the world. For example, a development team in Asia can meet with the Engineering team in the UK to ensure that proper requirements are met. Or perhaps the Quality Assurance team in New York can take part in the weekly corporate meetings in Palo Alto.

Besides benefiting from increased communication, Conference also saves clients time and money by reducing unnecessary costly on-site visits. Elementool’s customers frequently complain about traveling cross-country for short meetings. These same customers believe their limited budget would be better spent on talent, equipment, and other resources.

The addition of Conference to Elementool’s seamlessly integrated suite of application, allows users a complete management tool that eliminates both the hassle and the cost of purchasing multiple services from different vendors.  Instead of wasting time integrating tools and switching between screens, all Elementool applications are seamlessly integrated.  Having all necessary management tools available from one dashboard lets users focus their time and energies on their job tasks.

“The SaaS business model gives us the option of integrating with other web-based Cloud Services providers.  Building interoperability with vendors like Fuze Meeting has allowed us to implement an established Web-Conferencing system and pass that on to our users in a format that will take advantage their existing processes,” says Yaron Sinai, CEO & Founder of Elementool.  “Our goal is to enable our users to improve and increase productivity; we believe that this partnership will provide tangible value in that regard.”

About Elementool

Elementool is the leading provider of web based project management tools for help desk, bug and defect tracking, test tracking and time tracking. Customers such as Fortune 500 companies, International banks, automotive manufacturers, IT consulting companies and software start-ups, use Elementool’s project management tools daily in their project development and testing process.

About Fuze Meeting

Fuze Meeting, developed by Fuze Box, Inc. enables seamless high-definition online collaboration between mobile and desktop users. Fuze Box is a leading provider of Internet and mobile based unified communications solutions. Other Fuze Box products currently available include Fuze Messenger, Fuze Movie, Internet Fax, Voicemail-To-Text, Internet Answering Machine, and HD Audio Conferencing.