iCombat

When I started working with the development team abroad, they suggested we use Basecamp to stay in synch.  I had heard of the company 37 Signals but had never used any of their products so I was really blown away once we got the project up an running.  The service includes a message board, shared task calendar, To Do List, a writeboard, and file sharing service and an easily to manage contacts list.

Basecamp screenshot

The team put all of our milestones into the system so now I can go to Basecamp, review the list of upcoming milestones and leave files and comments that I think are useful for the team.   Once you upload or insert a new comment you have the option of notifying specific group members which is great because it avoids spamming those people who are not relevant to the update.

I think this software is really a brilliant way to manage a geographically separated group of people where transparency can obviously be difficult and it is hard to get clarity around what each person is doing.  I seriously recommend Basecamp for anyone collaborating on not just software development, but anything that could require getting a group of people on to the same page.

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Although I had already done quite a bit of work with the guys, it did take us a few days to finalize the contract with all of the milestones and specs completely hashed out.  It was making me anxious because I just wanted to get cranking on the project, but I knew it was worth it to predefine as much as possible so both sides expectations would be met.  Thankfully the team shared my desire to clearly layout the terms of our contract and begin working in the meantime so there wasn’t any issue there.  All in all I am happy with the terms and feel confident in the team’s ability to execute on my vision.  I finally feel that the project is underway and can’t wait to start seeing progress soon.  The first milestone is a week away so pretty excited to see the application begin to take shape.

If you want some tips on the contract details and other legal stuff see the Taking Care of the Legal Stuff entry.

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