Task management for individuals
is not a one-size-fits-all proposition. Because it’s very much a self-driven
process, what works well for one person may not be as effective for a person
with different attitudes and motivations. But there are common threads to task
management, no matter what business is involved. AppTime’s Power.ME and
Power.ME HD do a good job of providing a framework for individuals and ad hoc
workgroups wanting to take advantage of more discipline than is available
from a to-do list jotted on a cocktail napkin.
What Power.ME and Power.ME HD
offer is a project and task management tool that allows users to maintain data
synchronization across a range of mobile devices. Currently, iOS devices from
Apple are supported, with Android support coming soon, according to the company;
a Web client allows the sharing of tasks with other users.
Check out eWEEK Labs' slideshow of Power.ME in action.
What they don’t offer–yet,
anyway–is easy and straightforward integration with the rest of the business.
If your need is for something that easily ties into Microsoft Exchange or a
CalDAV-based system, keep looking, because Power.ME is not for you.
As many other project management
tools do, Power.ME allows one to create projects and tasks, and arrange those
projects and tasks inside folders as well as other projects and tasks. These
can take advantage of existing documents, presentations and spreadsheets to
provide a rich experience and keep reference materials for the project or task
close at hand.
Users of the iPhone can download Power.ME from the iTunes App
Store–iPad users will find Power.ME HD more appropriate for their
devices–and get
started right away. By registering, users have access to 30 days of
free use of
the Power.ME synchronization servers; thereafter, the sync service
costs $39.99
per month.
Don’t let the release numbering
of the Power.ME applications fool you; even though I tested release 10.12.1 of
Power.ME HD, the numbering starts with release 10.10.1–according to AppTime,
this corresponds to year, month and subrelease. The application felt and
performed like the 1.2.1 release that it is in reality.
Although there are some
questionable aspects of Power.ME, it’s useful as a tool for personal
organization. It’s easy to create tasks, projects and folders, and to
associate
them as needed; the synchronization of these with the Power.ME service
is impressively
seamless. In comparison, the non-standard behavior of the user
interface–which doesn’t take advantage of the default edit and delete
controls seen in
most iOS applications–is more of a nuisance than anything else.
If one wants to use it as a
workgroup tool, there are some gotchas. For example, when User A assigns a task
to User B, the status of that task as received by User B is “none,” rather than
the expected “Assigned.” Tasks that are assigned to a project appear in the
Team Room view on their own, as well as part of the project, and tasks can be
assigned with due dates that fall outside the scope of the parent project. Most
disturbingly, the assignee of a task can change the due date without the owner
of that task giving permission or even being made aware of the change.
I don’t want to damn PowerME with
faint praise; for what its makers set it to be, it does well. But the thing
about personal tools is that all too often, they are brought into the workplace
and asked to perform functions they were never designed to do.
Enterprise Mobility News & Reviews 
