
I stumbled on Xebrio from a comment left online from one of their very satisfied users in response to one of my project management articles. I had not heard of them before, but I also know that the best innovations and user-friendliness often come from the heads down hard working hungry logical organizations trying to solve their own frustrations. Tried and true for sure. So, I asked Xebrio if I could check out their software and write about it. They thoughtfully obliged.
In short... it was better than I expected and I always have high expectations in situations like this because I know that hungry organizations like this know work needs to get done and in a best practices, logical, and fast learning curve fashion. In other words, cut the BS and let's get the work done in the best way that makes sense.
Here is what Xebrio is – it is an ecosystem for project management; start with requirements management and track projects all the way to its deployment, thus ensuring forward and backward traceability.) Xebrio gets involved in every aspect of your project development, right from the requirement phase to the deployment stage.
What did I find to be Xebrio's best feature? Probably requirements management.
Why? Because it allows the user to create requirements with inputs from internal project teams as well as external stakeholders and clients, get them approved, or derive new versions including changes and track change history accordingly. Then, derive tasks and test cases, or link to milestones.
It is a project management software that allows you to get a clear picture of product requirements and user stories, allows you to include all stakeholders in high-level planning, lets you manage and assign tasks quickly, communicate and collaborate effortlessly, track issues, plan sprints and releases and keep a close eye on time and budget constraints as well.
Other Xebrio strong points or areas that impressed me as a consultant and long-time project manager? Task management, communication & collaboration (my #1 concern as a project manager), milestone creation and tracking, easy reporting and concise dashboards, secure file sharing, daily planning, asset tracking, and – of course – the always important user-friendliness.
Parting shot...
You get a scalable, flexible tool without compromising quality, features or ruggidness. I've worked with organizations that won't even use their own PM solutions because they are cumbersome and have a long learning curve. Not the case here. Jump in with a demo and free trail... you won't be sorry. They are very happy to demo to your team and the 14 day trial is fully featured. After that...it's cheap to signup. Seriously.