Bitrix24.com Review

Hi everyone. Today I want to give my review of the social intranet www.bitrix24.com. If you’re like me, you’ve heard horror stories about office emails and memos. Some of you (like me,) have been characters in the horror stories. And, if you’re like me, you like Facebook. Whatever it’s downfalls, it’s a great way to share information. Enter bitrix24. Think of bitrix24 as Facebook for the corporate world. Unlike Facebook, bitrix24 is an intranet, not a network. The difference is that once you set up a bitrix24 account for your company, only people you invite can join it. Let’s get in to the details.
Signing up is a breeze. It took me about 30 seconds. All you have to do is provide your name, an email, and a name you’d like your intranet to use. After that, you can log in and start using bitrix24 right away. First, you’re greeted with a popup giving you an outline of each page. If you’ve ever installed new software, you’ve probably seen something very similar. It’s not bad, but if you’re like me, you like to explore and do things on your own. Also, bitrix24 has a lot more stuff than can be explained in 10 short slides.
The layout is simple, but effective. At the top, you have a search bar, a notification area, a messenger window, a clock, and your name, where you can edit your profile, get some help, or log out. On the right is a box which tells me what projects I’m in, what tasks I need to do, what I’m a participant in, etc. Basically, it’s an amped up to do list. It’s a really nice way of letting me (and other employees) know what they need to be doing without hounding them with dozens of emails, or the dreaded walk by. On the left are areas showing my workspace, workgroups, CRM (customer relationship management) and company information.
This is another awesome idea. With just one click, I can see my calendar, which I can also edit and add task due dates to, or I can click and view my contacts, which I can also sort through by name, profession, email, and other criteria.
I’m very impressed by bitrix24, but it does have some areas it’s lacking in. First, there doesn’t appear to be any easy way to import data. I can upload contacts, but since each member of my intranet has their own page, it would seem that they need to upload their own contacts themselves. This isn’t terrible, especially if you’re dedicated to using bitrix24, but it does create a transition period where people have this new software, but can’t utilize it fully because they’re still tailoring it. It’d be nice if there was a way for the creator of an intranet to upload contacts, or a way for each person to do it when they sign up for it. That way, no lost time, and no lost productivity. Another concern is that bitrix24 runs in a browser. This is a concern only because it’s another issue the IT department has to deal with. And, people have to actually log in to check it. It’d be nice if it was a standalone program that could run when the computer starts, so people automatically are logged in.
Finally, there’s the issue of the tiered usability. Look, I get it. It’s a great business model, since it lets different companies with different needs still utilize your product, which is a good thing. My complaint is with the amount of storage space you receive. For the standard package, which an unlimited amount of employees can use, you get 50 gigabytes of storage. The problem I have with that is this; if you have enough employees to be past the limit of 12 (the free/basic tier) then you’re likely to have your own network with your own storage servers. Unfortunately, I don’t see a way of using your own storage instead of the bitrix24 provided cloud storage. That means there will always be a disconnect between local storage, and cloud storage. Maybe you only need the 50 gigabytes. Maybe the people who use the local storage are people who don’t really need to use bitrix24. That’s something that you’ll have to decide for yourself.

When it comes down to it, bitrix24 is a great investment. It takes all of the good parts of Facebook, google office, and other productivity software and combines then in an easy to use, simple interface. If you’re a business who could use more productivity, check out bitrix24. You won’t regret it.