Lets face it, Post-It notes are great and convenient for jotting down notes, ideas, todo’s etc. But at the same time they can really suck and become totally impractical (when it comes to trying to find that one post-it). Personal Information Management (PIM) is very important to me. Any given day I can have up to 10 or so ideas that I write on any pad of paper (sometimes a Post-It) so I can scan them into my PIM (which is currently Evernote) at the end of the day.
It got me thinking, what are other Sysadmins using for PIM? I decided to investigate and find out what different types of solutions where out there, how much they cost, what platforms they supported & if they had a Cloud Storage option so that syncing your notes is simple & robust.
With out further ado let’s review the following PIMs in alphabetical order.
Backpack
Backpack is a SaaS intranet for you or your business. You can store, share, discuss, and archive everything that’s essential for you or your team. “It adapts to how you see it fitting into your life, and it can bend and reshape itself to fit the application you use it for. Multiple pages with multiple levels of functionality within each page equate to an application with customization beyond that of all others. Think of it as a wiki, but overflowing with real-life usefulness and smooth interfacing.” – Mike Rundle
Price: $24, $49, $99, $149 a month
Cloud Storage Service: Yes, BackPackit.com account required
Platforms: Mozilla Firefox 3+, IE 7+, Safari 3.1+, Google Chrome (Beta)
The Brain
TheBrain Technologies was founded in 1996 and has been delivering award-winning information management solutions for over a decade. By connecting people, processes, and information, TheBrain’s products provide unparalleled context for smarter information discovery and more informed decision-making. TheBrain can be utilized on corporate intranets, desktops, and the Internet. Some applications include: customer care, project management, dynamic mind mapping, IT management and helpdesks, impact assessment, competitive intelligence, marketing and sales support, and personal information management.
Price: Free (Personal) or $149.95 (Core) or $249.95 (Pro)
Cloud Storage Service: No
Platforms: Windows, Mac OSX, Linux
Chandler
Chandler is an open source Note-to-Self Organizer designed for personal use and small-group collaboration. It features calendaring, task and note management and consists of a desktop application, web application and a free sharing and back-up service called Chandler Hub.
Price: Free (Open Source)
Cloud Storage Service: Yes
Platforms: Windows, Mac OSX, Linux
Conjoon
Conjoon is a web based personal information manager with a strong focus on message exchanging. Its ambition is to become a web based groupware. The software relies on frameworks such as Ext JS and Zend. With a strong focus on the development community, conjoon is open source and can be changed to the likes of the people who use the software.
Price: Free (GPLv3 Open Source)
Cloud Storage Service: Yes via Third Party
Platforms: Mozilla Firefox 3+, IE 7+, Safari 3.1+, Google Chrome (Beta)
EssentialPIM
EssentialPIM comes in two flavors: Free & Paid. EssentialPIM Free is supported by a large community of users, According to the software vendor, Astonsoft Ltd., EssentialPIM has been widely acknowledged as one of the best personal information management system on any Windows desktop or USB flash drive. EssentialPIM Pro is the advanced version used by many thousands of users all over the world for organizing their personal and business lives. EssentialPIM Pro features tools such as mobile device syncing, multi-user access, to-do list, etc.
Price: Free (Basic) or $39.95 (Pro) or $49.95 (Pro Network Edition, per seat, discounts available)
Cloud Storage Service: No
Platforms: Windows (Sync Add-Ons: Windows Mobile, Outlook, Google Calendar, Palm)
EverNote
Evernote makes it easy to remember things big and small from your notable life using your computer, phone, and the web. The software allows you to type a text note, clip a web page, snap a photo or grab a screenshot. Everything you capture is then automatically processed, indexed, and made searchable via the cloud. You can add tags or organize notes into different notebooks. Search for notes by keywords, titles, and tags. Evernote makes printed and handwritten text inside your images searchable, too. Evernote is based upon a SaaS and comes with two different subscription options.
Price: Free (Basic) or $5 month or $45 a year (Premium)
Cloud Storage Service: Yes (Evernote.com Account Required)
Platforms: Windows, Mac OSx, iPhone/iPod Touch, Blackberry, Palm Pre, Sony Ericsson X1, Windows Mobile, Mozilla Firefox 3+, IE 7+, Safari 3.1+, Google Chrome (Beta)
MemoMaster
MemoMaster serves as structured filing system for text information of all kinds that is based on hierarchies. Notes, calculations, tables, forms, pictures, links and files are stored in the Memos. The layout of a Memo database can be created by using folders, sub-folders and Memos in a tree structure. The integrated full-text search allows you to do research quickly and effectively.
Price: Free or $19.00 (Private Edition) or $59.00 (SMB Edition, Per Seat) or $112 (Pro Edition, Per Seat)
Cloud Storage Service: No
Platforms: Windows
Otak PIM
Otak combines calendar-based journaling with tree-nodes based notes called Thoughts. It also provides an Address Book, a multi-list task manager (called Task Master), an Internet Bookmarks Manager to consolidate all your bookmarks, and a Password Manager to store all those pesky passwords we are all forced to remember.
Price: Freeware (’Emailware’ for feedback)
Cloud Storage Service: No
Platforms: Windows
The PocketMod
The PocketMod is a Adobe Flash App that lets you create a small book with guides on each page. These guides or templates, combined with a unique folding style, enable a normal piece of paper to become the ultimate note card. With the PocketMod, you can carry around the days notes, keep them organized in any way you wish, then easily transfer the notes to your PIM.
Price: Free
Cloud Storage Service: No
Platforms: Mozilla Firefox 3+, IE 7+, Safari 3.1+, Google Chrome (Beta) all browsers must have the Adobe Flash Player 9+ plugin
Smart Diary Suite
Smart Diary Suite is more than just diary software or a PIM, the creators describe it as “a completely customizable, yet easy to use, Personal Information Solution”. You can plot your exercise program against your diary of health notes and see how they interact. Add information about changes in your diet and see how these changes have effected your health and activity levels. See how your mood is effected by your sleep. Track fatigue against dreams, diet or any part of your life that you choose.
Price: Free or Lite ($19.95) or Home ($39.95) or Medical ($69.95)
Cloud Storage Service: No
Platforms: Windows 2000, XP, Vista & 7
Share This Article
 |
Save To Delicious |  |
Share on Facebook |  |
Tweet This |
 |
Submit to Reddit |  |
Spice IT Up! |  |
Digg This |
