In 2022, it is imperative to optimize IT infrastructure for remote work. One of the essential disadvantages of self-hosted Redmine is the problem with updates, which leads to a lack of features and security problems. This is where cloud migration comes to the rescue.
Many IT companies and teams are looking for a way to optimize their use of the IT stack. They want to outsource support and maintenance and switch from on-premise to cloud and SaaS solutions.
Let’s take a closer look at the most popular hosting offers forRedmine, their features and advantages, and the reasons they will fit your needs in 2022.
What Is Redmine?
Redmine is one of the most popular project management and issue tracking tools on the Internet. It is remarkable open-source software that currently connects more than 800,000 enterprises with its core code — and even more, taking into account numerous instances that run on forks of Redmine (such as Easy Redmine ChiliProject and OpenProject).
More than 2 million organizations use Redmine in their operations every day, including widely-known companies such as IKEA, IBM, Intel, Toyota, Samsung, NGOs, and leading universities.
The platform is a strong competitor for popular project management software such as Asana, Wrike, and Microsoft Projects, as well as a better alternative to Jira.
Keeping Your Redmine Updated
Since the main release comes out at least once a year, and a few smaller ones release along the way, it takes resources to keep Redmine and the installed plugins up to date. Depending on the developer, this can be up to 2–3 events per quarter.
The updated system and plugins tend to cause conflicts with older plugins and features — especially since version 4.0, as the development team redesigned some of the core plugins and functions. When talking about Redmine migration, the main advantage is that you don’t need to worry about updates anymore. Forget about testing and conflict resolution, changing requirements, shrinking storage space, or a lack of human resources.
By moving the platform to the cloud, you can keep the entire company focused on achieving goals, generating revenue, and strengthening customer relationships. When you choose Redmine cloud hosting, you are always running the latest stable version of Redmine and its plugins.
When you choose Redmine Cloud hosting, you pass the support and maintenance of your IT backend into the hands of people who can perform the tasks faster and cheaper than your team. At the same time, you and your team can focus on growing your real business. Peter Christian Gaarde, Data Engineering Specialist
Top 5 Best Redmine Hosting Providers
CTOs and CIOs are spoiled for choices when it comes to selecting a partner for migrating their on-premise Redmine to the cloud. Here are the top ones along with their pros and cons:
1. RedmineUP Cloud
RedmineUP Cloud is Redmine’s premium hosting service that was designed as a collaboration platform by teams that are scattered around the world and use it on a daily basis. The platform is used by some of the most recognizable brands such as Samsung, Bosch, CISCO, and Sony to perfectly manage remote work.
RedmineUP Cloud offers you a set of various features:
- 16+ plugins (modules) for Redmine, such as Helpdesk, CRM, Reports, Agile, etc.
- Various project management tools such as Scrum/Kanban boards, Sprint Planners, and Quick Search
- 5 mobile-friendly themes
- Zero setup, migration, or customization fees
- Daily backups
- Azure Active Directory Seamless Single Sign-On
- Integration with GIT repositories
- Free to start.
Price for 25 users team will be $69 per month.
You can test out this fully cloud-based Redmine service for a 15-day free trial. They are very proactive with customers, and if you need any custom configuration or NDA before you share project details, they will help you in a heartbeat.
2. Plan.io
Planio is a project management and bug tracking service that allows users to handle incidents, manage workflows, and create a central database in the cloud. The service tracks issues and bugs during software development or product design and enables users to customize post-incident actions, for example, creating issues, assigning tasks, alerting, and prioritizing.
Planio’s basic features include:
- Most popular RedmineUP plugins
- Integrations with SVN, GitHub, GitLab, and similar services
- Time management
- Drag-and-drop interface
- Taskboard
- Simple and advanced charts
- Customizable theme
Planio allows enterprises to manage projects with the help of Kanban, Scrum, or the standard waterfall approach. Users can create workflow rules, set role-based permissions for different user groups, and automate task sequences. Planio also offers communication tools for sharing project updates via blogs, email, and team chat.
Price for 25 users team will be $169 per month with a 30-day free trial to avoid any risks.
3. EasyRedmine
Easy Redmine is a complete and extensible upgrade that is fully compatible with Redmine. It provides a new mobile design and most requested features for better performance:
- Plugins for financial management
- B2B CRM
- Module for customer support
- Management plugins including Scrum, Kanban, and Test Cases
- Resource management plugins
- Gantt charts
- Activity feeds
- Project templates
Easy Redmine works as a plugin for Redmine and is supported by the latest versions of Redmine.
Price for 25 users team will be $237 per month. A 30-day trial version is available for you to check the advantages of this service.
4. OpenProject
OpenProject is collaboration software designed to help enterprises maintain the entire project management lifecycle, from planning to budgeting and cost reporting. Managers can highlight important task attributes based on status, priority, or due date, as well as visualize project info in various charts.
Its basic features are the following:
- Effective task management and collaboration tools
- Product roadmap and release planning
- Gantt charts
- Agile and Scrum task boards and backlogs
- Budgeting
- Bug and cost tracking
OpenProject helps organizations to define project milestones, tasks, and phases on a timeline, set start or end dates, and update various task elements. Managers can receive project timeline notifications, share schedules to keep stakeholders informed, and more. OpenProject allows supervisors to customize employee or stakeholder access permissions and manage project workflows on Kanban boards.
Price for 25 users team will be $137 per month.
5. RedmineHosting.de
RedmineHosting.de is a feature-rich service developed by a company that knows all the advantages and benefits of Redmine. The web agency Millepondo provides services from Germany. No worries about appealing to their support in case you need help: their team speaks good English, so you surely get answers to your questions.
All Millepondo and RedmineHosting.de user reviews are positive, thanks to these features:
- All RedmineUP plugins
- Integrations with SVN, GitHub, GitLab, and similar services
- Possible custom branding
- Daily and weekly backups
Some other service advantages include fast server loading time, a certified data center with a firewall, a load balancer, DDoS protection, unlimited storage space, and more.
The price of Redmine-hosting.de depends on the contract period (6/12 months) and the type of hosting profile, starting from $49 per month. Contact the team to activate a full 30-day trial.
Why Do CTO’s and CIO’s Migrate On-Premises Redmine to Cloud Hosting?
In case you are still struggling with on-premises Redmine, we hope to inspire you to find an alternative way to manage your IT departments.
Redmine Security and Backup Improvement
If you compare your internal infrastructure and hosted instances, you will see that cloud providers such as EasyRedmine, RedmineUP, and Plan.io are now putting security and data integrity first.
If you work in a sensitive industry such as banking, finance, or medicine, you must comply with strict rules and data protection agreements (e.g., GDPR). Most Redmine Cloud services meet these requirements and protect customer data at their best.
Cost-Effective Solution
If your business can get an all-in-one, ready-to-use instance in 1 hour of DevOps or admin work, there is no point in doing the installation and maintenance of Redmine yourself.
The fact that Redmine is available for free and won’t cost you to own it is tempting at first. However, consider the total cost of ownership. If you host Redmine yourself, your organization will have to cover the costs of hardware and labor. Labor costs increase as the business grows and require more attention to support and maintain the system and perform admin functions.
Cloud pricing provides transparency and makes it easy to plan costs for future quarters. One of the main benefits when using Redmine in a SaaS model, for example, RedmineUP Cloud, is that you pay a fixed monthly subscription fee on a pay-as-you-go basis according to clear pricing.
Faster Redmine From Mobile
The benefit of Redmine instances hosted in the cloud is a responsive layout, which means it can be accessed on the go — on a business trip or while traveling. They can easily be connected to using mobile apps. This improves communication within teams, and team leaders have better visibility into the progress of the project.
RedmineUP and other serious hosting providers allow you to choose where you want to store your data. The first common reason is to adhere to local data regulations.
The second one is speed — the use of Redmine’s CDN-supported cloud hosting guarantees better performance than your own server.
Dedicated Account Manager and Free data migration
Despite commercial solutions, Redmine does not have an open support channel 24/7.
In the event of obstacles, bugs, or uncertainty, you will have to rely on help from your developers or the Redmine community. If you have time to wait for a response, that often helps. But when downtime occurs and you’re locked out of work for your customers, it becomes problematic.
Many business owners say they would like to have a dedicated team that monitors the state of the application and load balancing — and responds quickly while fixing the problem, if necessary. Cloud migration also allows one to have access to a dedicated account manager who is familiar with their instance’s configuration. Another reason is the ability to contact the support team through multiple channels, usually email, LiveChat, or by phone.
Building an Independent and Flexible IT Infrastructure
By choosing Redmine in the SaaS model, you get one more advantage over in-house hosting or a dedicated software solution. This is flexibility and independence. Your data can be exported and imported to a new provider if the current one does not sufficiently support your business goals.
If a DevOps or development team needs to add a new plugin or connect via API to a third-party service, you don’t need to delegate people to perform that task. This setup or configuration is provided by the provider’s technical support team.
Cloud computing is a solution that allows your company to focus on its core business while everything else is done for you. It’s the same business service you know from fleet leasing. Pay for a monthly subscription and stop thinking about the rest.
Takeaway
When deciding which Redmine hosting to use, consider your needs for running the business. Keep in mind such factors as the number of users, amount of storage space, including plugins, support ticket resolution time, and page load speed.
Choosing the right Redmine cloud-based SaaS solution will allow you to better focus on the core projects.
To get started, create a free account in the cloud. A 15-day trial will help you to figure out whether the service is suitable for your work and meets your goals. Feel free to talk to the experts at RedmineUP to make a plan of action and prepare to give your business the boost it deserves.
