Since it’s rare to find a perfect tool that applies to all projects, the best you can do is look at your needs and strike a balance between desktop and online applications. But as you’re going through the phases of project development, how do you know which is the way to go?

Planning. This mostly depends on how your team prefers to conduct planning and brainstorming sessions. If you only do it in a meeting room with all members present, a desktop application is best. It’s usually just one file (or a few) that only one or two project administrators can access and edit. If your business computers are networked locally and the project files should only be accessed via office computers, you can use the local network as an alternative to the collaboration that online apps provide.

However, if some project plans require further collaboration after meetings or after office hours, online applications are the better option. It’s best to choose a user-friendly application that all participants can access via individual accounts. This is because most online collaborative software can track which changes were made by each member or who opened the document last. Alternatively, your tool of choice should allow email notifications sent to individual members or administrators whenever changes are made.

Executing. For projects that are primarily executed through writing, follow the same criteria as indicated in the planning stage. If it requires collaboration from different work environments, go for online. If not, go for desktop. However, design or graphics based projects are better developed via desktop apps. While Adobe recently launched an online version of Photoshop and Google Docs allows users to create and collaborate on presentations, the features of these online programs are limited compared to those available on their desktop counterparts.

If the project requires several documents that go hand in hand and should be edited or viewed by multiple team members, you can use your desktop applications with an online collaboration tool. Just make sure that a file upload feature is included, and that you can set custom security and privacy settings for each member. Some noteworthy online collaboration apps include Basecamp and Wrike.

Overall, your primary concern should be about how static or dynamic your project phases are going to be. The more modifications and changes you make along the way, the more you should lean towards using online applications. However, if you are going through a static project phase and you need to access files even without an internet connection, desktop applications are the way to go.