* multi-user (including consistency between users)
* scale (number of projects, users, tickets)
You can't have all those at the same time. If you want it to be very configurable, you have to choose whether to prioritise scale (Jira), or usability (Trello, Asana), or drop the multi-user (Excel, Google Sheets).
In my opinion, the problem with most project management systems is the problem with project management management itself - trying to do too many complicated things at the same time. It's pretty easy to manage even a fairly large programme of well-scoped projects on just about any software.
By 'modern' I was thinking about system with most of the features that Jira and others have, but with fast backend and fast javascript UI.
I don't think that speed is dependent on simplicity. One could make an advanced system with all the features that is still optimized for speed. There are other programs that check all the boxed, just not one for project management. I guess everyone is used to it. :)
We developed Taiga (taiga.io) with that in mind. It's meant for cross-domain teams but a lot of people use it for their own personal projects. At the moment, 50% of new Taiga users come from Trello or Jira (in that order). Check it out https://resources.taiga.io/getting-started/
The problem with project management systems is that you have four important levers:
* configurability (enforcing rules, custom workflows, triggers)
* usability of the UI (speed, simplicity)
* multi-user (including consistency between users)
* scale (number of projects, users, tickets)
You can't have all those at the same time. If you want it to be very configurable, you have to choose whether to prioritise scale (Jira), or usability (Trello, Asana), or drop the multi-user (Excel, Google Sheets).
In my opinion, the problem with most project management systems is the problem with project management management itself - trying to do too many complicated things at the same time. It's pretty easy to manage even a fairly large programme of well-scoped projects on just about any software.