Setting Up the Waterfall Methodology in Bitrix24
A team works on a project—tasks are scattered across sprints, but there's no real sequence. A developer picks up a task from the third phase while the first is not yet finished. The tester sits idle because they don't know when their stage will start. The result: missed deadlines and chaos during delivery. We solve this problem by implementing Waterfall—a strict sequence of phases where each next one starts only after the previous is completed. Bitrix24 does not have a 'turn on Waterfall' button, but the tools allow us to build this methodology. Our experience shows that proper setup reduces delays by 30-40% and cuts coordination costs by 25%.
Why Waterfall in Bitrix24 Requires Configuration
Bitrix24's standard tools do not offer a ready-made Waterfall template. Without configuration, tasks can move between phases chaotically, dependencies are not controlled, and transitions are not blocked. We design the project architecture: break it into phases, set up dependencies, robots, and milestones. The result is a predictable process with transparent reporting. Waterfall in Bitrix24 outperforms chaotic management in schedule predictability by a factor of 2: according to our data, Waterfall projects are delivered with a deviation of no more than 10% from the plan, compared to 25% without a methodology.
How to Set Up Task Dependencies
The Gantt chart is the main tool for visualizing Waterfall. Dependencies are set in the task card (More → Dependencies). We use three types of links:
| Link Type |
Description |
Waterfall Example |
| Finish-to-Start (FS) |
Task B starts only after task A finishes |
Development starts after TOR approval |
| Start-to-Start (SS) |
Tasks start simultaneously |
Parallel documentation and code writing |
| Finish-to-Finish (FF) |
Tasks finish simultaneously |
Batch delivery of phase results |
On the Gantt, dependencies are shown as arrows; the critical path is visible. When one task's deadline shifts, all dependent tasks are recalculated automatically. The manager sees how a delay in the 'Design' phase shifts the entire 'Development' phase.
Step-by-step dependency setup:
- Open the task that should depend on another.
- Click 'More' → 'Dependencies'.
- Select the link type (FS, SS, FF) and specify the parent task.
- Save—an arrow will appear on the Gantt. Check that the chain is unbroken.
Milestones: Project Control Points
A milestone is a control point marking the end of a phase. In Bitrix24, milestones are created as zero-duration tasks. Best practice:
- Create a milestone task: 'Gate: TOR Approval', deadline = end of 'Initiation' phase.
- Attach dependencies to the milestone: all tasks of the 'Planning' phase have FS type from this milestone.
- The milestone is closed only after review and explicit confirmation from the manager.
- A robot on milestone closure sends a notification to the team: 'Phase N is finished, starting phase N+1.'
Example of a gate setup
Create a task 'Gate: Initiation' with a duration of 0 days. Attach all tasks of the second phase as FS. Set up a robot: when the gate closes, send a notification and change the group status. This ensures the next stage does not start ahead of time.
This fixes the main Waterfall principle: no transition to the next stage without formal closure of the previous one.
Project Phases through Task Groups
Each Waterfall phase is designed as a group (stage) in the B24 project. A typical chain:
- Initiation—requirements gathering, TOR approval, defining project boundaries
- Planning—work decomposition, time estimation, assigning responsibilities
- Development/Execution—the main workload
- Testing/Control—result verification, acceptance
- Closure—delivery, documentation, retrospective
| Phase |
Milestone Gate |
Typical Duration |
| Initiation |
TOR Approval |
3-7 days |
| Planning |
Plan Approval |
2-5 days |
| Development |
Ready for Testing |
2-4 weeks |
| Testing |
Customer Acceptance |
1-2 weeks |
| Closure |
Sign-off |
2-3 days |
Tasks within each phase are grouped via subgroups or tags. Transition between phases is a conscious action by the project manager, not automation.
Control and Reporting
For tracking Waterfall progress, we use:
-
Gantt—visualization of current status, critical path, deviations from plan.
- Task counters—how many in a phase are completed, how many overdue.
- 'Efficiency' report—percentage of completed tasks per employee.
- Business process—automatic check: all tasks in a phase closed → notification about gate readiness.
How to Reduce Delays When Implementing Waterfall
Implementing Waterfall from scratch often stalls due to misunderstanding of the mechanics. We recommend starting small: choose one pilot project, set up 3-4 phases, and track metrics. Get a consultation—our engineers will help adapt the methodology to your business. Contact us to evaluate your project.
What Is Included in the Setup (Deliverables)
- Designing Waterfall phases for your project type (development, construction, implementation).
- Creating the structure in Bitrix24: working group, subgroups per phase, task templates.
- Setting up dependencies on the Gantt chart (FS, SS, FF).
- Creating milestone tasks tied to phase gates.
- Configuring robots: notifications on gate closures, blocking transition if tasks are incomplete.
- Training the project manager: working with Gantt, managing dependencies, controlling the critical path.
- Process documentation and support for 2 weeks.
Timelines and Cost
Setup time: from 2 to 5 business days depending on complexity and number of phases. Cost is calculated individually after an audit of your project. We guarantee the configured methodology will work smoothly—proven in 50+ implementations. Get a consultation—we will select the optimal solution.
How a corporate portal on Bitrix24 solves the problem of information chaos?
Employees spend up to 2 hours a day searching for files, emails, and solutions. Tasks get lost in dozens of chats, approvals get stuck for weeks. The manager learns about missed deadlines only at a meeting. A corporate portal on Bitrix24 ties every message, document, and task to a single context. You get a transparent picture of work: who is working on what, which stages, where bottlenecks are. Wikipedia: Information silo describes how unorganized data reduces productivity – a portal cuts that loss by 60–70%.
We will evaluate your project for free – contact us to get the architecture in 2 days. A medium‑sized company typically saves 2.5 million rubles annually after deployment (based on our projects).
What does the portal offer in daily work and why is it better than messengers?
In messengers, information is unstructured – discussions get buried within a week. On the portal, every message is tied to a task, project, or document. Employees spend up to 30% of their work time searching for data (McKinsey). The portal reduces this time by 2–3 times thanks to structured repositories and full‑text search.
Communications. Activity stream, messenger, and video calls are tied to specific tasks. Any discussion can be found six months later – in a messenger it would be buried within a week.
Tasks and projects. Kanban, Gantt, checklists, dependencies, time tracking. Each employee's efficiency is visible in reports – no need to wait for a meeting.
Document flow. Approval routes through the business process designer: leave request → manager → HR → accounting. Electronic signature, versioning, deadline control. Integration with electronic document management (SBIS, Diadoc) via REST API.
HR. Onboarding of new employees, leave/travel requests, organizational structure, absence schedule. An employee knows where to go from day one.
Knowledge base. Bitrix24 wiki engine: regulations, instructions. Knowledge does not leave with departing employees.
Implementation example. For a manufacturing company with 320 employees, we deployed a portal with integration of 1C:SALARY AND HR MANAGEMENT and Active Directory in 4 months. Travel request approval time decreased from 3 days to 4 hours. Savings on employee idle time amounted to 1.5 million rubles per year. Managers receive automatic reports on department efficiency. Customer response time decreased by 20%. Portal payback period is 7 months.
How does integration with 1C and Active Directory accelerate HR management?
Integration with 1C:Enterprise via the b24connector module or custom REST handler: a leave request is approved on the portal through a business process and automatically enters 1C:SALARY AND HR MANAGEMENT for vacation pay calculation. Active Directory (SSO via the ldap module) – the employee account is created once in AD and synchronized to the portal, email, VPN. Upon dismissal, it is blocked everywhere. Manual account creation is eliminated, errors are minimized.
Types of corporate portals and key integrations
| Type |
Purpose |
Key Feature |
| Intranet |
Internal communications and services |
News, phone directory (sync with AD), meeting room booking, IT requests via BP |
| HR portal |
HR management and development |
Profiles, KPI/OKR on custom HL blocks, training, electronic document flow |
| Knowledge portal |
Documentation and regulations |
Categorization, tags, ratings, subscriptions to updates |
| Extranet |
Work with partners and contractors |
Granular permissions via CGroup and extranet module, access without VPN |
| Holding portal |
Management of multi‑company structure |
Separate workspaces, consolidated reporting, cross‑cutting BPs |
Additional integrations that deliver real value:
- Email: Exchange via EWS API or IMAP, calendar synchronization, creating a task from an email.
- IP telephony: Asterisk, Mango Office, Zadarma via REST API – calls from the portal, contact card, call recording.
- Video conferencing: built‑in video calls or integration with Zoom/Teams via marketplace.
- EDI: SBIS, Diadoc via REST API – fully electronic document flow with counterparties.
Security and compliance with Federal Law 152‑FZ
The portal contains personal data, financial reports, strategic plans. We guarantee protection:
- role model via CGroup and section‑level permissions;
- two‑factor authentication (OTP, Yandex.Key, SMS);
- audit of all actions (b_event_log);
- TLS encryption for transmission and disk encryption;
- full compliance with Federal Law No. 152‑FZ "On Personal Data".
How is implementation carried out? Step‑by‑step plan
| Stage |
Duration |
What we do |
| 1. Audit |
2–3 weeks |
Interviews, process analysis, architecture, integration plan |
| 2. Setup and customization |
3–6 weeks |
Structure, roles, BPs, branding (CSS template) |
| 3. Integrations |
2–4 weeks |
1C, AD, email, telephony, EDI |
| 4. Data migration |
1–2 weeks |
Documents, directories, employees from current systems |
| 5. Training and pilot |
1–2 weeks |
Administrators, key users, pilot of 20–30 people |
| 6. Scaling |
2–4 weeks |
Connecting departments, fine‑tuning based on feedback |
- Audit — we record current processes, measure time losses.
- Design — choose portal type, plan integrations.
- Implementation — configure business processes, permissions, interface.
- Test — pilot group tests scenarios, we fix issues.
- Launch — connect all employees, train, hand over documentation.
What you receive after implementation
- Project documentation: architecture, integration scheme, business process diagrams.
- Configured portal with all integrations (1C, AD, telephony, EDI).
- Business process descriptions and instructions for administrators and users.
- 30 days of technical support after launch.
- Access to our knowledge base and migration scripts.
Post‑launch support: how to prevent the portal from becoming obsolete
After six months, many portals become abandoned. To avoid this, we offer packages with fixed SLA and a dedicated administrator. Performance monitoring, platform updates, user administration, development of new modules. Our team has over 10 years of experience and more than 50 implemented corporate portals on Bitrix24. We are a certified 1C‑Bitrix partner, guaranteeing quality and deadlines.
Mobile access. Native Bitrix24 app (iOS/Android) with push notifications, tasks, chats. Responsive web interface for extranet users (no app installation required). Offline access to documents and tasks, sync when connectivity is restored.
Order a turnkey corporate portal implementation
Schedule a free audit – we will evaluate your project, propose architecture, and give clear timelines. Get a comprehensive proposal and see that the portal pays for itself within the first six months. Contact us today.
