Smartsheet

SmartSheet is a cloud based project and task management software as a service which is very robust in terms of the variety of functionality you have available inside your account. It's a very involved dashboard so those of you who appreciate and hands on, detail orientated approach to task or project management is in for a treat. If you're accustomed to using spreadsheet software it will seem very familiar to you and in that sense it's much more suited spreadsheet style task and project manager if you require advanced table configuration and other similar features. I like that you can utilize multiple views when considering our plan for development including the spreadsheet view but also a calendar view and a Gantt chart view so you're in full control of the data using multiple perspective to make connections and to help you become aware of patterns which can be streamlined or replaced and adapted to optimize your bottom line. It's got several dozen valuable integrations possible from inside your account in a few clicks. Anything from Google and Microsoft to Zapier, SalesForce, Okta single sign on, MailChimp, Marketo marketing automation, Evernote, Git, Dropbox and many more so it's very extensible and can serve as a core component in your business operations. I like that their pricing model is inclusive meaning all of the basic core functionality and features are included across all plans. More features are added the more you pay but they don't leave anything out of the basic version that is shoving you into an upgrade because it is lacking. Typically the features of their premium plan are for more unlimited everything and dedicated support, plus reports branding and a bunch of administrative features but nothing that takes directly away from your bottom line which is great. I've noted this because in my research into business software there is a wide range of transparency in regards to pricing. I would rate SmartSheet seven or eight out of ten in terms of transparency and that's great. The exclusive pricing models which leave out various modular components or extensibility because it improves their overall revenue growth such as SalesForce. Where ActiveDemand is an example of a nine or ten in terms of transparent pricing in my opinion. I believe pricing model is an indicator as to whether the user experience is the priority of their customers in my opinion.

I can appreciate how a power Excel user would be very happy to utilize SmartSheet for project and task management especially considering you can carry over those skills easily using it but it also adds the Gantt chart and calendar views which would seem easy to use in contrast to spreadsheets so the overall value is great for these particular users. The pricing is clearly laid out and includes everything you need at every level. With a free trial available you can't do any harm in checking it out. In my thorough research into their market it's unique in the way it's setup. Personally, find it too busy and not as intuitive as others may because my experience using spreadsheets has been pretty basic and I've never found them anything to write home about in terms of customer management relationship along with sales pipeline and marketing automation.

The robust nature of this project and task management software is immediately apparent upon logging into your account. Either you'll instantly find it to be like a thing of beauty because you recognize enough of Excel like functionality that it really floats your boat. Or, like myself your eyes may bulge every so slightly as you take in the several dozen details on your home page all at once. It's relatively easy to learn and begin using and with the multiple views of your data possible quite powerful for it's purpose. But it's just not for me as isn't as intuitive for me as others during my research such as BaseCamp 3, although this may not serve to provide quite the detail and complexity as is possible in SmartSheet.