Item: Quickbase
Rating: 8
Author: Kirsten Rodway

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

QuickBase is used for workflow and tracking in a couple areas within the global development organization (part of customer service organization):

1-Between Navistar and our print partner for publications print setup

2-Vetween Navistar and our translation vendors for workflow and tracking of open projects

3-Within Navistar between departments; publications authors and publications QA and posting

Pros and Cons

Linear workflow is relatively easy to set up and easy to see where items are hung up
Ability to set up a clean dashboard to track WIP
Because it's web-based it allows us to transact with our vendors outside our firewall (we could not do this with SharePoint )

We'd like to be able to do more development ourselves instead of hiring an outside contractor - this means easier creation/more user-friendly to personnel without programming/IT background
Form creation is relatively easy, but collecting the data in a robust database that was easy to query would be really great

Ease of Building Custom Applications

Using Quickbase has driven the management of our "post development" activities out of an e-mail mess and into an organized, process-driven, easy to track application. Translations, posting and quality assurance are all enhanced through the disciplined workflow that shows us at any time where projects stand and who has completed what activities. This allows us better visibility, faster throughput and cleaner, clearer communication throughout the process.

Alternatives Considered

We tried to use SharePoint for these types of activities but were stopped in our tracks when we could not go through our firewall to give suppliers access to the workflow.

Citizen Developers Using Quickbase

I have not created any apps myself, however, my personnel tell me that basic apps are pretty easy for the novice who has a strong interest in the end result. More complex apps require either some IT involvement, past coding experience or an outside contractor. We have created some basic apps in house and hired a contractor to assist us when we needed more horsepower.

Goals with Quickbase

Improving collaboration across one or more teams
Solving a specific business challenge
Building and deploying an application (or multiple applications) that meets our exact needs

We have achieved all of our desired outcomes with our QuickBase post development apps:

Our processes are documented and built into the workflow and tasks of the app
We have the ability to effectively and efficiently collaborate with our translation and print suppliers
We have visibility to all open projects and their status

Ease of Updating Applications

For our post-development app, we have had some process changes over the years, so this required some redefinition within the workflow and the associated tasks. The original app developer was able to accomplish the updates within a few days of determining all of the requirements and mapping out the new process.

Likelihood to Recommend

Quickbase is great at letting a user put process discipline into action. Creating an app with workflows and tasks ensures that each user is aware of their responsibilities at each stage of the game. The administration of the account is easy and our users have been very appreciative for the reminders - both e-mail alerts and tasks.

On the flip side, left in the hands of a real micromanager, it can go horribly wrong and create extra work for the users within a workflow.

Getting on Base with QuickBase

Overall Satisfaction with QuickBase