A national foodservice company, Penta Foods delivers specialist and general food ingredients from around the world to restaurants, hotels, catering facilities and food manufacturers. Established 25 years ago, family run Penta Foods prides itself on providing exceptional service and commitment to its customers’ requirements.

The Challenge

As a rapidy expanding company, Penta Foods needed to improve their existing Smartsheet implementation that drives their sales pipeline all the way from lead generation to customer satisfaction.

The Solution

Visiting Penta Foods on-site, Smarter Business Processes guided senior management in a detailed analysis of their existing processes, both in and out of Smartsheet. Once the workflow was optimised,  it was implemented into Smartsheet from initial entry via WebForms, e-mail notifications to the responsible persons for action, and views & reports allowing managers high level visibility on each phase of the process. The system was further refined using Zapier for automation and consistency.

The Benefits

With the sales pipeline streamlined and automated,  providing greater visibility, real time data and removing duplication of data entry, staff members now have peace of mind and are able to focus  their attention on the areas of greatest value.  Much of the delays in the pipeline have been removed, allowing Penta Foods to focus on their customers instead of paperwork.

Testimonial

“Craig from Smarter Business Processes came on-site and worked closely with us, ensuring that the workflows and processes were well documented so that we can make further improvements to our systems and work flows as we continue to extend Smartsheet to other departments”

“With help from Smarter Business Processes, we have implemented several other solutions that look to provide us with the increased efficiency and productivity we need to allow us to focus on our customers and their needs.” Azher Rubbani – Director – Penta Foods

The post Foodservice Company works Smarter with Smartsheet appeared first on SmarterBusinessProcesses.

It was great to finally meet the Top Rank Team face to face. What an amazing bunch you are!  We had a hugely enjoyable and successful Vegas consultancy visit – thank you so much for your warm welcome!

Exciting also to be part of the Manny Pacquiao, Tim Bradley buzz and pre-fight preparations –  congratulations on a great event and brilliant result.

It’s very satisfying to see our existing workflow solutions in action and we’re enjoying creating even more efficiency solutions for the wider Top Rank Team.

We did manage to fit in a little fun which included a heli tour of the Grand Canyon, the O Cirque de Soleil show, the incredible strip and Belaggio Fountains, a little shopping, ending with a small flutter on the roulette table!

Vegas we love you – can we come back again soon !!

The post Viva Las Vegas appeared first on SmarterBusinessProcesses.

We know you’re busy so we’ve revamped our Solution Centre to make it easier than ever to find the Smartsheet solutions you need.  Designed by experts and infused with best practices, these new solutions and templates were built from the ground up to help you work smarter and more efficiently in 2016.

What Makes Smartsheet Great for Project Management, IT Departments, Sales, Marketing, Product Development and HR ?  Find out More

Need Help with your Design and Development, Smartsheet optimisation, Training and Support ?  Contact us to arrange your free initial Smartsheet Consultancy.  We’d love to hear from you.

The post Your Head Start to a Productive 2016 appeared first on SmarterBusinessProcesses.

We’re very excited about the latest and very welcome features which take Smartsheet to the next level in Project Management.

Save time and gain greater control over your work with Smartsheet’s newest features.

With Gantt and calendar views on summary reports and enhanced update requests, you now have more power to choose the level of detail you want to share. You can send a project rollup to executives or share a single row to an external collaborator for a quick status update.

We’re also announcing a new self-service experience that lets you easily manage and configure accounts at any time with user auto-provisioning and authentication settings, for Enterprise users only.

Here’s more information on these new features:

Get Quick Updates From Anyone, on Mobile and Desktop, with Update Requests

Receive updates to key rows in a sheet or report from any collaborator, whether or not they have a Smartsheet account, by sending Update Requests. Choose which columns you would like to add to your Update Request, allowing contractors, consultants, clients, and others to add or change information with a simple form sent via email.

Collaborators are able to easily respond to update requests wherever they are, on any device. No login is required to update the rows and the collaborators do not need to be shared to the sheet.

You can learn more about Update Requests here.
To send Update Requests on desktop:

1. Highlight the row to be updated by clicking its row number. To highlight multiple rows, hold down the [Shift] or [Ctrl] key on your keyboard as you click the row numbers.
2. Click the drop-down arrow next to the row(s) and select Send Update Request.
3. The Send Update Request form will appear. Type in the email address of the recipient and click Schedule to send it on a recurring daily, weekly, or monthly basis, or to schedule the request for a later date.

To respond to Update Requests on desktop or mobile:

1. Click the Open Update Form button in your email and complete the Update Request in the vertical form that appears (on a smartphone or tablet, the form will open in a mobile browser).
2. Click Submit Update when you are done.

Note: Update requests must be created on desktop. We will release the ability to create update requests in the mobile app in fall 2015.

Roll Up Sheets and Projects into Summary Reports with Gantt and Calendar View

Consolidate key tasks and milestones across many sheets into a single overview with Smartsheet reports, now with Gantt and calendar view.  You can easily share the big picture of your entire portfolio with stakeholders or see a master calendar of all activities across multiple initiatives.

For more granular control over the information that is shared from a sheet, publish your report and share it with outside vendors, ensuring that they only see the high-level milestones.

You can learn more about Reports here.
To view Gantt and calendar on reports on desktop:

1. Use an existing report with two date columns or create a new report. To create a new report by clicking Home > Create New >Report. Then, walk through the Report Builder to specify the criteria for the report.
2. Once you’ve run the report, click on the Gantt or calendar view button on the left sidebar.

In the Gantt view, you can also choose to include % Complete, displaying a visual indicator of progress on the Gantt bars.

Note: Your report must have two date columns in order for the Gantt view to work.

Easily Configure and Manage Your Account at Any Time: Enterprise Only

For Enterprise plans only, administrators can use the new 100% self-service feature to configure and manage account authentication and user auto-provisioning settings. You’re in control of your account configuration, reducing time, labor, and complexity.

You can increase account security by explicitly restricting the options available to your users for signup or login. For example, you may want to restrict users to only use Google for their authentication. Choose one or more from the list of authentication options that include email + password, SAML, Google, and Microsoft Azure AD.

You can also intercept new users as they sign up for Smartsheet and automatically add them to an existing company account. Simply register the domains you own and choose to add new users as licensed users or non-licensed users. For example, all employees from “acme.com” who sign up for Smartsheet will automatically be added to an existing acme.com’s company account in Smartsheet.
To configure authentication and user auto-provisioning: 

1. Click Account in the upper left-hand side of your screen. Select Account Admin > Security Controls.
2. Click Edit next to Authentication to choose from email + password, Google, Microsoft Azure AD, or SAML authentication.
3. Click Edit next to User Auto Provisioning to disable or enable specified domains to sign up with Smartsheet and to add validated domains.

Save More Time with Smartsheet

You now have the ability to share the big picture view of your entire portfolio, get quick status updates from anyone, and manage your account settings at any time. Keep stakeholders updated on key tasks and milestones, while tracking the project details by sending Update Requests to internal and external collaborators.

To learn more about these new features, sign up for a free webinar on August 20th. 

For more information about this release, read our external release notes.

To ensure you make the most of not only this weekend’s feature upgrade but the recent upgrade to Critical path and Partial Days, talk to us about your:

• Smartsheet Consultancy needs
• Smartsheet Training requirements:   Getting to Grips with Project Management in Smartsheet 
• Or Project Migration:  Project Development Consultancy and Workflow Process Improvement

Contact us to discuss your needs – we’d love to hear from you !

The post See What’s New in Smartsheet appeared first on SmarterBusinessProcesses.

By working together intuitively, these Apps deliver the full package of benefits to your teams, improving efficiency, collaboration and visibility on ANY Platform, ANY Device & ANY Browser

Smartsheet – a Work Management Solution, ideal for users of Excel who need to collaborate more efficiently

Smartsheet is an incredibly flexible work management tool that not only provides great solutions for users of Excel but is also capable of driving large complex project plans for project planners

Detailed project planners will be delighted to hear of the new upgrades, namely duration in hours and minutes, as well as critical path. These new features will bring Smartsheet to the next level in terms of project management and team collaboration, giving project managers and owners more control to coordinate even bigger, more complex projects quickly and efficiently.

For Smartsheet users wishing to fully benefit from these new features, see details of our Smartsheet training courses and online support sessions

Top Tip: Smartsheet is great for driving your workflows forward and provides instant access and integration with the supportive Apps, ProofHQ, DocuSign and OverDRIVE and Data stores… Dropbox, OneDrive, Box and Evernote.

OverDRIVE for Digital Asset Management (DAM)

OverDRIVE is a cost effective, intuitive, visual and smart way to provide users and teams with simple and powerful intranet web access to corporate data and information.

Many businesses report that access to their corporate digital assets is difficult, documents hard to find.  At last there is a solution, not just for Google users but Microsoft users too.

Like our other technology pillars, OverDRIVE works with any platform and any device.

OverDRIVE provides the ability to easily create project workspaces to manage the documents, digital assets, contacts etc., relating to any number of projects at any time.

Top Tip: Smartsheet can merge data into Google docs e.g. quotes, invoices,HR contracts etc.,  all visible via OverDRIVE. Proof reviews in ProofHQ can be accessed from OverDRIVE

ProofHQ for Proof Review and Approval

ProofHQ is an online proofing solution for Marketing & Admin teams of any size in any industry who need to deliver marketing projects faster and more efficiently.

Deciding to use ProofHQ isn’t difficult. It measurably speeds up project delivery and significantly reduces management time, revisions, errors and costs. Because, unlike email and hardcopy proofing, ProofHQ enables review teams to collaborate simultaneously on creative content.

ProofHQ simply streamlines approval workflow – and can be used across all media including print, digital and audio-visual.

Top Tip: Smartsheet can drive the workflow and track progress of multiple Proof reviews with live links to ongoing or concluded proofs, then on to the creatives or printers for output.

DocuSign – The Global Standard for electronic signature and Digital Transaction Management

DocuSign helps businesses of all sizes easily and securely sign, send, and manage documents in the cloud, with unmatched availability and legal enforceability, eliminating the hassle, costs and lack of security in printing, faxing, scanning & postage.

Eliminate Paper Clutter:  It’s time consuming and costly to print, mail, fax, and overnight documents and these processes are prone to error. With DocuSign, you can sign and send with the click of a button and gain instant visibility into the status of your documents. You reduce the clutter for you AND your recipients, whilst also lowering the environmental impact of doing business.

The Smartsheet DocuSign integration offers our clients further workflow efficiency benefits, e.g. send one person listed in a Smartsheet an envelope for signing which includes tenancy contracts or contracts of employment at the click of a mouse.

Choosing one or a range of our complementary work management solutions will provide you with vastly improved efficiencies, collaboration and visibility.

Integrating Smartsheet with your other Applications has been dramatically improved and now API 2.0  offers a whole range of opportunities to link applications together to remove even more steps from your traditional processes by automating your workflows and updating data in several places with just one entry.

Talk to us about Managing the Changes within your organisation and about application integration set-up and  onsite and remote training and consultancy.  We’d love to hear from you.

Request a demonstration or trial licences

The post Our Favourite Four Technology Pillars for Business Efficiency and Success appeared first on SmarterBusinessProcesses.

Fast Forward Technology is a fast growth  IT Solutions and Service company, dedicated to helping businesses keep pace with the ever changing world of Information Technology.

The Challenge

As the number of remote Service Engineers  increased, logging and recording  Site Engineers’ reports was becoming ever time consuming. The lack of a collaborative platform meant it was difficult to maintain client service records as each job was completed, rather than at the end of each day. This led to incomplete or delayed information for both FFT and the Client.  Service Engineers operate out on site or remotely when resolving client needs, so a system that could cope with entry from any device in real- time was required.

The Solutions

Smarter Business Processes designed a customised Smartsheet system using a combination of Web Forms and spreadsheets which their Service Engineers could access remotely while on site for real- time information gathering, compiling and reporting.

The Benefits

The Smartsheet  system has:

• Provided  real-time status update for the FFT management and client teams
• Improved visibility and streamlined communication between multiple partners
• Improved accountability for all concerned
• Reduced administration time for reporting and billing
• Provided much improved data analysis to better meet client’s future needs

 “Richard Rymill worked with us to to both understand how we were managing our business and identify areas for immediate process improvement.  Having access to real-time information via the Service Engineers Web Form solution has vastly improved efficiencies.

We highly recommend Smarter Business Processes and their methodology.  We are actively working with them to resolve more IT admin challenges in the coming weeks and look forward to finding more and more uses for Smartsheet”.  Dean Hall, Managing Director Fast Forward Technology

The post IT Service Engineers’ Smartsheet Web Form improves efficiencies appeared first on SmarterBusinessProcesses.

TechCrunch recently released the 10 most important trends changing the face of enterprise computing, everything from faster application performance to virtualization to enhanced security.

We dug a little deeper into four of these trends and looked at what they specifically mean for the future of technology in the workplace.

Four Important Trends to Consider When Looking for New Technology

1. Cloud computing is taking over.
   Nearly one-third of all workloads use the cloud today, according to Morgan Stanley. Cloud computing is so powerful because it removes all physical barriers – employees can access information anywhere and on any device. It also allows organizations to easily expand resources and adopt new tools and applications without buying more hardware.

What it means: Yes, telecommuting is on the rise, but today’s cloud software promises to enable entire companies to work remotely, regardless of time zones or geographic locations. Precise Biometrics, creators of smart card readers and fingerprint sensors designed to protect data, has 20 international workers and uses Smartsheet as its main tool. “It’s become our virtual office. It’s the heart of our team,” said Meredith Esham, director of marketing.

2. More purchasing power across organizations.
   Traditionally, CIOs and IT staff held purchasing power for new technology and tools. Now, it’s moving to heads of sales, marketing, finance and other departments. In fact, one-third of technology purchasing power has moved to executives outside of IT, according to a Bain & Company survey.

What it means: There is no “standard buyer” anymore; it could be someone from any department. As a result, IT solutions need to be customizable across the board. Also, with different technology buyers in the same organization, employees will likely be using multiple applications. Tools that are compatible with other apps will be the clear winner.

3. New ways to get work done with mobile.
   Salesforce.com’s CEO, Marc Benioff, has said he runs his whole business from his phone. This keeps getting easier and easier to do. Mobile applications are providing efficient, automated ways to work faster and smarter.

What it means: Information never sleeps. With our smartphones and tablets, employees could be working on projects at any time, day or night, so technology will need to keep up. Businesses will need solutions that allow simultaneous editing, automated progress reports, and real-time notifications when things change in a project.

4. Intuitive, easy-to-use interfaces are king.
   Better-designed applications with friendly interfaces are pushing out the harder-to-use, traditional models. Businesses don’t want to waste days training employees on how to use a new program; instead, they are actively seeking organic adoption.

What it means: User experience will be a huge factor in selecting an IT solution. Smartsheet’s universal, spreadsheet layout is a powerful draw for our customers.

Technology to Help Work Smarter, Not Harder

Businesses need technology that can help employees work smarter, not harder. They should be looking for cloud-based, user-friendly tools that can keep up with our 24/7 plugged-in world in a customizable way. Employees don’t have time to be held back by technology, they need to hit the ground running.

Smarter Business Processes offer Smartsheet Consultancy to help you and your organisation get your work done! We’re here to help with your Design and Development of effective Smartsheet Solutions.  Found out more here or Contact us

The post The Future of Enterprise IT: 4 Trends and What They Mean appeared first on SmarterBusinessProcesses.

Smartsheet enables you to manage unstructured work and build efficiencies in processes across teams—both internal and external, to deliver results that matter.

AppSheet links the data that’s stored in spreadsheets (Smartsheet or a combination of Excel, Google Sheets and Smartsheet) with the devices everyone uses every day and at a fraction of the cost of ‘Traditional Mobile App Development’.

As recommended UK and Worldwide Smartsheet Consultants and Resellers,  Smarter Business Processes provides  Smartsheet and AppSheet Consultancy to help you simply get work done !   We’re here to help with your Design and Development, Smartsheet optimisation, Training and Support.  

Whilst having the right tools is important, we focus on the People and their Processes first, which produces excellent Performance outcomes.

Let us help you Empower your Teams.         Enquire  about our Smartsheet and AppSheet solutions or Contact us to arrange a free initial consultation.  

See our latest Case Studies and Testimonials

The post What’s your Project Challenge ? appeared first on SmarterBusinessProcesses.

The post The Evolution of the Spreadsheet appeared first on SmarterBusinessProcesses.