by Kirk Trachy under QuickBase News

Tune in Thursday 9/24 at 2pm Eastern time for a webinar entitled: “ How to add Microsoft Outlook to QuickBase”. This open webinar showcases “SendToQuickBase” and “SendToOutlook” an Outlook integration product from SoftTech, Inc. “SendToQuickBase” bridges and extends QuickBase so users have full Outlook Integration for email, meetings, appointments, tasks and contact updates.

Anything that is in Outlook is sent to QuickBase and anything in QuickBase can be sent to Outlook.

Joe Acunzo, President of SoftTech, Inc. will be on hand to show how to set up and use “SendToQuickBase” and “SendToOutlook”. If time permits we will dive in to how this product is used for routing inbound emails directly into QuickBase (i.e., email requests) and how companies use this for logging QuickBase events.

The webinar is entitled, “ How to add Microsoft Outlook to QuickBase” and you can register at http://quickbase.intuit.com/webinars/.

This is one of 10 live and interactive webinars we hold each week. All are welcome.

by Kathleen Lamphier under Industry Trends

Here’s the fourth tip for improving team productivity with customizable web-based software. Tip #5 is coming Tuesday.  If you just can’t wait and want all the tips now, click here to request them.

Tip #4 – Maximize productivity while minimizing IT dependence
A desktop or custom project management solution requires IT assistance for installation, maintenance and support from both a time and hardware perspective. When you turn to your IT department (assuming you enjoy the privilege of having one) to provide you with a project management software tool, you add a burden to its schedule, delays to your implementation and an additional expense to your project.

Customizable SaaS project management solutions deliver the functionality you need without incurring new costs – in time and money – for installing software, adding new features or for maintenance and support.

For maximum efficiency and productivity, your project management software application should provide:

Convenience:
With the right application, your team can access project information over the Web, whenever and wherever they want. They can create and modify reports instantly without IT or developer assistance. And they can update their own task status, fast.

Customization:
Team members can easily change row and column names, create real-time reports, personalize their application dashboard to see just the project information they need, and more – all on the fly.

Speed:
Your project management software should enable you to collaborate right away, without installation or custom development delays or extensive training.

Scalability:
Teams are fluid groups of individuals that form, dissolve and re-form over time. Managing secure access and assigning varying levels of permission for each user should be simple enough for the application administrator (the person who can customize the application and access permission levels) to do without IT assistance. And adding users to the project management software should be as simple as sending an email.

Updates:
Every off-the-shelf software upgrade requires installation on each user’s machine – a time-consuming process. One of the major advantages of SaaS project management solutions is that upgrades are made automatically without imposing any work on you or your IT team.

Coming Tuesday, tip #5 – Automate recurring processes

How about you?
Has QuickBase helped you increase productivity and minimize dependence on IT?

Has QuickBase’s customizable dashboard feature helped your team members focus on the information that’s most important to them?

While commenting on a recent post of mine, one customer, Lou Brothers, shared how “using Dashboards and Notifications has really increased the quality and speed of [project] updates. Since everyone can see the information that pertains specifically to them they can focus on providing updates and ignore the ‘noise’ from everyone else.”

by Kathleen Lamphier under Industry Trends, QuickBase News

Here’s the third tip for boosting team productivity with customizable web-based software. Another tip is coming Tuesday but if you’d like all the tips now, click here to request them.

Tip #3 – Get the hosted app advantage

A hosted project management solution gives your team members access to the information they need – wherever and whenever they need it – allowing faster response, reducing errors and enabling better decisions.  It helps your team:

Overcome geographic obstacles
Whether team members are in Paris or Peoria, they can collaborate on projects. Staff, vendors, partners and customers can work together regardless of location.

Remove time boundaries
The Internet is up and ready 24/7 – so participants can work on projects regardless of the time of day or time zone.

Hosted project management solutions also help minimize administration and maximize security, allowing you to:

Reduce installation, maintenance and even training hassles
By eliminating the need to install and run the application on your own computer, SaaS removes the burden of software maintenance, ongoing operation and support. The only software that team members need on their computers is one they already have and know how to use – a Web browser.

If you choose a customizable SaaS solution, you can adjust the application to match your existing project management process, drastically minimizing the need for application training. Customizable software accommodates the way you and your team work, not vice versa, making adoption much easier.

Reduce security threats
USB drives, email attachments and laptops are prone to data loss, theft and other security leaks. Using a hosted Web-based application means your team doesn’t have to store or email information. Instead, it’s all stored in a secure data center managed by your SaaS vendor.  For example, QuickBase uses the same data center that handles millions of tax returns via TurboTax for the Web each year.

Coming Monday, tip# 4 – How to do more and rely on IT less.

How have you used QuickBase’s customization features?
One customer I spoke with told me she looked at several packaged CRM applications, determined what she liked from each, then created her own custom QuickBase CRM application adding in those features she liked from the other applications and creating her ideal app.

Has anyone done something similar with QuickBase for project management?

Share your story.
One customer, KLH, commented on a recent post of mine and mentioned that his team “needed a robust Proj Mgmt Application(s) that was totally tailorable to our client’s needs. QuickBase was the solution of choice…”

Have you customized QuickBase to work the way you want?
To match your existing process? Tell us about your process. And about life before and after QuickBase.

by Kathleen Lamphier under Industry Trends, QuickBase News

Here’s the second tip for improving team productivity with customizable web-based software. I’ll post another tip every few days. But, if you’d like all the tips now, click here to request them.

Tip #2 – Find your productivity sweet spot

When seeking a project management tool, professionals and business owners have often been caught between two options: off-the-shelf, packaged project management applications or custom solutions built in-house, or with outsourced developers.

Packaged or Custom – Each has its pros and cons.

Packaged applications offer the convenience of out-of-the-box features and rapid deployment. But they impose their rules on users, have limited features and cannot be tailored to meet the unique needs of different companies, or even different teams within the same company.

Custom software will certainly work for your teams. But it’s expensive and it can be time consuming to develop, implement and support. Modifying the software to meet changing functionality and process needs is neither easy nor fast – every application change introduces a new round of development, testing and installation.

There is a way to get the convenience you need with the flexibility you want. Instead of buying packaged software or developing a custom solution, consider customizable “software as a service” (SaaS) project management solutions. SaaS solutions are Web-based applications delivered as a service, hosted by a third-party vendor on a secure server and easily accessed via a browser.

SaaS project management offers a productivity “sweet spot” that gives you:

Cost-efficiency

SaaS solutions require no additional hardware or software and are often priced per user. With the per-user pricing model, you only pay for the number of users you need as you need them. As you add and remove users, your monthly subscription fee adjusts accordingly; with desktop software each license becomes a sunk cost that requires an additional investment. Some SaaS vendors provide an unlimited application model in which you pay per-user and have access to as many applications as you like, rather than paying a user fee for each application.

Flexibility

With customizable SaaS solutions, you can control: what information is gathered and tracked; how information is displayed; who can see what information; what information is communicated when and to whom; and what analyses and calculations are performed on data.

This flexibility allows you to work the way that’s best for you and your team – instead of conforming to processes dictated by the software. And it’s easy to modify the application on your own – without a consultant – as your business evolves. But the key word here is “customizable” – not all SaaS solutions allow this flexibility.

Scalability

SaaS solutions are much friendlier to a company’s growth model than packaged or custom-built solutions. The best SaaS solutions allow you to add or remove users quickly and easily as your needs change. This scalability allows companies to start small and grow their application use over time and is especially helpful for quickly adding users in a new location.

Coming Thursday – tip #3 – Get the hosted application advantage

Have a friend who’s struggling with off-the-shelf or custom project management software?

Send them the link to this tip and introduce them to the SaaS productivity sweet spot.

What about you?
Have a packaged or custom project management application war story?

Reply to this post and share your story. Tell us why you decided to look for an alternate solution and why you selected QuickBase. Tell us about life pre- and post QuickBase. And, you guessed it, be one of the first five people to share your story and receive a Starbucks gift card as a thank you. Your complimentary coffee – or Starbucks treat of any kind, like a salted caramel hot chocolate or awesome congo bar – is just one reply away.

by Greg Collins under QuickBase News

Product release scheduled for Saturday, February 21 at 8am EST

I wanted to take a moment and let the QuickBase community know about some of the new features that will be coming out with the February product release scheduled for this Saturday, Feb. 21 at 8am.

“Reports” tab gets renamed “Home” tab

It’s more than just a new name. Our product team has added features that allow users to customize this new page even more.  Now, in addition to adding your favorite reports you can also add free-form text boxes on your Home tab. You could use the boxes to add a quick list of favorite links, to-do lists, or even embed html, scripts, RSS or images from other websites. It’s like having the features your come to love about application dashboards right on your Home tab.

Conditional Dropdowns

For advanced users “conditional dropdowns” provide a new tool for improving usability and simplifying data entry. Application builders can now filter a dropdown choice by leveraging relationships. For example, if you have a long list of Cities, you can set it up so that the user selects the Country first, then the City dropdown is filtered by that Country. This is a popular request from our users and I know this feature will make the lives of app builders easier in a bunch of ways. Enjoy!

Still thirsty?

I’ll be posting some screen shots and links to support pages over the next couple of days. Those resources should give you a better sense of how these changes will allow you to get more out of QuickBase.

by Kirk Trachy under QuickBase News

We launched a new version of QuickBase over the weekend (6am EST on Saturday to be exact.) The release delivers a range of new features that even Santa would be proud of. Included is QuickBase access for the iPhone and a cross-application reports tab on your My QuickBase page.

And there’s more… you will find new tools for improving control, manageability and security in your applications.