D-Link Corporation | Smartsheet

D-Link Corporation is a $1 billion dollar global company with nearly 2,500 employees around the globe. Headquartered in Taiwan, D-link designs, develops then markets advanced networking, broadband, digital and VoIP solutions in over 100 countries. Because of the highly distributed workforce, it is critical for each product launch, to keep everyone and everything coordinated, informed and on schedule.

In December 2009 Michael Walsh, D-Link Vice President and CIO, geared up to move his company to cloud-based business solutions. Handing in Lotus Notes Platform and bypassing Microsoft’s SharePoint, Walsh needed a sophisticated online suite of solutions to adequately support distributed teams, complex projects and company growth.

For Walsh, the critical success factors were:
Could they find an effective solution to meet the product management team’s complex requirements, and yet ensure it was flexible and easy for all the other users to manage their portions of the launch process;

Would it work seamlessly with other cloud-based apps and platforms so they could truly go “all in” on the cloud; and
Would it be embraced and adopted by the various constituents and not result in more “rogue apps” springing up throughout the organization.

Anything less wouldn’t accomplish their business goals and could lead to missed deadlines and lost opportunities.

By February 2010, D-Link had migrated to Google Apps, rolling out Gmail, Calendar, Sites and Docs to all North American employees as the primary front office system. With Google Apps up and running, the company introduced Salesforce.com for its sales management processes and service activities. (D-link’s IT group develops custom apps on the Force.com platform). Next on the list was adding an online project management and collaboration tool that integrated seamlessly with Google Apps and Salesforce.

D-Link rolled out Smartsheet to their teams in June 2010 and have been expanding their usage ever since. Walsh commented, “What’s fantastic about using Smartsheet is that people may start out using it for a specific project, but every week I hear new ways they are using it to solve other problems. That’s powerful. ”

As CIO, Walsh has introduced many new technologies to large teams over the years. For him, the true test of any new technology is whether people actually use it. “These tools have to become a daily habit. Because Smartsheet enables our teams to work how and where they work, it’s the ideal collaboration and online project management tool. It’s easy to use, has deep functionality, and ultimately doesn’t restrict how they use it. And having it work within toolsets they’re already using, without requiring them to login to another, is a real usability benefit. For us, using Smartsheet is a habit that’s stuck.”

For Walsh and the thousands of other companies using the tool, there are several consistent and recurring themes that make Smartsheet stand out from other solutions:

Integrated with larger cloud-based platforms and apps: For D-Link, having apps that all work together makes it easier to go “all in” on the cloud. With Smartsheet, users can access, update and share sheets from within existing toolsets such as Google Apps or Salesforce.com. For example, you can log in with your Google account credentials, sync with your Google Calendar, create new and/or attach Google Docs to any row in Smartsheet. “The convenience of having these tools immediately work together saves IT, and the end users, considerable time,” said Walsh.

Ease of use: The tool needed to “teach itself” in order for it to be truly adopted by D-Link’s global workforce of employees, vendors and contractors. Smartsheet has a familiar spreadsheet-like interface that is very intuitive for seasoned product managers and beginners alike. Users can drag and drop columns and rows, attach files or discussion threads to any task (row), set automated reminders, and share online with others without IT involvement. The product also includes many tip sheets and demos for users to get helpful “how to” information. “Not having to train anyone is a huge deal in an organization our size,” commented Walsh.

Flexibility: With so many different types and levels of users, it was critical that the solution worked the way the D-Link teams did, without imposing pre-established work-flow structures. Now whether it’s product development tracking for launch, IT processes or marketing campaigns, each individual can create sheets (or build on existing templates) that meet his/her own needs.
Handles primary project management requirements: With Smartsheet, users collaborate on project tasks using features such as Gantt charts, task dependencies, collapsible sub-tasks, discussion tracking, history of changes of any cell, and more. Summary reports can also be run across project sheets for easy review. “If you've ever lived in a world with complex Microsoft Projects, you can get frustrated quickly with the learning curve. The ease of use of Smartsheet is so simple, people are actually doing complex project plans again,” said Walsh.
Cost: After a free 30-day trial, Smartsheet plans start as low as $9.95/mo for individual users. D-Link selected the Enterprise Plan that enables “creators” to share their project sheets with an unlimited number of users who can edit and view the various sheets. It was the ideal fit of advanced functionality and widespread adoption, with the highest level of reporting, support and storage, with the ability to scale economically past that.

"After finding Smartsheet in the Google App Marketplace, our move to using it couldn’t have been easier,” said Walsh. “I had a couple questions about assigning licenses, and the Smartsheet team answered my request quickly and succinctly. After that, we simply made it available to our staff and they ran with it. We've loaded up three or four apps from the Google App Marketplace so far, but Smartsheet is our favorite right now."

Getting started
Walsh offered to conduct training for the project teams, but he didn’t get any takers. After not hearing from them for a couple weeks he grew concerned. Were they even using the new product?

Walsh found out they were, and they didn’t need any help. By simply reviewing the tips library and video help included in the product, they had all the information they needed. “Not having to train anyone was a huge deal in an organization our size,” commented Walsh.

Today, every department at D-Link is involved in bringing product to market, and they rely on Smartsheet to keep them organized. To illustrate one use of the solution, D-Link product teams use the tool’s finish-to-start Gantt chart capabilities to help departments focus on what needs to be done chronologically. Unlike the difficult task of doing this in programs such as MS Project, Smartsheet’s intuitive spreadsheet approach makes it easy to establish “work back” formulas from the final launch date. Department leads assign the various tasks to their team members, always having a full view of the entire of the launch activities across many individual sheets. Everyone is “in the know” on dependencies and inter-related tasks, has access to key documents at their fingertips, and knows how each task impacts the final deliverables and timeline.

The results
As CIO, Walsh has introduced many new technologies to large teams over the years. For him, the true test of any new technology is whether people actually use it. Will they find it useful enough to not introduce rogue solutions (which ultimately defeat the purpose of the company standardizing on one tool)?

“To make it valuable, using these tools has to become a daily habit. Because Smartsheet enables our teams to work how and where they work, it’s the ideal collaboration and project management tool. It’s easy to use, has deep functionality, and ultimately doesn’t restrict how they use it. And having it work within toolsets they’re already using, without requiring them to login to another, is a real usability benefit. For us, using Smartsheet is a habit that’s stuck.”

To quantify what it means to have the global teams all on the same page, and not wasting time looking for documents, holding status meetings, and coordinating schedules, Walsh sums it up this way: “If you have 50 people--and we have many more using Smartsheet--who save one to two hours a week not spending their time searching for information, holding meetings and duplicating effort, that adds up. That’s 500 hours a month that can be spent now creating a better product and market offering for our customers. And it’s just a fraction of the cost if it helps prevent missing a critical business deadline or launch date.”

Looking forward
Smartsheet is rapidly being adopted across the D-Link offices and vendor network. Additionally, Marketing teams can organize and collaborate on campaigns and events. Human Resources can track candidate resumes and onboarding, benefit information and the employee review processes.

Walsh added, “We were confident the stakeholders in product management would use it because it met their complex requirements. What was surprising is how it’s being fully embraced by many of the other teams and vendors worldwide. It’s made us a more efficient company.”