Item: Quickbase
Rating: 10
Author: Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with QuickBase

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Quickbase to accomplish two goals. We use the "pre programmed" CRM for our Business Development team within the Training and Education Department and we use a custom database to track our course accreditation. The BD team within the Training and Education Department is new, because of this we needed a simple tool to help them adjust to their new roles. The QuickBase CRM was very easy for them to understand and use while helping each member keep track of potential leads, wins and losses. As for the course accreditation, this was all being done on paper which is not conducive to any type of analysis or growth. In order to determine what states require what and how we are tracking in each state in terms of accreditation requests, this can not be a paper process. It holds back our growth and that does nothing for the business.

Pros and Cons

Pros

The pre-coded databases are such an amazing tool! Why rebuild the wheel when QuickBase has done the work for you? These aren't "light" databases either, they come pre-loaded with reporting features and the ability to customize. A real time saver.
I also like that you can get a subscription with or without support. While we were getting started, having the lifeline out there when we needed it was wonderful. The support folks really review your goals with you and provide really helpful advice especially if you are building something customized.
The ability to create your own database is a great option. The fact that you can code down to the email notification generation really puts you in control of your data. Also, the ability to make changes to your database on the fly means you are not waiting for programmers to do the work for you.

Cons

I would like to see training videos specific to each type of pre-made database. It does not need to be anything extensive, maybe just a quick navigational tour to show everything the database can do. That would save time and help to determine if we want to go customized or pre-made.
I appreciate your sales team checking in to see how we are doing, but I think there could be a bit more method to the madness as it seems like "random" check ins. Perhaps, if they see the database is not getting used give a call to see what the issue is.
Training videos on how to code common things like email notifications. Again, a quick video tutorial would be great. I am sure they have a "hit list" of common questions, maybe cover those first. Then when we get into the live conference call with the QuickBase professional, we are a bit better able to ask educated questions. We just may need a bit of "pre work" to prepare and that is missing right now.

Alternatives Considered

Salesforce

While Salesforce is an all encompassing solution, it was just too big and too costly for our needs. It would be like killing ant with a nuclear weapon. We didn't need all those bells and whistles at this point as the team is just learning about CRM technology. As the team gains comfort with the CRM, they will be better able to say, "it would be great if the CRM did this (fill in the blank)" and then we would see if we could code that into QuickBase.

Likelihood to Recommend

There are three main reasons I see QuickBase as the best solution, 1) when you need a database to start tracking NOW 2) you don't have an IT department ready or able to meet your needs and 3) you don't have a huge budget. As far as less appropriate, if your organization is one where all systems must tie together and you must have IT involvement, this will inevitably slow the process, not to the fault of QuickBase, but whenever there is integration involved, you add time. QuickBase is just that, a quick database solution.

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