Quickbase

The benefits of Quickbase are numerous, from faster app creation and custom workflows to increased team efficiency. The ability to tailor the platform to our specific needs has allowed us to improve project management and make decisions based on real-time data. Process automation has reduced errors and waiting times, increasing customer satisfaction. In short, Quickbase has provided us with a solid platform to drive the success of our projects and facilitate innovation in our organization.

Quickbase is a useful tool for solving common business problems, such as inventory management, because it facilitates the rapid creation of applications that are compatible with all display and mobile device sizes.

Quickbase does not offer a phone number for customer service and sometimes take days to respond to e-mails. I often seem to know more about the program than the service representative I get - my boss says if I stay on the phone long enough with Quickbase I will figure a way around the problem while they tell me all the reasons something can't be done. I have found you can't respond to the surveys they send honestly if you want any help next time. The rep will scold you about how it negatively impacts their career and will likely not pick your email next time which means you wait that much longer before you get help next time. The reps like to call after office hours so they can show they attempted to respond quickly but you get no real help. The table-to-table relationships are so convoluted you will need a half-dozen fields and a weird relationship table to get information from one table to another, and then it won't arrive the way you want: It may be a drop-down that you have to click on four different fields to get the info from the other table. Ever need a simple number generator (x+1) for invoice numbers, job numbers, etc? Go somewhere else or hire someone to build you one (Excel users will cry). You get the response: we are working on that.
Bottom Line: when developing a management program you will have time-sensitive issues that will make you wish for something better.

I have used Quick Base for a long time, and can get around easier than many of my colleagues. I view that as a mark against Quick Base, but overall it serves well as a place to store and visualize data for a distributed team.

Education of internal Quickbase builders is key to bringing together the above ideas. Business professionals at your company can learn about and capitalize on Quickbase's foundational building blocks with the help of a teacher. Say your company needs a particular app ASAP, and you don't want to go through the traditional iterative cycles with IT professionals to build it. Rather you prever to ask a Quickbase teacher to help YOU do the work. You can learn the basic Quickbase underpinnings as much as you feel comfortable with. When you get to parts that you don't know how to build, just ask for more knowledge, and you will be surprised how fast you can absorb the wizardry of Quickbase. Obviously there are some parts of complex apps that might benefit from building by fully vested Quickbase consultants. However, just by knowing the basics of how Quickbase works, you will be interfacing with those consultants much more efficiently and rewardingly.From my IT / Quickbase teacher perspective, the most powerful part of Quickbase is teaching Quickbase builders on the inside of companies. I help them to build their dreams. Dreams that only they can envision, as they are the most experienced with the business details. Many of my successful Quickbase consulting engagements have lasted five to ten years in length, and started with a client who wanted to learn. It is better for everyone involved. Your end-users will enjoy the interfaces better as well.