Smartsheet Review 2023: Key Features, Pricing, and Integrations

I would describe Smartsheet as the greatest of all the project management software out there. The tool helps you to manage projects effectively through spreadsheets and outline essential aspects.

With Smartsheet, you can manage projects by tracking tasks & resources available and setting & monitoring schedules/deadlines. While you use Smartsheet, you can access features – views, reports, advanced workflows, etc., that will help you manage your projects productively.

Regardless of your company type or size, the tool helps you to scale confidently and deliver value. To help your team succeed, the integration feature enables you to connect Smartsheet with other software for different purposes. It also connects with non-project management software.

The project management software brings team members together to collaborate on projects to fulfill a single goal. As team members collaborate, they can also automate workflows according to their needs.

Smartsheet is a cloud-based platform. This way, all projects and every related task and information are securely saved to the cloud as you process them on your devices. As it is cloud-based, team members can access project details, get notifications, etc., on their devices simultaneously (from a central console) without having to get to the office computer.

This spreadsheet-like tool gives you a feel of Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets. It also has a card view (Kanban style). However, the primary differentiating factor between Smartsheet and the duo is its numerous project management features.

1. User-friendliness

Smartsheet is designed with its users in mind. It suits everyone looking to manage projects effectively, regardless of their academic background or job descriptions. The tool is simple and easy to navigate for new users. On Smartsheet, users can manage content, create forms, collect data, automate tasks, check project progress, and collaborate with other team members.

2. Adaptability

Work and business processes keep changing as technology develops. So, as these changes occur, organizations must adapt to achieve their goals and objectives. Hence, the design of Smartsheet. Smartsheet allows teams to adapt to new work processes and achieve their goals with its different project management features.

3. Scalability

Smartsheet can accommodate several organizations (whether small teams or enterprises) and keep them functioning optimally. To scale, Smartsheet gives you access to process management, intelligent workflows, secure request management, etc.

4. Security 

Some management tools ensure the security of sensitive data, while some don’t. Nevertheless, Smartsheet remains distinct as it offers optimum security of its customers’ private information. This security yields safe collaboration, effective change management, and effective administration.

Smartsheet strictly adheres to compliance frameworks and regulatory standards to ensure better security and privacy. They include GxP (Quality Guidelines and Regulations), ISO (International Organization for Standardization), DOD SRG (Department of Defense) Cloud Computing Security Requirements Guides (SRG), etc.

In addition, Smartsheet security features include data privacy and transparency. The company complies with privacy notices, privacy practices, General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), data access & transfers requirements, etc.

1. Project Management 

As a project manager, I enjoy using Smartsheet a lot for project handling, resource allocation, progress tracking, etc. If you also find yourself in this industry, Smartsheet is a good option. With this tool, you’ll effectively handle project delivery, budget management, workflow automation, etc. Project management templates on Smartsheet are;

• Agile project with Gantt
• Project Management Office
• Project Schedule Management
• Daily Task Manager
• Project Setup
• Project with Resource Management
• Project Tracking & Rollup
• Project Budget

2. Financial Services

Smartsheet helps the financial services industry automate audit, compliance, and risk processes. With Smartsheet, you can also track strategic initiatives, accelerate program planning, and achieve smooth portfolio management.

3. IT and Operations

The Smartsheet project management software helps IT and Operations teams worldwide with software development and third-party software upgrades and migration. In addition, Smartsheet helps these teams with data center migration and hardware & infrastructure project management.

4. Higher Institutions of Learning 

Higher institutions are not left out of the group Smartsheet always helps. With Smartsheet, these institutions manage academic projects, resources, & administrative processes. This further helps these institutions to deliver quality services to students and staff. Higher institutions use this tool to standardize processes, thereby saving time and money.

5. Marketing

Marketing teams use Smartsheet to achieve success in their marketing effort. Smartsheet helps marketing teams to manage their creative work. Also, it allows them to set strategies and monitor their performance. With Smartsheet, these teams can also automate requests for requesting, planning and reviewing content.

6. Healthcare & Life Sciences

Life is so delicate that any human error can lead to grave consequences. To avoid this, the Healthcare and Life Sciences Industries use Smartsheet to transform how team members manage projects, resources, and processes. This helps improve patients’ experiences.

Smartsheet further helps team members working in this industry to collaborate. As members of this sector use Smartsheet, they can maintain project progress, patient satisfaction, and compliance.

Furthermore, the industry collects personal health information securely with Smartsheet. Likewise, with Smartsheet, it’s easier to protect sensitive data and ensure compliance with industry standards and regulatory policies like HIPAA, GDPR, and GxP.

For Hospitals and Clinics, Smartsheet helps to;

• Manage Inventory and Supplies
• Manage Clinical Trials
• Support Mission Critical Operations
• Open New Clinics
• Manage Facilities
• Optimize Hospital PMO
• Organize Healthcare Provider Credentials
• Support Mission Critical Operations
• Onboard Hospital Staff

Smartsheet templates for Hospitals and Clinics are;

• Hospital Equipment Availability
• Healthcare Credential Tracking
• CDC Preparedness Checklists
• Hospital Quality Report Card
• Project Management Office
• PPE Inventory Tracking
• Antibody Testing and Tracking
• Vaccine Allocation Requests Template

For Pharmaceuticals and Biotech, Smartsheet;

• Data Analysis
• Clinical Trials and Tests
• Regulatory Compliance and Management
• Mergers and Acquisitions

Smartsheet templates for the Pharmaceuticals and Biotech Industries are;

• PPE Inventory Tracking
• M&A Due Diligence
• Patient Trial Tracker with Rate Table
• CDC Preparedness Checklists
• Project Management Office
• Healthcare Credential Tracking
• Vaccine Allocation Requests Template

For Medical Device Manufacturing, Smartsheet effectively helps with the following;

• Clinical Trials
• Compliance Visibility and Tracking
• Production Calendar and Communications
• Implementation

Smartsheet templates for Medical Device Manufacturing are;

• CDC Preparedness Checklists
• Inventory Management
• Patient Trial Tracker with Rate Table
• Project Management Office

7. Construction

Construction companies use Smartsheet solutions to optimize project activities. They use Smartsheet for preconstruction, safety management, field operations, resource management, quality control, and reporting.

8. Federal Government

Federal agencies use Smartsheet to streamline operations, enhance security, and maintain compliance. They also use Smartsheet to make informed decisions and empower staff.

Smartsheet has six templates for all teams. Let us examine them.

1. 1. Campaign Management Template Set

Give your campaign the spark and popularity it needs with this template. It offers your campaign’s tools for submission, tracking, and overall management. It also drives real-time visibility to stakeholders. Try it here. You can also enhance this template with these sets;

• • WorkApps: This template is useful if you’re building an app. It is a no-code building platform using sheets, dashboards, and forms to streamline app development processes.

WorkApps allows branding, ensures app security, and tailors user experiences based on team members’ roles.

• • Dynamic View: Use the Smartsheet Dynamic View to share information with all collaborators. The template also helps you to monitor employee performance.

2. 2. Marketing Shared Services Template Set

Track, manage, and report reactive requests you receive from your team members. You can enhance this template with other sets; Calendar App & Dynamic View.

The Smartsheet Calendar App is an easy-to-use platform for building calendars shareable with your team. On the app, you can visualize data and code tasks or events with colors.

3. 3. Marketing Budget Management Template Set

The marketing budget management template works optimally for managing and providing visibility to budgets and budget changes. It also provides a log of all changes made to a budget before final approval. The template also visualizes key budget metrics.

Other tools for enhancing this template are;

• • Pivot App

It summarizes and analyzes large data stored in sheets. Likewise, it creates comparisons, patterns, and trends.

• • Data Shuttle: Smartsheet Data Shuttle allows your team to upload or retrieve data from your Smartsheet account and other software you use. It prevents repetition and manual work processes.

4. 4. Marketing Quarterly Goals Template

This template can help you organize necessary details and your projects’ performances in a single location. It also boosts your marketing performance. Also, the marketing quarterly goals template helps keep your team focused by tracking the progress made on quarterly targets.

5. 5. Event Planning (In-Person & Virtual) Template Set

It is your team’s best answer for tracking, managing, and executing physical and virtual events. Also, use the template to give all attendees event details from a single source. The template also makes it easy to transition from one event type to another. You can enhance the template with Calendar App and WorkApps.

6. 6. Marketing Technology Management Template Set

This template set manages your marketing applications and actual jobs. It visualizes marketing applications by budget, spend, and function. This helps it to identify areas to cut costs. The template takes new tech requests like dates, spend, and contacts. You can enhance the template set with Dynamic View, WorkApps, and Data Shuttle.

Smartsheet connects you with several third-party apps/tools for enhanced productivity. We shall discuss them here in four categories.

For Communication 

1. 1. Microsoft Teams

Connecting Teams with Smartsheet helps you transform conversations into actions. It also allows you to enhance operational visibility.

Features/Benefits of Smartsheet + Microsoft Teams

• • Alerts & Notifications: Project managers can set notifications from Smartsheet and send them to their team members on MS Teams. This way, the team members will stay abreast of important tasks, resource management, deadlines, etc.

• • Reminders – Direct Messages: Project management gets fun when team members are reminded of crucial steps. When you integrate Teams with Smartsheet, you get reminders directly in your inbox (on Teams). The integration helps you to review, update, and approve Smartsheet requests on Teams.

• • Grouping Conversations: Teams-Smartsheet integration can help you group conversations into different tabs. When this happens, your team members will quickly identify where to view specific projects, project progress, etc.

How to connect Teams with Smartsheet 

• • On Microsoft Teams, click ‘Store,’ and search for ‘Smartsheet.’

• • Click ‘Add for you’ if you would like to receive Smartsheet messages directly in Teams.

• • To add sheets, dashboards, and reports as a tab in a channel, click ‘Add to a team.’

• • To receive Smartsheet alerts on Teams, install the integration for it. However, your O365 admin must approve this application before you can receive notifications.

2. 2. Workplace

The Workplace and Smartsheet integration will help you to combine work and communications to get desired results faster. The integration accelerates work processes, improves visibility, and eliminates silos.

Features of Workplace-Smartsheet Integration

• • Get Smartsheet notifications, reminders, update requests, etc., in Workplace faster. This will help your team take prompt actions where needed.

• • As a Workplace recipient, you can view notifications and respond to requests from Smartsheet.

To connect both tools, go to the ‘Workplace directory’ and install the Smartsheet integration. Also, you can use the search bar in Workplace Chat and type in ‘Smartsheet.’ You need the admin of your Workplace account to authorize the integration.

3. 3. Brandfolder

This tool goes a step further to store your digital assets in the cloud. Manage work from a central location and improve customer experiences. The Brandfolder integration allows you to align collaborators throughout the creative process and streamline workflows. The tool has also helped me optimize processes and improve performance.

As you connect Brandfolder with Smartsheet, you further have access to the following;

• • Collaboration:  Keep every team member up to date with conversations on multiple sheets, rows, and comments.

• • Corrections: As a project manager, you can review documents or images your team members upload.

• • Monitoring: On Brandfolder, richer file metadata and AI tagging help you to see who created an asset or approved it.

• • Control & Governance: It’s easier to track your projects for custom branding or alterations through the Brandfolder permissions and version control.

• • Digital Asset Management: Store, share, and analyze assets (documents, images, videos, etc.).

• • A Single Source: Manage projects from a single platform and avoid file loss, duplicates, or miscommunication.

• • Analytics: The Brandfolder-Smartsheet connection helps you monitor company data – engagement and project performance. This, in turn, helps you make decisions when necessary.

4. 4. Google Chats

What I love about this integration is how smoothly it keeps conversations with internal and external stakeholders. It removes the worry of missing important notifications, requests, and reminders from Smartsheet. Once this integration is in place, you will get all alerts in your Google Chat. This improves work efficiency and accelerates your team’s work.

To enable this integration, you need to download the Google Chats app. The app is available for use on desktop and mobile. Once downloaded, launch the app, and search for ‘Smartsheet’ in the ‘Find people, rooms, Bots.’

5. 5. Slack

Get access to Smartsheet updates and respond to them directly from Slack. An exciting thing about Smartsheet notifications is how you can choose for them to be private or public. To connect both project management, visit the Slack app directory to install Smartsheet.

6. 6. Webex

With Smartsheet and Webex, your team can combine communication and work platforms. This helps teams to work and communicate in real-time without changing context. Connecting both management tools lets you control how much access collaborators have to your project/data.

To begin this integration, navigate to the Weex messaging spaces on the Webex app. Click on ‘+Apps.’

For Data Visualization

1. 1. Power BI

Power BI for Smartsheet helps teams to visualize and monitor project metrics. Implementing changes based on available metrics will yield positive results for your organization. The Power BI app is available for mobile and desktop. This will aid in ease of access to key metrics.

To connect both software, visit the Power BI website to download the desktop connector. Fill in your Smartsheet credentials, go to the list of data sources, and select Smartsheet. Again, enter your credentials to see the projects, sheets, reports, etc., in your Smartsheet account.

2. 2. Salesforce

Salesforce allows data to sync with your Smartsheet account for stakeholders to view. This aids in enhanced collaboration & productivity and automated workflows.

3. 3. Tableau

Data visualization in Smartsheet is better with Tableau. It helps you to identify, analyze data, and monitor business trends. Follow these steps to connect Tableau with Smartsheet. Other integrations for data visualization for Smartsheet are Jira, Microsoft Dynamics 365, and ServiceNow.

For Content Creation 

1. 1. Adobe Creative Cloud

This software helped a lot while I worked on a creative team. It allowed my team to collaborate effectively, hence, our projects’ success. The tool is helpful for project managers, designers, and content reviewers. Visit this page for a step-by-guide guideline to connect this tool with Smartsheet.

2. 2. Lucidspark

Connecting Lucidspark with Smartsheet helps to convert brainstorming or planning sessions into plans. These plans are presented in rows, task lists, etc. Other integrations for content creation are Miro & DocuSign.

For automation, tools you can integrate with SMartsheet are Zapier, Workato, UiPath, etc. On the other hand, tools for security are Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps and McAfee MVISION.