Brandon Ospino - PeerSpot reviewer
QuickBase Developer - IT Support at a maritime company with 51-200 employees
Real User
Top 10Leaderboard
A stable and easy-to-use product that is appropriate for storing information
Pros and Cons
  • "The product is easy to use."
  • "The dashboard is not organized."

What is our primary use case?

We use the solution as a database for historical documentation.

What is most valuable?

The product is useful for simple processes like documentation and information storage. The product is easy to use. It makes it easy to track our information.

What needs improvement?

The solution is not useful for complicated processes. The solution does not have any good tools to analyze data. The dashboard is not organized.

The product should also improve the way the information is extracted. The solution should be directly integrated with Microsoft 365.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using the solution for one year.

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QuickBase
April 2024
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What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The product is stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The product is scalable. In my organization, 25 people use the product, including developers, administrators, data entry operators, business developers, architects, and software engineers.

How are customer service and support?

We have a very complex process. I contact the support team at least once a week. The support responds quickly. However, the answers are very basic. We often have to pay more to get an appropriate solution to our problems.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Neutral

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was really easy.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The product is cheap when compared to other products. It is worth the money.

What other advice do I have?

Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
PeerSpot user
Chief Technology Officer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Real User
It's easy to use and creating applications is quick.
Pros and Cons
  • "Creating applications in Quickbase will take, literally, a fraction of the time it would take to create them in other database applications (which shall remain unnamed)."
  • "Unfortunately, there is still no new report formatting available natively, and would still require 3rd party developers to help with that. ."

What is our primary use case?

Quickbase is our main repository of our assets, customer data and tracking of invoicing. As we developed Quickbase, it has quickly became the authoritative source of data , and as a result have started using it to access data via API from external apps. 


How has it helped my organization?

We have a very peculiar business, where no canned database would fit our need. By building the app in Quickbase, we were able to consolidate our CRM, all the customer resources, technical resources, and a slew of other items under one roof.

Best of all, the improvement on the app isn't a one-time deal because any time our business process has any modifications, we can immediately reflect those in our Quickbase workflows, as it is extremely easy to manipulate.                          .

What is most valuable?

The ease of use of Quickbase is second to none. Creating applications in Quickbase will take, literally, a fraction of the time it would take to create them in other database applications (which shall remain unnamed).                                    .

What needs improvement?

Reports, more specifically formatting reports. The reporting capability itself is pretty powerful in Quickbase; however, formatting those reports to present them directly to clients leave you a bit wanting. There are some 3rd-party providers that have some convoluted ways to create reports to MS Word, but they're too cumbersome. If this gets improved, it would be so close to perfection.

Update (05/09/2017) since my original review: Unfortunately, there is still no new report formatting available natively, and would still require 3rd party developers to help with that.                          .

For how long have I used the solution?

Three to five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

This product his extremely stable. Every once in a while, you will notice a tiny lag in the interface, but otherwise, it's extremely fast, and is very stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I have not quite reached any limitations with scalability, but having seen its architecture, including its extensive API, Quickbase can be scaled within itself, as well as through its API to extend into larger and/or different systems.

How are customer service and technical support?

Customer Service:

Customer service is excellent. Engineers are always very friendly, and happy to help. Response is usually within the same day. I've never contacted them by phone, so I can't speak to that, but email support has been satisfactory.

Technical Support:

The technical support is very good. The engineers are quite skilled, and can answer anything from a basic question to all the complex ones, and anything in between.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I have tried using Filemaker to create my solution, and MS Access, and a SQL database, all proved to be very cumbersome to work with, and required a deep knowledge in database architecture to accomplish what I really want to accomplish. I'm amazed that I was able to do it all myself in Quickbase. That's how easy Quickbase is.

How was the initial setup?

Initial setup was extremely easy, even when starting with an app from scratch. Figuring your way around the app is very simple and help is always available, either contextually or readily available in the community.

What about the implementation team?

The whole solution was implemented in-house. We have reached out to support a couple of times for some specific issues, but nothing major.

What was our ROI?

The amount of time that you would save by creating a Quickbase app that is specifically tailored to your company's needs is immeasurable. Keeping track of this kind of data, reporting in separate documents, and keeping those relationships intact would take hours of work.

Once the application is deployed, the ROI is almost immediate, and is translated in time savings, and quick access to information.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Quickbase is probably not the cheapest app out there. That said, it is worth its weight in gold. There is no other app that I know of in the market today that can do what Quickbase does.

Once you start using it, you will realize immediately the level of attention and effort that was put in building this platform, and you will immediately realize the value of it when it comes to its licensing costs.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

For the most part, we tried Filemaker Pro and could not make it work for our needs. It was too cumbersome to create relationships, and the connections we needed were simply too complex to produce. Also, the interface wasn't nearly as user friendly and not easy to understand.

What other advice do I have?

Quickbase is an extremely powerful solution. The level of details that is available to you within the platform, as well as the integration, and API that is available makes it a versatile tool for any company's needs.

Though everyone can make use of Quickbase, I will speak specifically to those who may not have database architects and application developers on staff. Quickbase will fill that gap by filling in that skill-set within the application, and allowing almost anyone within your organization who understand business process to build the appropriate Quickbase application.

Go for a trial run, and you can thank me later.

Update 05/09/2017: Quickbase has since introduced to new major features: WebHooks, and Quickbase Actions which made automated triggers very easy within Quickbase, as well as outside applications, without the needs to know complicated APIs. (especially the Quickbase Actions)


Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
QuickBase
April 2024
Learn what your peers think about QuickBase. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2024.
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PeerSpot user
Sr. Functionality Specialist at a logistics company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
It's given us the opportunity to create and store historic data using information we have not previously thought about tracking.

What is most valuable?

We have found countless features to put to use. Naming a few: Trending graphs, connected data, ability to use API. Also, the graphs are interactive and take you right to the data it's using.

How has it helped my organization?

QuickBase has made our process more efficient over time. It has definitely given us the opportunity to create and store historic data using information we have not previously thought about tracking.

What needs improvement?

I think QuickBase should offer more web based classes on using javascript and API call out to create a better, more custom application. Even helping with creating stronger dashboards.

For how long have I used the solution?

1 year

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

Yes, there was a slight learning curve being that Quickbase had been used by so little employees in our department so far. After traveling to cities like Boston and San Francisco, we were able to witness some of the power that could be unleashed with this tool.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Quickbase has only gone down a hand full of times. Each time, for only about 30 minutes max. This caused little if any distubance in our group.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have not had any issues with scalability. This product has remained fast, simple, and ready to store countless records.

How are customer service and technical support?

Customer Service:

Customer service is completely wonderful. You can turn in a question and someone will get back with you rather quick if not within a day. They set an appointment with me and walked me through step-by-step a formula.

Technical Support:

Technical Support is the same. You can turn in a question and someone will get back with you rather quick if not within a day. They set an appointment with me and walked me through step-by-step a formula.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We were using Microsoft Office for most data files and trying to utilize graph and communicate them over e-mail and powerpoints. We knew there was a better way.

How was the initial setup?

Set up is easy if you know a few things about data normalization. If you are referring to the set up of a user in QB, that process was as simple as requesting access.

What about the implementation team?

We use Trinity IS if needed. They were able to assist us with any business process that we were unable or too busy to create in Quickbase.

What was our ROI?

Return on investment (ROI) is the benefit to the investor resulting from an investment of some resource. A high ROI means the investment gains compare favorably to investment cost. This is not applicable to me.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

A business arrangement in which one company gives another company permission to manufacture its product for a specified payment. This is also not applicable.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Salesforce was initially something we looked at and are still looking at purchasing. Quickbase came first and it's a good thing because Quickbase and Salesforce are about to utilize each other by connecting data.

What other advice do I have?

I do not have any questions regarding this solution. Other than why is there a 120-character count required responses? Even though a few of the questions were not applicable to my situation.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
PeerSpot user
Tech Ops Maintenance Analyst at a logistics company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
We have utilized lookup formulas to help automatically populate fields regarding employee workgroups, but it can be difficult to figure out how to overlap functions.

What is most valuable?

QuickBase provides a great way to generate reports quickly from large amounts of data. Information is easily organized using tables and one-to-many relationships. We have utilized lookup formulas to help automatically populate fields regarding employee workgroups with many fields.

How has it helped my organization?

In our organization, we keep track of the seniority of thousands of employees, as well as their particular workgroup and the location of that workgroup. QuickBase has allowed us to easily categorize these employees, workgroups, and work locations into separate tables and then relate them to one another for comprehensive reports. It has given us lots of visibility for our workers.

What needs improvement?

Sometimes it can be difficult to figure out how to overlap functions. For example, it isn't as easy as it would seem to make a line graph overlap a bar chart. Sometimes easy functions like this take a much longer than expected time to complete.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have used QuickBase as a solution for one year three months.

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

In deployment we had some initial pushback from employees, who had been used to another system for over 10 years, for the process we were changing from.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Stability is constantly changing. Often times when we call with a large problem, we are redirected to "Trinity," Intuit's consulting and development group, who will then ask us to let them build the app for $XX rate.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Yes. Scalability issues resulted because of a lack of our knowledge in data normalization and data structuring. As with any system that keeps track of information or generates reports, you must have a strong system from the very bottom otherwise it will not be very scalable.

How are customer service and technical support?

Customer Service:

Customer service is great. All you have to do is open a ticket and a representative will be there to help you out. They call usually on the same day. I was able to learn QuickBase in less than a month because of their help.

Technical Support:

Technical support and webinars help greatly. It is a huge asset to be able to see how QuickBase functions in many different scenarios (on a weekly basis) because of the webinars.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Yes, but our previous solution was really no solution at all. It was really just a place-filler that had no place being where it was. We used Microsoft Word tables to keep track of our employee records.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was very easy. All it took was "creating an app" (or selecting an existing one), and building what you wanted to see right into it. Very, very straightforward.

What about the implementation team?

We implemented through an in-house team that had about three months experience. The solution required a short user-guide to basic functions, which were picked up quickly based on their user-roles.

What was our ROI?

Our ROI is unable to be determined at this time. However, long term this solution is determined to help the company greatly with hiring forecasts in our maintenance department.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

It may be worth your investment. Do your research and find out exactly how QuickBase can work for you. There are so many functions and capabilities. It would be a shame to not utilize something that you are paying for.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

No. QuickBase was being used for other functions within our company and seemed like the best fit for the problem we were trying to solve.

What other advice do I have?

Be knowledgable. It can be an extremely useful program, but you will only get out what you put in. Put the hard work in and reap a great benefit!

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
it_user330579 - PeerSpot reviewer
it_user330579Sr. Functionality Specialist at a logistics company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User

GREAT JOB JOHN! PEEACEEE!!!

PeerSpot user
Vice President - Corporate Operations at a construction company with 51-200 employees
Real User
Increased our productivity by allowing us to manage our back office with with just a few employees.

How has it helped my organization?

In our business many of our folks work in the field. We created a killer timecards application to manage project labor cost. We process 300 timecards a week and upload them into Intuit QuickBooks and process payroll with Intuit Payroll Services.

Our Human Resources app manages personnel and benefits data allowing us to reconcile benefits providers' invoices and the company's costs of benefits.

In the Construction business, we recognize revenue and cost using the Percentage of Completion accounting method. I wrote a QuickBase app to do Work In Process calculations.

These apps and others I have created increase our productivity and allow us to manage our back office with with just a few employees.

For how long have I used the solution?

9 Years

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

None at all because you can take one workflow challenge at a time and create a more efficient and productive solution at your own pace.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Never.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

QuickBase is the most easily scalable software product I have encountered in my 30 years of software solution implementations.

How are customer service and technical support?

Customer Service:

Superior.

Technical Support:

Superior.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We graduated from spreadsheets and MSAccess. We switched because we needed a web based solution.

How was the initial setup?

Easy because you do not have to drop entire software product on your employees all at once.

What about the implementation team?

I developed all the applications for our company.

What was our ROI?

ROI is a more productive back office team where QuickBase is the first choice solution vs. human beings.

What other advice do I have?

QuickBase is the only product where I can translate the manner in which our company does business into a software solution(s). I have yet to find a workflow challenge or unique project requirement that I cannot satisfy with QuickBase.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
it_user190623 - PeerSpot reviewer
it_user190623QuickBase Admin at a financial services firm with 51-200 employees
Vendor

I agree with the above, and will emphasize the ease of initial setup (starting small so employees/coworkers don't feel swamped is the way to go) and the awesome scalability and flexibility.

PeerSpot user
Senior Job Captain at a construction company with 51-200 employees
Vendor
Documentation of how to customize beyond the basics is very difficult to find. Overall, the quick creation of reports, notifications, and new fields has made using this product very useful.

What is most valuable?

The quick creation of reports, notifications, and new fields has made using this product very useful. As we are constantly starting new types of projects that need different data to be captured this is a must.

How has it helped my organization?

With the notifications and reports administrative time has been cut by more than half. As these functions are needed first on a daily basis in order to schedule that day this has made an amazing impact on our day to day business.

What needs improvement?

Documentation of how to customize beyond the basics is very difficult to find. Most items are some form of the user base rigging something to imitate the desired behavior.

For how long have I used the solution?

3 Years

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

There were no issues with deployment. The QuickBase support team was very helpful in making sure everything worked and were able to help resolve any issues prior to deployment.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Yes, we had speed issues but this was solved as we had some unusual characteristics of how our database was structured. QuickBase was able to help advise on the needed changes and help resolve the issues.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have not encountered any scalability issues. We do not use it to the extent of other organizations and so I do not see this every being a problem. Currently we manage over 7000 projects in our main database without issue.

How are customer service and technical support?

Customer Service:

I would give CS a 9 out of 10. They are very responsive and helpful. The support portal is easy to navigate and the cases are easy to follow and view their status.

Technical Support:

I would rate their technical support as 8 out of 10. They are very helpful but cannot or will not help with certain areas of customization. This is usually the types of customization that other users have had to resort to odd implementations of javascript or other languages as the software has not been upgraded to included some functions.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We were previously using excel and so the need to switch to a better means of project management was felt by everybody. This was a service that we were somewhat familiar with from some of our clients and so was looked at first.

How was the initial setup?

Straightforward. The UI makes it very easy to get up and running. At its easiest setup can be as simple as importing a current excel file. This then allows for the creation of reports and notifications which will make access the data faster and more manageable. Beyond this takes more time but does not increase much in difficulty.

What about the implementation team?

We went with an in-house approach to implement QuickBase. This did cause some issues due to the need to learn the service first but was not overly difficult. This did have a downside as we did not have an expert in-house to create the highly useful databases that a vendor is able to do.

What was our ROI?

We save roughly 50% on the associated tasks. We have not taken the time to really calculate the ROI as it is noticeable that our day to day business is much more efficient.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Ultimately the setup cost was a couple months of overhead for (1) employee creating everything and testing the database.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Upper management may have looked at other options but did not really take much time with this if they did. We were already familiar with the service as we had clients who were using it.

What other advice do I have?

I would make sure that when planning the database you make the effort to make sure that your structure allows for all the useful report types to be created. The biggest issue we have is we cannot use Gantt charts easily as our database is not setup to create these well.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
PeerSpot user
Program Manager at a printing company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
A great tool for many skill levels

What is most valuable?

You can easily import old Excel data to a new App. Once you have an App, the possibilities are endless. You can create custom reports and slice and dice the information with ease. I strongly recommend this product to anyone who has challenges at their organization regarding information and data management. It has opened up new possibilities and reduced the stress levels for those who are using it.

How has it helped my organization?

We no longer have rogue Excel files floating around the office. All of our information is in one place at one time.

What needs improvement?

More customization with Branding.

For how long have I used the solution?

6 months

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

Nope. Single Sign on and API calls to the databases may take a little time. More of a company challenge than a Quickbase issue.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Nope.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Nope.

How are customer service and technical support?

Customer Service:

A lot of resources are available. Not as easy to pin down the development team.

Technical Support:

Average.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Yes, Excel. Too many versions in too many places.

How was the initial setup?

Straightforward. Sign the agreement and off you go!

What about the implementation team?

An outside vendor team. Would not use them again.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
PeerSpot user
Senior Financial Analyst at a media company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
As your needs change, you can update your application to change with you

What is most valuable?

You can customize an application to best meet the needs of your business is invaluable! As your needs change, you can update your application to change with you.

How has it helped my organization?

We no longer have tons of Excel spreadsheets floating around the office to track various things, we can now track and update them in one place.

What needs improvement?

I wish it had a better calendar feature.

For how long have I used the solution?

Over five years.

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

No.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

No.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

No.

How are customer service and technical support?

Customer Service:

10 out of 10.

Technical Support:

10 out of 10.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Yes, we previously tracked our cases in Access and couldn't be any reporting on our results without exporting.

How was the initial setup?

Straightforward, easy to import our old data and create reports to display it.

What about the implementation team?

In-house.

What was our ROI?

Unsure.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

It's worth it.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Yes, off the shelf case management systems.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free QuickBase Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: April 2024
Buyer's Guide
Download our free QuickBase Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.