What is most valuable?
Customizable reports - we use reports for everything. Early on our users indicated that some of the canned views that Workfront provided were not adequate for our needs, so now the work that they have been assigned is provided to them in a form that they're able to better digest.
How has it helped my organization?
Our Compliance department loves Workfront. They finally have an easy way to see what work they have, and what work is coming, without everyone having to resort to updating spreadsheets on their own time.
What needs improvement?
Workfront still has a lot of growing to do in the proofing and review areas of the application. We love proofHQ but certain functions are broken for us right now and it's difficult to say when a fix is coming. Additionally, the document review process is way too clunky and needs to be streamlined.
For how long have I used the solution?
Our team launched Workfront in April 2015
What was my experience with deployment of the solution?
We deployed with the help of a consultant, and he was very helpful in getting us to align all our processes within Workfront. I don't think we would have been able to do as well if we were doing it by ourselves.
Additionally, we bought into a certain number of consultant hours with Workfront, and this was crucial for us as it allowed us to iron out a few wrinkles in our processes as well as creating additional reports.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
There was one huge issue where for some reason, proofHQ went down one day. It took a week for us to fix it, and in the process we lost a couple of documents. Normally we don't have any problems although during certain times of the day, the website appears to be a little slow.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We are in the process of adding additional teams to Workfront and we don't anticipate it will be a problem. Workfront's ability to segregate work based on permissions and different teams and companies is helpful in this regard.
How are customer service and technical support?
Customer Service:
Customer service is pretty good. Our customer service rep is very responsive. I log into the workshops and classes on a regular basis and staff is friendly and knowledgeable.
Technical Support:
Initial response is stellar and so long as the problem is easily fixable, the resolution is almost immediate. Where Workfront tends to fail is during problems that have a longer life - anything that is "submitted to product" or "submitted to development" tends to fall into silence and we don't see any update until it's been implemented.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I don't believe we had a different solution before Workfront. We were limping along with a combination of sharepoint, excel spreadsheets, email, and a documentation system that was very clunky and hard to customize. Nobody really knew what was going on, and as time went on and we started growing our work, we knew we needed to find a solution that would address these issues.
How was the initial setup?
Initial setup seemed to be pretty straightforward, and our IT department had very few issues. We needed additional meetings surrounding SSO, and email functionality never really got straightened out, and it's difficult to put a finger on why, since our company tends to be pretty security-conscious.
What about the implementation team?
We implemented through a third party recommended to us by Workfront. They seemed pretty expert at the time, considering that we were very beginner-level. It's really helpful to stress that anyone coming in have some experience with the kind of work that you do, because an understanding of your process is really key to making sure that Workfront works for you.
What was our ROI?
I can't speak about ROI except in the broadest terms. The reports are live and update themselves based on what's going on within each project, and this is a huge timesaver for us. Various departments that we have to collaborate with, have indicated that they are much more efficient with their work because they are able to see exactly where everything is and what's coming.
Our workers are more able to allocate their time in a meaningful way because of our transparent prioritization levels. Our PMs have indicated that several large projects would not have been able to go through as quickly as they did, without the level of collaboration in document review that is now available to us.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Really evaluate your needs and understand your process. The different license types allow different levels of access into Workfront, and although in the beginning, everyone in my team felt that they needed the highest level of access, this hasn't really been the case.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We evaluated everything we could find in the Gartner Magic Quadrant. Specifically, we asked 8 vendors to come in for demos, and narrowed down to two.
What other advice do I have?
What I consistently hear from Workfront is that Workfront is not going to fix your process, and I certainly believe it. By putting our processes into Workfront we've been able to shed a light on where our problem areas are, and this has been instrumental in getting team members to be more accountable about what's going on in their area.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.