Alfabet IT Planning &amp; Portfolio Management vs Smartsheet comparison

Alfabet IT Planning & Portf...

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 4, 2024

Alfabet IT Planning & Portfolio Management and Smartsheet both compete in project management and IT planning. Smartsheet appears more favored for its flexible collaboration whereas Alfabet is preferred for strategic planning and IT governance.

Features: Alfabet is known for IT portfolio management, strategic alignment, and application lifecycle management. Smartsheet is valued for intuitive project management tools, collaboration, and customizable workflows.

Room for Improvement: Alfabet can improve in deployment complexity, user interface simplicity, and cost-effectiveness for smaller businesses. Smartsheet could enhance its reporting capabilities, expand integrations, and provide more robust Gantt chart features.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Alfabet requires extensive deployment and specialized support, making it less accessible for some users. Smartsheet offers a more straightforward deployment process with user-friendly service and minimal technical needs.

Pricing and ROI: Alfabet involves a higher setup cost but promises substantial ROI for IT-driven organizations. Smartsheet is more affordable, offering quick ROI suitable for businesses seeking prompt solutions without significant financial investment.

To learn more, read our detailed Alfabet IT Planning & Portfolio Management vs. Smartsheet Report (Updated: June 2025).

Alfabet IT Planning & Portfolio Management vs. Smartsheet

June 2025

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Helped 857,162 peers since 2012

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Alfabet IT Planning & Portf...

Ranking in Project Portfolio Management

13th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Smartsheet

Ranking in Project Portfolio Management

4th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Project Management Software (5th)

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Project Portfolio Management category, the mindshare of Alfabet IT Planning & Portfolio Management is 2.2%, up from 2.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Smartsheet is 8.5%, up from 7.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Project Portfolio Management

Featured Reviews

Mohammad Shalan

Head of Business Agility and Development at Aqarat Real Estate Development Company

Helps us to implement and understand the status of our projects

The initial setup is straightforward. The solution's deployment takes around two months time. We have to set up the solution. We have to put in the data to ensure that the solution is working. We need to fill out our process, our tools, and our data. Two developers were involved in the deployment process. It is a self-maintained solution that requires updates from time to time. I rate the setup an eight out of ten.

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PaulDiaz

Project Manager at Amgen

Needs to improve baselines and changing dates can be frustrating

I like the dashboarding feature best, as it lets me assemble a workspace with source sheets, dashboards, and reports simultaneously. The standard reports and worksheets are most useful for team collaboration. People look at dashboards during presentations, but they go to the sheets to update projects, add comments, or make notifications. It's automated, so changes come to me or whoever needs to see them. I can send notifications from specific line items. The worksheet is key for tracking project progress, though we track it at a higher level rather than detailed work breakdown structures. Subject matter experts say when they'll deliver things, and that's what we track.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"The dashboard is the most valuable feature."

"Smartsheet is easy to use."

"The dashboard feature is the most valuable aspect of the solution."

"The dashboard and the layouts are quite good."

"Smartsheet is stable."

"The product is easy to use."

"The most valuable feature of Smartsheet is its intuitiveness, ease of use, and overall simplicity."

"Enables coordination and sharing of information that is relatively inexpensive."

"I think Smartsheet would scale fine."

More Smartsheet pros

Cons

"The user-experience, enhanced performance, and in-hand governance can be improved."

"Areas for improvement in Smartsheet include better integration capabilities with other technologies through APIs and addressing limitations in reporting functionalities."

"Initially, there were issues like dropdowns. Those have been overcome."

"The solution should include integrations with other platforms or software."

"The system can become more challenging to use in more complex scenarios, requiring additional add-ons that can be quite costly."

"The product must include more modules for project management."

"An area for improvement in Smartsheet is that if you're in the government or you're a regulated customer, you're not allowed to use APIs due to internal restrictions, so there are specific things that you cannot connect to it. Another area for improvement in the solution is that because there's a capacity of how many records you can have, and there's a capacity of how many functions you can apply, Smartsheet has set up their system where they can force people into purchasing a $20,000 additional module that is called Control Center, that will create documents for them on the fly, so they don't use so many functions and automation. Smartsheet also needs to improve on training, because the training that is out there is very little. The solution requires a steeper learning curve. You have to do your own training and you have to work on your own solution."

"You were forced to create a new tab rather than add another sheet."

"The dashboard is not user-friendly, it needs improvement."

More Smartsheet cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is expensive. There is a yearly licensing cost. There are no additional costs, only the standard license, and the cloud license."

"Smartsheet has many licensing models. You need to add the package that best suits your requirements. The license is paid per user and it is monthly. The cost was approximately $7 per PC, $15 for professional, and $33 for the enterprise plan."

"This licensing is straightforward and they charge per user."

"The tool's monthly fee is 25 dollars, which is within the range of most cloud-based project management tools. I rate the tool's pricing a five out of ten."

"Smartsheet can be low-priced, with personal subscriptions around eight dollars a month, but I imagine it gets pricier for enterprise systems. Microsoft Project can be more expensive."

"There's a trial version and a free version. Each license costs a decent amount, $25 per month or something."

"If I'm not mistaken, it was pretty manageable. It was about 200 bucks a seed. The business really felt a strong need for it. So, it was viewed as a safer and more straightforward cost that we were willing to pay as compared to Domo, which took some convincing."

"Its licensing is on a yearly basis. I was responsible for negotiating the price with the Smartsheet team, but I don't remember what the price was. Its standard license probably was around 5,000 to 6,000 a year. The enterprise version is significantly more expensive."

"The solution is expensive."

More Smartsheet pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Project Portfolio Management solutions are best for your needs.

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857,162 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

20%

Computer Software Company

12%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Government

Educational Organization

29%

Manufacturing Company

Healthcare Company

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Alfabet IT Planning & Portfolio Management?

The dashboard is the most valuable feature.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Alfabet IT Planning & Portfolio Management?

The solution is expensive. There is a yearly licensing cost. There are no additional costs, only the standard license, and the cloud license.

What needs improvement with Alfabet IT Planning & Portfolio Management?

The user-experience, enhanced performance, and in-hand governance can be improved.

Has anyone moved from Microsoft Project to Smartsheet? How has your experience been with Smartsheet?

Hi @Eire Zimmermann, I helped an organization evaluate both MS-Project and Smartsheet when they were conducting their PM tool RFP. The short of it is this, MS Project is not caught up with the mo...

What do you like most about Smartsheet?

The tool creates shareable dashboards. These dashboards allow us to display project deliverables' status, their position in the queue, expected delivery timelines, and more. The best part is that t...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Smartsheet?

The pricing is great and reasonable enough that I maintained my copy and bought it for my team independently.

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Product Reports

Project Portfolio Management

May 2025

Alfabet IT Planning & Portfolio Management report

Download Alfabet IT Planning & Portfolio Management product report

Download Smartsheet product report

May 2025

Also Known As

planningIT, alfabet planningIT, Alfabet IT Planning and Portfolio Management

No data available

Overview

Software AG's Alfabet IT Planning & Portfolio Management Platform provides decision-makers with insight into the IT portfolio to make the right IT investment decisions and to plan how IT will support the business in the future.

Software AG

Smartsheet is a dynamic platform with features like real-time data sharing, Gantt charts, and integration with Jira and Microsoft Teams, offering valuable tools for efficient task management.

Smartsheet combines Excel-like functionality with cloud accessibility, making it efficient for tracking, reporting, and workflow management. Users benefit from its scalability and robust security, making it ideal for enterprise-level projects. However, improvements in data visibility, real-time collaboration, and user-friendliness can enhance its utility. Customizable dashboards, project management features, and seamless integrations offer great flexibility, though there is a demand for better automation, API enhancements, and new templates.

What are Smartsheet's most important features?

Real-time Data Sharing: Facilitates seamless collaboration between users.
Project Management Tools: Includes Gantt charts and task prioritization for efficient project tracking.
Integration: Works with major platforms like Jira and Microsoft Teams for comprehensive data flow.
Automation Capabilities: Reduces manual work with robust automation functionalities.
Customizable Dashboards: Allows users to tailor dashboards to meet specific needs.

What benefits or ROI should users look for in reviews?

Efficiency: Streamlines workflows with tools that enhance project tracking and collaboration.
Scalability: Supports growing enterprise demands with its scalable architecture.
Security: Provides robust, secure environments for data management.
Adaptability: Offers flexibility to customize workflows for improved resource management.

Smartsheet is utilized by organizations in industries like engineering, education, and IT for project management, task tracking, and data integration. It enables planning, scheduling, and team collaboration, facilitating dashboard creation and automation of processes. Its flexibility in customizing workflows is appealing to those managing projects and programs.

Sample Customers

FUJITSU, Coca Cola, ING, CreditSuisse, CosmosDirekt, GTA, Echo Entertainment Group, Electrolux, Cern

Sony Music, ESPN, Hilton, Unisource, Colliers, Extreme Networks, Groupon, Netflix