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Case study: Grass Valley Interview

We sat down with our client Grass Valley, a Montreal-based creator of innovative media technology. Discussing everything from what they do, to how they do it, it’s clear that Ganttic has been a big help sorting out their resource planning needs.

Read on to see what Thomas Ching, the Field Service Manager at Grass Valley, has to say about their success since implementing Ganttic.

Client interview with Grass Valley and Ganttic

G: Can you tell me a little of what Grass Valley does regarding video and broadcasting?
T: Grass Valley produces video broadcasting hardware for the media and entertainment
industries. We create equipment. We are actually the manufacturers of the equipment.

G: How long have you been using Ganttic?
T: Let’s see…we’ve been using Ganttic about a year. I believe we signed up about December of
last year so it would be a full year in December.

G: How are you using Ganttic now?
T: We’re primarily using it to track people. We use it for field service engagements. It’s also
used for those on the phones using it for support. It helps us check our balance load of phone
support and helps everyone know who’s on call. Since it’s web based, they can all access it. We
don’t use it for facilities and equipment at this time.

G: How often would you say you use Ganttic?
T: Oh, we use it all day, everyday. It’s one of those applications I just leave open on my desktop.

G: When you were looking for a solution like Ganttic, what problems were you trying to
solve?
T: Primarily we were looking to consolidate different systems. Some of us were using Excel and
others were using Outlook, notebooks, paper, etc. It has pulled everyone into a common
system which was the goal.

G: Why did you decide to go with Ganttic?
T: Well, actually, the pricing was very attractive. I actually was using Excel and was looking for
something to replace that. I started searching for something for myself, and came across it
actually. Since the pricing was so affordable, we said, “Hey, let’s try it because it’s not cost
prohibitive and we can at least give it a try.” Transferring from Excel to Ganttic was very easy.

G: And then you all started using it?
T: Yes. Actually, word spread pretty quickly. People started hearing about this tool I had and
word traveled fast. I started giving live demos to people to show them how it all worked.

G: Are you using many custom fields, or using just the default settings?
T: We’re using custom fields. We put in reference numbers, invoicing data, and other
reference data right into Ganttic. That part is much easier than Excel because it can all be
stored much easier.

G: Are there any features you’d like to see added?
T: We do frequent backups as much as we can, just in case something happened. I’d like to
be able to export the user list and details so I can have it in case someone accidentally went in
and started deleting users.

G: How many people are using Ganttic there?
T: Hmm…that’s hard to say. I’d have to look. Not really sure, but there are quite a few.

G: Now, Grass Valley is in 20 countries, correct?
T: I don’t have that exact number, but yes, we are in many different locations. Not all of them
are using Ganttic, but that is one good thing because this is web based, it can be accessed from
anywhere.

G: Has Ganttic solved specific problems for you?
T: Well, one thing, and I don’t think you highlight this enough in your materials, is that we have
pretty much done away with Webex now. We don’t need Webex web conferencing because
changes in Ganttic are in realtime. So once a week, we all get on a call and login to Ganttic and
review the schedule. If changes are made, it updates in realtime on everyone’s schedule so we
don’t have to use web conferencing anymore for this.

G: Hypothetically speaking, what would happen if Ganttic wasn’t available anymore?
T: Actually, I’ve thought about this quite a lot. It would probably mean we’d have to go back to
using Excel until we found something else. I’ve looked for things that are similar and I’ve not
found anything that can replace it.

G: What’s your favorite thing about Ganttic?
T: The amount of custom fields that I can put in and stay organized. Actually, we’ve looked at
more expensive and high end systems and stick with Ganttic because it is easier, stable, and it
works. A few folks around the office can’t believe that we’re getting what we are for this cost
because we’ve compared some other solutions that were much more expensive.

G: Can you quantify or put a value on Ganttic?
T: Do you mean an actual amount?…No, not really. However, is it worth the investment, absolutely. I’m impressed with what we get for the price.

G: For your field workers, do you think being able to update from the field would help?
T: Absolutely. That’s probably the biggest thing right now. It would be a big help.

Thanks to Thomas for sitting down and talking to us. If you’d like to read more about Grass Valley, check out our press release or visit their site.

And if you’d like to benefit from better organizational resource planning. Sign up for a free trial of Ganttic.