Looks are deceiving. Several sources reported that Smartsheet, the web-based “spreadsheet creation” service, has raised $2.69 million in a Series A-4 of funding, led by Madrona Venture Group. The true part is that they received funding – congratulations – but what everyone got wrong is calling it a spreadsheet service. It is not.
Smartsheet is in the business of collaborative task management & tracking, and they came up with a simple idea: why not use an interface that just about all computer-users are familiar with: the spreadsheet. Clearly more users are familiar with 
the look-and-feel of spreadsheets than with task management / project management systems. I think it’s a great approach – no wonder Smartsheet won two awards at the recent Under the Radar Office 2.0 event.
Another Under the Radar participant, and one I happen to like chose a similar approach: Wrike allows users manage projects without having to use project management software – it’s all done via email. Interestingly, everyone got this one – nobody’s calling Wrike an email system, just because they manage projects via email. 
. By the same token, Smartsheet is not a spreadsheet service – for online spreadsheets you’d have to try EditGrid, Zoho Sheet or Google Docs & Spreadsheets.
This paradigm shift – ignoring the more complicated UI of special systems and using widely popular, familiar systems to carry out more complicated tasks – is not unknown even “heavy” enterprise software: a prime example is SAP’s Duet: accessing ERP functions via Office apps.
The idea of using familiar interfaces – Excel like interface in this case – to do regular tasks makes intuitive sense. The “Keep It Simple, Stupid!” school of thought is bound to find converts.
It would be interesting to see where this would head. One might see aggresive adoption of familiar interfaces by enterprise vendors for select processes, as in Duet. Or have niche players who focus on a particular task – the task management process described above is a good example of that. Or have firms creating platforms that enable users to build their own links between their familiar interfaces and their enterprise processes.
– Sangeeta Patni,
Extensio Software
Hi Zoli,
1. It is very difficult not to be a spreadsheet when the definition is a table of values arranged in rows and columns. In this sense yes, they are.
2. It is not Excel, for sure.
3. They have lost the direction in my pint of view.
4. I am building a corporative spreadsheet with the focus of allow several people working of the same numbers and maintain consistency. By the end of this summer I am having the prototype ready for your evaluation.
Mario Ruiz
http://www.oursheet.com
I didn’t visit Under the Radar, though I know Wrike. I personally like the idea of manageing projects via email. The tool can be a bliss for thousands project managers.
I’ve been experimenting with various project management tools and have discovered an excellent site. It is a very user friendly, web-based application that is well worth taking the time to explore. Take a few minutes and look at Projjex.com. The tutorials are excellent & you don’t need to be a Rocket Scientist to figure out how to use it. It even offers a free version so you can try it on for size.