The Challenge
The client, a global tech company managing thousands of data center construction projects, was near a breaking point.
Their planning process relied on spreadsheets and internal tools that could not keep up with the scale, complexity, or urgency of the work.
With over 2,500 projects and more than 800 users, there was no way to track readiness or priority, control who changed critical project data, or even forecast whether a project would launch in the coming year.
As a result, budgets were spent on low-priority work, high-impact projects stalled, and planning teams lacked the visibility to course-correct in time.
Internally, frustration mounted:
- No real-time reporting across the project portfolio
- No controls over access, edits, or approvals
- No way to identify which projects should move forward or wait
The planning group knew they could not build for another year using disconnected spreadsheets. They needed a better way to prioritize development.
Our Solution
The client needed a better way to manage thousands of overlapping projects without losing control over who could update, approve, or prioritize critical planning data.
We built a custom application in Quickbase that aligned with their internal planning standards and supported the complexity of global construction projects.
The tool allowed the team to:
- Configure access rules to control who could edit and approve projects
- Standardize project evaluation using five internal planning criteria
- Integrate with their intake system while still functioning independently
By anchoring the system in the client’s own decision-making framework, we ensured it could scale across regions and teams without introducing bottlenecks or workarounds.
Specifically, it guides the team to address these questions:
- Configure access rules to control who could edit and approve projects
- Can we select it?
- Can we support it?
- Can we complete it within the timeframe?
- Is it within budget for our objectives?
- Is it within budget for our region?
Key Capabilities
Each feature was designed to help the client prioritize projects more effectively, enforce planning discipline, and reduce misalignment across global teams.
- Prioritization by Readiness and Budget Fit: Teams can now rank projects based on internal readiness tiers (R1–R5), strategic priority (P0–P4), and available cash flow—enabling faster, clearer decision-making.
- Structured Approval Paths: Only authorized users can submit or approve projects, with clear role-based access that locks once planning deadlines pass. This reduces conflicting edits and last-minute changes.
- Global Planning Filters: Teams can evaluate projects by objective, region, or owner, ensuring that local efforts align with global goals.
- Connected, Flexible Architecture: The tool can also run independently of the intake system, preserving autonomy without sacrificing cross-system visibility.
Our Process
We started with a discovery sprint to untangle the client’s existing planning workflows, data structures, and system limitations.
From there, we moved fast to design and deliver a tool that could handle global planning demands without locking teams into rigid workflows.
Key Steps:
- Audited the client’s spreadsheet-based system to identify blockers and manual workarounds
- Mapped their internal planning standards into a digital workflow, enforcing clear roles and approval paths
- Built the new tool in Quickbase with dual capability (integrated with their intake system but able to run independently)
- Delivered iterative builds for daily review, incorporating team feedback in real time
- Aligned permissions and approval logic to reduce risk and prevent conflicting edits
The Roadblocks
Delivering this tool meant navigating both technical and cultural friction.
The client’s teams were used to waterfall-style development and long approval cycles. Shifting to our agile approach, which relied on rapid iteration and daily feedback, was unfamiliar at first. But once they saw how quickly their input shaped the product, the pace became a strength.
The complexity of the planning environment meant no two teams used the system the same way. Regular feedback loops helped ensure the tool fit the real-world behaviors of every stakeholder group before full deployment.
Internally, every stakeholder group had its own workflow and expectations for how planning should work. Some teams prioritized speed. Others prioritized budget. Some focused on global strategy, while others handled local execution. Aligning these competing needs required constant recalibration and compromise.
Finally, adoption required a mindset shift. Teams had to rethink how they submitted, approved, and prioritized work. What was once flexible and informal now followed clear rules. That structure created early resistance, but it also made the wins visible.
The Toolstack
The client’s planning tool was built entirely in Quickbase, chosen for its flexibility and ability to support complex workflows without heavy overhead.
Quickbase allowed us to:
- Configure access controls tied to planning deadlines
- Map internal approval logic without hardcoding dependencies
- Rapidly deliver changes based on daily feedback
- Integrate with their intake system while keeping the tool modular
The Results
The planning team now has full visibility into 2,500+ active and upcoming construction projects and can make real-time decisions about what to prioritize, delay, or decline.
Previously, it took up to 12 months to make changes to their planning tools. With the new Quickbase system, teams can deploy updates in days (or minutes) based on changing priorities.
For the first time in the company’s history, the annual planning cycle went forward without a single escalation. Teams had what they needed, and leadership had confidence in the process.
What used to be a fragmented, spreadsheet-based system is now a single source of truth. Every team can see what matters, what is approved, and where the budget is going.
Key Results:
- System update cycle reduced from 9-12 months to days
- Eliminated escalations during global portfolio planning
- Enabled real-time project visibility across 2,500+ initiatives
- Gave 800+ users access to a single, controlled planning system
- Prioritized high-impact construction with clear readiness and budget filters
What’s Next?
The planning team is now focused on strengthening the tool’s budgeting capabilities. They aim to allocate funds more effectively to high-priority, ready-to-go projects, avoiding slowdowns and reducing wasted spend.
With the new system in place, they are better equipped to refine planning cycles, manage tradeoffs, and scale smarter year over year.
Client Overview:
A U.S.-based global technology company with operations spanning search, cloud infrastructure, enterprise systems, and large-scale data center engineering.
The client’s project planning team manages large-scale construction programs for global data centers. Our work focused on their intake and portfolio management overhaul.
Industry: TechnologyLocation: GlobalSize: 100,000+ employees
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