As I wrote in a recent CEO Message, we are approaching a major milestone - the Beta launch of Smartsheet v2. We’ve made numerous updates to the service since our initial launch in the fall of 2006 but unlike our previous releases, this endeavor encompasses a holistic review and update of the entire service.

So let’s get to the nuts and bolts of what makes this release different than most.

Beta Really Means Beta
Unlike some sites that seemingly exist in perpetual Beta, consider ours an 'old-school' Beta. Some of the features won’t be there day one, you may come across a *gasp* bug, and we do intend to transition from a free Beta to the subscription service along an aggressive timeline.

The Beta will launch alongside the current Smartsheet version. It will be a completely separate instance that our subscribers will be able to experience in parallel to the existing service. Once GA is released, anyone with Smartsheets in the v1 application will be able to easily move them to the new.

The decision to launch Beta was influenced by what we've learned in the past 2 years. The amount of usability testing, interviewing, and designing for this product dwarfed what we had to work with in developing v1. STILL, we recognize that there is much gained in gathering feedback from live users.

Do we believe that engaging with the world-class designers at Jackson Fish and hundreds of people in usability sessions improve our odds of hitting the bull’s-eye? Absolutely. But even expert designs get refined through real world usage. What we’ve learned from our customers having Smartsheet applied to thousands of real world business scenarios is invaluable. It has played as large a role in shaping the new product as have the beliefs we each hold. Our philosophy: never lose sight of those for whom you are building the solution – your customers.

Checking Features at the Door
Adding new feature after new feature – rather than striving for excellence on the most heavily used core capabilities - is the vice of most software companies.

To say that v2 is absent of new features isn’t completely accurate, but it’s not too far off the mark. We added a number of new things, but for the most part it’s been about making what we have excellent.

So we’ve checked our features at the door. If something made the cut, we know people see value in it and have worked as hard as possible to ensure that how someone interacts with it is as intuitive and efficient as possible. As I have shared before, we’ve become militant about eliminating concepts - the number of things people need to know to obtain maximum value from the solution.

In July, it will be time to apply our listening, preparation, and refined offering to the larger scale. It's the next step in delivering for you a phenomenal service that satisfies your need to better organize and track work while simplifying your life.