AppSheet in practice - a universe of possibilities

Interview on the potential of Google AppSheet

The no-code or low-code movement is growing and growing. After all, such applications enable business users in companies to create customized applications quickly, even in the face of a shortage of IT experts.

Market researchers at Gartner expect around 80% of technology products and services to be developed by non-IT experts by 2024. Cloud pioneer Google offers a powerful and user-friendly no-code solution with AppSheet.

Our Cloud Consultants Kevin Heeb and Liam Ormond and our Cloud Supporter Claudio Damiao were convinced of their potential at last week's AppSheet event in Zurich. They reported on the details in an interview.

Looking back, what impressed you the most?

Liam: The event was very interactive and the guests were the center of attention. Both in the overview of AppSheet and in the selection of the use case and its practical live implementation, the participants were able to contribute all their ideas and give feedback. Rich Ellis, Global AppSheet Customer Engineer at Google, implemented the wishes directly.

Kevin: I was fascinated by the countless possible applications. I can't say where the limits are.

Claudio: It was the mix - from the introduction to picking a development scenario to the more complex aspects that Chanel Greco, Developer Advocate, Google Workspace, went into.

The participants were allowed to choose an application that Google created live. What were the guests interested in and which scenario received the most votes?

Liam: Onboarding management received the most votes with 25. This was followed by a scenario for an overview of company events with 19 votes and a parking lot finder with 12 votes. Also of interest were, for example, an application to replace SAP by implementing supply chain management through AppSheet, a monitoring of financial transactions linked to a follow-up process, and building a price calculator to determine quotes for different customers.

Can you assess why onboarding was by far the most interesting?

Liam: Enterprise solutions that cover this range cost a fortune and AppSheet offers opportunities for simple, tailored implementation across all industries.

What did guests want to see implemented in onboarding management?

Liam: There were security aspects, for example, such as employees only seeing their own tasks, but also automatically setting the status to "Completed."

Do you have any tips & tricks for users?

Liam: AppSheet is built according to normalized data. That means: First the data should be normalized and then the app should be built.

Kevin: A library allows users to explore common use cases. They can be copied and customized.

What key findings did you make during the event?

Liam: AppSheet is not an IT tool, but a business automation tool for IT-savvy users, such as those who like to simplify their daily lives with databases and spreadsheets.

Kevin: That's right, it takes more than normal user knowledge.

Certainly, many companies will want to rely on external support for this. Can you help with the implementation?

Kevin: Yes, definitely! We also work closely with Google here and can transfer innovative know-how directly into the application.

Can StackWorks customers benefit from AppSheet, if so, where do you see potential?

Liam: Definitely! The possibilities are almost endless. AppSheet connects to the Apps Script scripting platform and combines with the entire Google Cloud to cover almost any business process, such as desk sharing, reservations, ticketing tools and event calendars.

Kevin: Another example is asset management. Which use cases come into question depends on the process. In principle, everything that is associated with the optimization of processes, automation and the replacement or consolidation of expensive tools can be mapped.

Liam: The latter are custom solutions in particular.

Claudio: A significant scenario is also the elimination of paper in the office. Learning platforms for new employees also come to mind. Google uses these internally itself.

Need users Google Workspaceto use AppSheet?

Liam: Not mandatory. AppSheet is available as a standalone product. It also works with Office 365, Dropbox, Salesforce.com, SQL databases, Apigee, REST APIs & more. However, the user experience is better with Google Workspace.

Kevin: AppSheet is additionally available in all editions of Google Workspace, with AppSheet Core included in the license in the Enterprise Plus version.

Can you already say which event you will be at next?

Claudio: That's the "PULSE - Best of Google" on September 7, 2023 from 12 to 5 p.m. at Google in Zurich. There, we will share how Google employees work and how secure cloud technology and No Code can help companies. However, we will not only be guests there, but will also present a slot on secure collaboration in the cloud.

Do you need support in optimizing your business processes? Then we are happy to be there for you.