New Platform Reimagines the Workplace as a Single Platform for Teams to Collaborate on Data Analytics, Projects, Content, and Chat–No Matter Where They Are
Slingshot, the digital workplace that connects everyone you work with to everything they need to get work done, today launches to organizations across the U.S. The new digital workplace streamlines companies’ workplace tech stacks by giving remote, in-person and hybrid teams a single place to collaborate, make data-driven decisions, set goals, share content and communicate within the context of the projects they’re working on. Slingshot is available as a desktop app (Mac and Windows) and mobile app (Apple App Store and Google Play), and can be accessed on any web browser at slingshotapp.io. The platform was built by the Infragistics Innovation Lab, the experimental arm of software company Infragistics.
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“We’ve built a workplace where teams can get work done in the digital realm, during an especially critical time when organizations are reshaping their workplaces to be productive for in-person, remote and hybrid teams.”
The workplace is no longer a single physical space that team members occupy during a fixed set of working hours. And teams are often composed of in-house employees, freelance talent and vendor organizations, sometimes spread across time zones and geographic locations. To adapt to this new reality, companies have scrambled to adopt new tools, but have ended up with more than they need. As a result, team members are spending their time switching from one app to the next to figure out where conversations happened, where content is stored, what others are working on, and where they can find the data they need to make decisions.
Slingshot eliminates these obstacles so that teams–no matter where they are–can work smarter, make better decisions, and achieve optimal results. Its project management interface features native chat functionality, content-sharing, and a data catalog that acts as a central location for the data that matters to an organization, so teams can make informed decisions through dashboards.
An end to app-switching and interrupted workflows.
When companies use different apps for everything that goes into work–communication, file storage, project management, running analytics–team members have too many places to search for the things they need to do their jobs.
Slingshot puts an end to constant app switching and increases productivity and efficiency by bringing together everything teams need in one place:
- Project management – Slingshot creates a project control center for teams, where they can easily track the progress of every project and its success. Teams can set start and end dates for projects, break their work down into tasks and sub-tasks, and give ownership to each task for clear accountability.
- Data analytics – Every team member has access to an organization’s data and can quickly find the insights they need, when they need them most. With Slingshot, teams can easily integrate different data sources, machine learning models and create visual dashboards with one-click to drive better decisions.
- Content management – Instead of wasting hours hunting for documents and files across applications, teams can bring together and organize content into structured, contextual views. Slingshot integrates with OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox, Box and SharePoint. Users can also add in direct URLs, images and upload local files directly into the platform.
- Chat – Teams can have group conversations through threaded discussions or comment directly on specific content and data so that conversations happen in context, rather than separate from the project or process at hand. Users can mention a specific person or people to grab their attention, or collaborate one-on-one through direct messaging.
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Democratize data across multiple teams to create a data-driven culture.
Teams often don’t have a quick, holistic lens into the data they need to make critical decisions and move projects forward. This is because data is spread across several systems, channels and gatekeepers, and requires analysis to make it actionable.
Slingshot brings the power of an integrated business intelligence (BI) machine into the daily workflow, allowing everyone within the organization to not only access data but analyze it through the creation of visual dashboards. This breaks down silos–and eliminates the idea that the most senior, or loudest, person in the room is right.
- Connect multiple data sources. Slingshot gives teams a full view of key business insights by bringing together analytics from multiple data sources, including databases and spreadsheets (e.g. Excel and Google Sheets), SaaS systems, Big Data and Cloud data products (e.g. Google Analytics, BigQuery and Snowflake), and financial, marketing and sales tools (e.g. Salesforce Marketing Cloud, HubSpot and Marketo).
- Introduce a centralized Data Catalog for the organization. Companies have an overabundance of data but team members either can’t find what they need or don’t know what to look for. Slingshot’s data catalog functionality acts as an organization’s single source of trusted information so that users can see what data the organization possesses, and easily access it the moment they need it.
- Create data visualization dashboards. Rather than stare at spreadsheets of raw data, teams can create multi-source visualizations to identify trends, assess performance and forecast the next best steps for a given project–or the business. Team members can go quickly from a pinned Excel file, for instance, into the Slingshot visualization editor to create dashboards. This lets them validate or disqualify their decisions and empowers them to move forward.
- Create data-driven discussions directly from insights. Team members can start discussions directly within the Analytics section and comment on specific dashboards for in-context collaboration and iteration.
Empower Teams with Clarity on Priorities, Workload and Expectations.
Team members often feel overloaded, unsure of priorities and afraid to say no, even when they have too much work on their plates. And Leaders are left scrambling when team members don’t focus on the highest-value task or don’t hold themselves accountable, and often fail to meet deadlines or goals as a result.
Slingshot increases visibility between team members and leaders, so teams can focus on what matters the most and work productively to drive business results.
- Align on priorities that impact the bottom line. Where teams spend their time is where their priorities lie, but often, these don’t align with an organization’s larger goals. Slingshot aligns teams on goals and objectives so team members can prioritize their work accordingly and focus on the highest-value items that will drive business results.
- Increase visibility into projects and teams. With Slingshot, team leaders can see what team members are working on–at any given moment–to avoid overloading them. And team members can see what other colleagues are working on to identify any blockers before a project is at risk.
- Create transparency and trust: When all team members are aligned on the same goals, team leaders have peace of mind that the right things are getting done, and team members are clear on what is being asked of them and the expected outcomes. Team members can better hold themselves accountable, avoiding micromanagement from leaders, and communicate when something isn’t going according to plan.
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“Over the past 30 years we’ve developed a unique workplace philosophy for building trust, maximizing team results and using data to iterate and make informed decisions. This philosophy is now the backbone of Slingshot,” said Dean Guida, Founder of Slingshot. “We’ve built a workplace where teams can get work done in the digital realm, during an especially critical time when organizations are reshaping their workplaces to be productive for in-person, remote and hybrid teams.”
Guida bootstrapped enterprise-software company Infragistics 32 years ago, and has since grown it to 250 employees, six global offices, and a client roster that boasts 100% of the S&P 500, including Intuit, Exxon and Morgan Stanley. In June 2021, Guida launched the Infragistics Innovation Fund and Lab to create freedom for internal inventors to innovate and fuel the development of new products. Slingshot is one of the newest releases from the Innovation Fund and Lab, which has invested $30M to bring the digital workplace to market.