Global Creative Content Agency Increases Visibility and Efficiency with Deltek WorkBook

We Are Cognitive is a global creative content agency, and pioneer of whiteboard animations. The agency has been turning stories into explainer videos since 2004 and satisfying clients with its consistent content delivery. But behind its creative flair was a surprisingly manual approach to its production workflows.

With ambitions to innovate its product range and grow its global footprint, the agency needed a robust and efficient enterprise resource planning system (ERP) to modernize its operations – and move workflows away from spreadsheets for good.

We Are Cognitive approached Deltek partner Silversoft to transform its project management and help empower growth with a total agency management system. To find out more about why We Are Cognitive chose Deltek WorkBook, we spoke to Neil Munro, the agency’s General Manager.

Paving the Way for Innovation and Growth

“When I joined We Are Cognitive, part of my remit was to gain efficiencies and improvements to the way we manage our production workflow,” says Neil. “Like a lot of agencies, it was being run in spreadsheets, which are great for formulas but not great for managing creative teams.”

We Are Cognitive had goals to grow and develop its product offering, its client base, and its headcount. But it needed to modernize its workflow management before it could make significant progress.

“The more people you employ, and the more hours you’ve got to manage, the more difficult it is to do with a spreadsheet. We needed to get out of spreadsheet mode and into something a lot more fluid,” says Neil.

We Are Cognitive explored different ERP suppliers but found that Deltek partner Silversoft had the best solution. “In terms of the range of offering, from initial CRM through to sales, planning, estimating, scheduling, and invoicing, WorkBook was the best solution compared to its competitors,” says Neil.

A New Level of Visibility with Deltek WorkBook

Neil tells us that the onboarding support from Silversoft was excellent. Even when working from different regions, Silversoft and We Are Cognitive maintained a strong, collaborative relationship throughout, despite being located in different hemispheres. “The time difference didn’t matter at all. The support we got through the actual contract sign and implementation was great,” says Neil.

“When we started using WorkBook in real life with real jobs, the main questions started to come, which we then fired over to Silversoft,” says Neil. “It's like driving a car. Once you pass your test, you never really learn to start driving until you get out on the road. But Silversoft was really quick to respond to all our queries."

Now, instead of managing its projects manually, We Are Cognitive is using Deltek WorkBook – and experiencing a new level of insight. “We have better visibility into where our capacity lies, better visibility of the forward booking, and better visibility of profitability,” says Neil.

Working life is also a lot easier for We Are Cognitive’s staff. "WorkBook offers better usability for illustrators, animators, production creators and project managers. They’re no longer looking at confusing spreadsheets, the user interface is a lot more interactive, and it's easier for our people to see what they’re working on and that they’ve got the time they need,” says Neil.

And with WorkBook’s chat functionality, the agency can consolidate project information and communication all in one place – enabling its entirely remote workforce to collaborate more efficiently.

“In terms of the range of offering, from initial CRM through to sales, planning, estimating, scheduling, and invoicing, WorkBook was the best solution compared to its competitors,”

– Neil Munro, General Manager at We Are Cognitive

The Right Tool for Empowering Creative Teams

With the software to empower its people and modernize operations, We Are Cognitive is now in an ideal position to innovate. The agency can also continue to attract talented people and provide them with the right tools they need to collaborate, and grow current and new business efficiently.

“WorkBook has helped us become more efficient and more profitable in terms of how we manage our projects, with fewer overruns on project costs,” says Neil.

“Our main track is to believe in what we’re doing, to keep employing great talent, and maintain the level of service we’re known for – which is much easier with Deltek WorkBook.”

Power Your Agency’s Success with Deltek

We Are Cognitive is one of many agencies using Deltek WorkBook to transform its project management, improve collaboration opportunities and pave the way for future growth and innovation.

To learn more about how our customers are using Deltek to modernize their operations and what you could achieve, discover Deltek WorkBook.