Ahh, December. The month of reflection. As we prepare to make New Year’s resolutions we’ll never keep (I’m only half joking), this is also the time of year when we look back at everything we’ve achieved in the past 12 months.
We’re starting to feel a bit nostalgic here at Wrike so we decided to make a list of our 2023 highlights. Grab a coffee and let us take you through the year that was!
Wrike’s efficiency report
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: 2023 was the year of efficiency. Still reeling from the abnormally high inflation rates and mass layoffs of 2022, organizations across the globe started the year on rocky footing. With budgets under intense scrutiny, the goal of every department was to cut unnecessary costs and boost return on investment (ROI).
The 2023 Efficiency Report shone a light on these challenges. A follow-up to our Dark Matter of Work research, this survey of over 1,000 business leaders and 2,000 knowledge workers across the UK and US confirmed that the majority of organizations (77%) were prioritizing efficiency in 2023. Worryingly, 71% of knowledge workers confessed to experiencing burnout in the first half of the year, while 60% were concerned about budget cuts.
The report also presented a path forward for those struggling to navigate the economic crisis. AI and app consolidation were two of the key solutions offered, with 76% of knowledge workers agreeing that a single source of truth would help reduce work-related stress and more than 80% of business leaders planning to increase investment in AI.
Overall, the efficiency report was both an insightful glimpse into the most pressing priorities for organizations in 2023 and a trusty guide for them as they brace themselves for whatever challenges 2024 will bring.
Forrester’s TEI study
Speaking of big reports, 2023 saw the release of another publication: The Total Economic Impact™ of Wrike. Conducted by Forrester Consulting, we commissioned this study to discover the impact of Wrike’s collaborative work management platform on a composite organization — and the results were significant.
We found that Wrike delivered a 396% ROI and $9.78 million in net present value, from profits gained in customer retention to savings made in eliminating low-value work. The study noted that Wrike has the potential to save a project manager 216 hours annually, thanks to improved visibility and alignment. What’s more, our real-time communication features can lead to a 95% reduction in user disruption.
We at Wrike use Wrike every day, so we already know the positive impact it can have on an organization’s bottom line — but it was great to see it in writing.
Wrike Lightspeed
Though we teased it late last year, 2023 saw the official rollout of Wrike Lightspeed to all users. Wrike Lightspeed offers a fresh interface, enhanced performance, and simplified navigation. It also boasts a raft of new and improved views, including:
- Table
- Board
- Calendar
- Gantt
- Chart
When we designed Wrike Lightspeed, the overall aim was to make our platform more intuitive, versatile, and scalable. We wanted to simplify the setup process and declutter the workspace so that both new and existing users could glide through tasks effortlessly, undistracted by non-relevant features.
As our VP of Product, Alexey Korotich, put it, “Wrike Lightspeed gives customers everything they need to work at the speed of light, providing the fastest way to productivity.” As an avid (if slightly biased) user, I think it’s safe to say we achieved that goal.
Wrike AI
More than halfway through a 2023 highlights list and we still haven’t mentioned AI? Fear not, tech-savvy friends! The additions to our Work Intelligence® solution definitely make the cut.
In the year in which ChatGPT exploded onto the scene and turned content production on its head, Wrike also saw our own innovation in generative AI. With Wrike, you can now:
- Digest long chunks of text into readable summaries
- Create task descriptions (such as project plans, campaign briefs, meeting agendas, etc.) and comments from scratch
- Refine text to match your brand’s unique voice
- Correct typos and other errors instantly
- Translate text into different languages
We’ve been investing in AI, automation, and machine learning since 2017, and we’ve no intention of stopping yet. In case you missed our announcement at Collaborate 2023, we’ve got a brand new AI trick up our sleeve: Wrike copilot for work management. As part of this new batch of features, next-gen analytics and AI suggestions for automation have just joined generative AI in Wrike Labs, with more expected to come in 2024:
- Project structure generation
- Smart project staffing
- Intelligent scenario planning
… but that’s for next year’s highlight reel.
Wrike Certified Professional
In October of this year, we retired the Wrike Product Mastery Silver certification and replaced it with the Wrike Certified Professional training program. This certification is designed for users who want to showcase their knowledge of Wrike’s features and spot any areas for improvement. It’s also an ideal resource for onboarding new Wrike users — and we can personally vouch for this, having used it internally in our own team.
The course is split into five sections and takes about 12 hours to complete. By the end of the training, certified candidates will be able to create reports, customize workflows, implement automation rules, and much more. Judging by the feedback we’ve received so far, it seems like a popular choice!
“This was more comprehensive and professionally executed than the certifications for both Monday and ClickUp that I have completed.”
“Great functionality, amazing support and account management, customization, and training … a gold standard.”
“The additional videos on this are really informative!! Definitely looking for more training on this application. Starting to understand the hype around Wrike!!”
If you’ve been planning to upskill in the new year, the Wrike Certified Professional program is a great place to start. The course is available now on demand to all regular users with a Business, Enterprise, or Pinnacle subscription. (And, if you use the code XMASWRIKE50 code before January 7, you can avail of a whopping 50% discount!)
Wrike Collaborate
This year, we hosted the sixth installment of our annual Wrike Collaborate event. For those of you who’ve never attended (where have you been?!), this conference combines thought leadership keynotes with product-focused talks, customer breakout sessions, and training courses. We pack a lot into two days!
I could go into a full event recap here, but I’ll let these resources do the talking:
- Blog post: Key highlights of Wrike Collaborate 2023
- Guide: An in-depth rundown of the sessions
- Infographic: An overview of our new product features
Instead, I’d like to focus on the colossal efforts that brought Wrike Collaborate to life. Our wonderful events team managed to pull off our most successful year yet, drawing in a record number of registrants and weaving a thousand strands together to ensure all the proceedings went off without a hitch. Of course, Wrike Collaborate is a company-wide effort, so this success also belongs to everyone who pitched in, from the deck creators to the designers, the proofers to the presenters, the wordsmiths to the web experts, and everyone in between. And finally, a massive shoutout to our customer speakers, whose keen insights and authentic experiences using Wrike bring this event to life. It takes a village!
Championing Change series
At Wrike, we love engaging with our customers. From our customer forum Wrike Community to our recognition program Wrike Stars, we’re always on the lookout for new Wrike Champions. This year, we wanted to shine a light on the Wrike users who have spearheaded change management and adopted Wrike in their organization. Rather than offer vague statements on how Wrike can improve your work life, we wanted to offer tangible examples of how real people are benefiting from our software. That’s how Championing Change was born.
In our first post, we spotlighted Jennifer Mariotti of Circana. She told us all about how customizable workflows and dashboards help her view her workload exactly the way she likes it. She added that the markup tool in Wrike’s proofing feature is a personal favorite and loves how it turns scattered opinions into “resolvable to-do items.” For Jennifer, there’s no going back. “I did a lot of analysis. I did demos and watched YouTube videos. I finally went to my boss and said, ‘I need Wrike to effectively manage our creative workflow.’”
We also chatted to Casey Shew of eCornell, who told us that migrating to Wrike was a “breath of fresh air.” He quipped: “There’s almost always skepticism when a new piece of software is introduced to solve a difficult problem — and rightly so!” However, Wrike’s platform managed to win over the team at eCornell. Our reports and calendars offered a welcome shot of visibility, while our Help Center team was ready and waiting to troubleshoot any onboarding issues.
We plan to continue this series into 2024, so get in touch if you’d like to become an ambassador and get featured!
Do More With Less series
If efficiency was the name of the game for 2023, then “do more with less” was its unofficial motto. We knew organizations were struggling to increase their output in the face of reduced budgets and headcount, so we wanted to provide a resource that would guide them through this challenging period. That’s why we came up with the Do More With Less series.
A first of its kind for Wrike, this was a year-long series that tackled a new topic each quarter:
- How To Cope With the Hidden Cost of Layoffs
- How To Consolidate Your Martech Stack
- How To Boost Employee Morale
- How To Save Time at Work
Penned by our very own Emily Westbrooks, these blog posts dove into the aforementioned challenges in a no-nonsense way, offering pragmatic advice for people dealing with real-life issues such as stress and burnout. They cover a wide range of solutions, from leadership engagement to automated task prioritization and app consolidation.
To make this a fully integrated series, we also produced a number of accompanying graphics and videos, which you can find embedded in the above posts. These visual aids pull out the key “how-to” tips from each article and highlight how Wrike can help tackle the main obstacles that arise from doing more with less.
As we move into 2024, however, we’ve decided to adapt this motto slightly to “do less, achieve more.” While increased output is great, we want to take our efficiency up a notch — to Brutal Mode. That means it’s time to cut any tasks that don’t align with our top priorities and use that extra time to make sure everything we do has maximum purpose and value for our readers and customers. Watch this space!
The move to STG
In July, we announced a big transition for Wrike as a company: we changed ownership to Symphony Technology Group, a private equity firm that specializes in software, data, and analytics. This was a significant move for us as it marked our reestablishment as a private company, opening up a brand new chapter of opportunity.
With that, we also bid a bittersweet farewell to our Founder and CEO, Andrew Filev, who had been leading the company since day one, all the way back in 2006. Luckily, he hasn’t gone too far and now holds the position of Board Advisor. Filling his enormous shoes is Thomas Scott, our former CFO. With more than 20 years of experience as an executive at top companies, we know we’re in the right hands. Take a look at this interview to learn more about Thomas and his future plans for Wrike. We’re excited to see what the next 12 months will bring!
And with that, it’s time to wrap things up for 2023. We hope you enjoyed our little trip down memory lane.
So now, join us as we raise a glass and toast to all that 2024 has to offer. Happy New Year from all of us here at Wrike!
