Customer Overview
“Ascension Press is a faith-formation apostolate and company. Our mission is to provide Catholic parishes, schools, organizations, and individuals with effective and engaging Catholic study programs, books, and other resources.
Always working within the heart and mind of the Church, Ascension’s materials are solidly Catholic while at the same time being accessible to the average person in the pew. We are a group of motivated lay-Catholics who have taken up the call of the New Evangelization with our whole hearts. We have built a strong reputation for providing the highest level of parish support and customer service, and each day we work one-on-one with priests, deacons, religious educators, teachers, and youth ministers to engage and nurture Catholics at all levels of their faith journey.
We consider ourselves blessed to do this work, and pray that God will continue to use us to bring His message to the world for many years to come.”
Customer Use Case Details
- Customer Department Using Smartsheet → Finance, Sales
- Competing Products → Microsoft 365
- Customer Challenges → “As Ascension scales, the Consumer Products team faces growing inefficiencies due to the absence of a unified portfolio management system. Key metrics like revenue per product, budget vs. actuals, time tracking, and risks are fragmented across multiple platforms—including Excel, Shopify, and Netsuite/MS Dynamics—resulting in data silos, disconnected collaboration, and limited visibility into performance.”
Solution
- Solution implemented → PPM – General
- Implementation → “To address fragmented data and disconnected processes, Ascension implemented Smartsheet Control Center and Data Shuttle, creating a centralized, scalable portfolio management framework. Control Center enabled standardized project setup, governance, and consistent tracking across initiatives, while Data Shuttle automated the movement of critical data from systems like Shopify, Excel, and MS Dynamics into Smartsheet—providing real-time access to key revenue and performance metrics.”
- Customer benefits working with Prime → “By partnering with Prime Consulting, Ascension accelerated deployment and ensured a best-practice implementation. Prime tailored the solution to fit Ascension’s operational needs, integrating cross-system data flows, configuring dashboards, and training users to drive adoption. Their strategic guidance streamlined collaboration, reduced manual work, and helped establish a long-term foundation for scaling.”
- Future Plans → “Looking ahead, Ascension plans to expand the use of Smartsheet across other business units, integrate resource management, and build executive-level dashboards to support faster, data-driven decision-making. There’s also interest in further automating reporting and time tracking workflows to continue improving operational efficiency and cross-functional visibility. Additionally, Ascension aims to add more robust integration with Bridge to further enhance collaboration and data synchronization across teams, including better integration with Shopify to streamline workflows and improve real-time data synchronization between platforms.”
Benefits & Success Metrics
“Faster Project Setup: Implementation of Smartsheet Control Center reduced project creation and onboarding time by over 60%, enabling teams to launch initiatives more quickly and consistently.
Improved Executive Visibility: Leadership now has real-time insight into project status, milestones, and risks through dynamic dashboards, reducing the need for manual updates and prep work ahead of board meetings.
Standardized Processes: By centralizing project management workflows, the organization achieved greater consistency across teams, improving collaboration and accountability across departments.”