Disable License Trial

Farzin Mirzaagha

This free trial option has to stop. For an organization with Enterprise account this option is nothing but a nuisance as it's against our License request/approval process. This causes unnecessary anxiety for the users and additional work for our support team.

Rhonda H.

I agree 100%.

Snaillybob

This is absolutely a basic requirement for Enterprise licence tenants. We dish out licences based on a business process and we are not interested in users 'helping users start to solve their urgent business processes right away' - not that we don't want those processes solved, we just can't have it done in an uncontrolled and unaudited way.

Sarah Franklin

or at least notify the system administrators so they can do proper intake of those users and make sure they get the correct licensing and feature enablement. By not allowing control of this is a significant burden to large businesses using Smartsheet. Circumventing account management is something everyone frowns upon.

JPidcock

The comments on this thread completely align with the problems this feature has caused for our Enterprise Account. It is completely bypassing all the controls we have in place for our organization’s licensing. Many of our license requests are accidental or need further education regarding our licensing requirements, however, they are instead given the capabilities of a licensed user for 30 days as a trial automatically. Once that time is up, they get the option to make a free account. It has caused so much confusion for our users and more work for the admins. Content is being created and after 30 days there is a huge mess. There doesn’t seem to be any way to get anyone off the “free” trial. Smartsheet has been very vague when being questioned on this and clear answers have not been given.

Admins are who should assist our users with “solving urgent business needs”, not Smartsheet, who does not know what our business needs are.

At the BARE minimum, if Smartsheet will not remove this feature, there should be functionality added that the free account sign-up goes through the admins instead of it being automatic OR give Admins the ability to turn OFF this feature.  

RolandoN

I agree with what everyone has said above. I was just contacted by a user who is an admin for a particular sheet. They are presented with two options in the pop up message. One is 'Upgrade Options' and the other 'Switch to Free'.

Ian W Swanwick

100% agree with the above comments. Smartsheet may feel that encouraging users to request a license is in their best interest, but this method is very inappropriate for an application that considers itself 'enterprise-ready'. It's messy and creates additional work for the customer.

NeilTRD

This is also causing mayhem in our company. Free trials are fine for consumers. This only causes shadow IT in SMB and enterprise. Please please please disable.

Daniel Holper

Seems as though this idea has already been requested. Why can't users and/or organization admins disable the license request message??? Beyond wasting screen space, this message is unnecessary since users continue to receive the message but cannot acknowledge/hide it. A user might operate SmartSheets, unlicensed, for an indefinite period of time and does NOT need to keep seeing this.

Cory_OWA

Here is my summary of this post / product feedback request. I have put this language in my onboarding material for my organization as it is a DAILY issue that undermines our entire adoption of Smartsheet. I hear about the confusion and distress regarding the free trial not only on a daily basis but from LEADERSHIP and PROGRAM SPONSORS who are beyond concerned (taking action) as this tool is creating anxiety throughout the program. They hear that Smartsheet is great, but they also hear that "it's only great if you're licensed" and "since we can't license every single employee, we can't gain efficiency from it and should probably use something else instead, like SHAREPOINT."

This "feature" is driving enterprises BACK to SHAREPOINT. Do you hear me now?

The Smartsheet "free trial" feature allows new, unlicensed users to access full Smartsheet capabilities for a 30-day trial period. This feature is intended to help users quickly learn and understand the full capabilities of Smartsheet. However, it operates automatically and bypasses your org's controls on license distribution, leading to ...

• confusion due to sales rep contacts and trial ending emails
• undermining existing governance models 
• adds administrative burden and disrupts established workflows
• users may lose information (note, ONLY within documents they create using the trial)

If possible, please avoid accepting the free trial during onboarding to Smartsheet. If not possible to avoid or you have already accepted the free trial, don't worry! Simply notify the Smartsheet System Administrators (PMO). Smartsheet admins will advise you on how to proceed, ensuring compliance with current internal processes. Use the "Enhancements Request" form to notify the PMO: [a link to a form they can use to request all manner of Smartsheet related support from Smartsheet System Administrators. You know, the power users this feature burdens?]

AT LEAST GIVE US SOME CONTROL AS TO WHETHER OR NOT THIS IS A PROBLEM FOR OUR ENTERPRISE PLAN

Deb Berns

I strongly support the other recommendations for System Administrators to control free trial requests. The organization pays for the licenses and has a process for deciding who will receive a paid license vs. a free one. Encouraging people to explore Smartsheet outside of our approval process creates confusion and burden for the administrators.

I encountered a new issue yesterday where I couldn't add someone to our account who had a free trial. I either had to add them as a paid user (and their usage does not warrant that) or they had to go into settings and cancel their trial. I have found that most individuals who sign up for the free trial did it by mistake and it causes extra work and leaves a sour taste in the mouth regarding Smartsheet's ease of use/access.

Please reconsider allowing the System Administrators to grant Free Trial requests instead of allowing users to make this decision. As Administrator I'm already spending a good chunk of time managing my users. I'm looking for Smartsheet to make this process easier, not more burdensome. Perhaps you could create functionality where a form is linked to the Free Trial Request button, sending the request to the Admin?

Thank you for your consideration.

Susans

This free trial option has to stop. This option is nothing but a nuisance for an organization with an Enterprise account, as it's against our License request/approval process. This causes unnecessary user anxiety and requires additional work from our support team.

Miguel Bejarano

Greetings. I write in regards to a petition I'm making because of the Smartsheet interface. The problem is simple: as long as a user does not have a paid Smartsheet account, a blue message at the top of the screen will remind the user they do not have a license. That in itself is not a bad thing, but the fact that it will not go away no matter what is what really baffles me.
First of all, the program will always take space for something that should be a prompt you can close. It may not be much, but it does use space in the screen and it is incredibly distracting at times.
Second, this is not dependent on the user so I find it disrespectful to them. I have employees who use a free Smartsheet account just so they can access the platform and do not need to purchase a license for their functions. They do not need to be reminded they do not have a license they will not purchase. Furthermore it has already been decided which employees in the company will have complete access to smartsheet and which will not. It is not pleasant to have the constant (and attention demanding) pop up in there at all times.

I hope you take this into consideration and can make this pop up a one time thing, or if you really must keep it, give it an option to be dismissed. Thank you.