How Collectie Overijssel Automated Archival Operations

^Problem

Preserving History with Modern Workflows

Collectie Overijssel, a Dutch heritage organization dedicated to preserving regional history, struggled with growing inefficiencies caused by siloed systems and manual workflows. The team, composed primarily of historians and archivists rather than IT professionals, struggled to keep internal communication aligned—particularly between their front and back offices.

Prior to adopting SmartSuite, tracking and responding to issues flagged by the customer-facing teams was a slow, disjointed process. "Before SmartSuite, it was difficult to manage system-related issues reported by the front office. We had no centralized place to track and resolve them," said Annelien Vos-Keen, Data Analyst at Collectie Overijssel. As their operations expanded, the need for a scalable, user-friendly solution became critical.

Q1

^Solution

Non-Technical Teams Lead Change

With support from SmartSuite’s onboarding team, Collectie Overijssel implemented three core applications: Avinsta, Roslic, and Worklist. Over time, they enhanced these with automation features and created a new module—“Corporate”—designed to bridge communication between front and back offices.

Suzanne, now the designated SmartSuite super user, oversees views and automations, while Annelien and her team, entirely composed of non-technical professionals, now independently manage their SmartSuite environment. Rather than replacing tools, SmartSuite became the foundation for internal coordination.

Notably, the team opted to export data from SmartSuite into Power BI for advanced dashboards, allowing them to maintain analytics consistency without disrupting their existing reporting setup.

Q2

^Results

From Fragmentation to Ownership

The transformation was both technical and cultural. Operationally, SmartSuite reduced the number of automations needed by half thanks to improved platform features. It also enabled real-time updates between departments, significantly reducing resolution times when customer-facing issues arise.

“Our entire team now uses SmartSuite—even those who weren’t involved at first,” said Annelien. “It gives us oversight we never had before and helps us prioritize work we previously struggled to organize.”

Beyond operational gains, SmartSuite let a traditionally non-technical team self-manage a digital toolset. Team members who once needed hands-on help with every change now lead their own workflows. The success was so visible that Collectie Overijssel is sharing their experience at the upcoming No Code Conference.