If your clients are market-leading visionaries, you can’t wow them on a foundation of disconnected software apps. This is true in every arena, and especially in the world of design.
Cinco Design is a creative agency based in Portland, Oregon, specializing in brand and product design for cutting-edge industry leaders. Like many agencies, Cinco’s work depends on seamless collaboration, fast client onboarding, and airtight security, especially when handling sensitive intellectual property.
Before adopting Box, Cinco struggled to keep up with the demands of tedious manual processes and growing client expectations. The company’s old system — a patchwork of on-prem servers and disconnected software apps — created headaches around file access, version control, and security. The result? Wasted time, lost documents, and mounting frustration for everyone involved.
Now, with Box, Cinco Design benefits from Intelligent Content Management in various ways:
- Automates NDA workflows to shave contractors time off their weekly workload
- Centralizes client content to improve project visibility and onboard clients faster
- Simplifies compliance and audits with one secure platform
Navigating disconnected software and processes
The “old way” often meant that people working remotely or from a client office had to access files through VPNs. Managing data scattered across multiple platforms became a daily time sink. And they were still working off an old on-prem storage area network system, only accessible via VPN. This setup slowed down projects, made onboarding new clients difficult, and put confidential information at risk.
Managing NDAs and contracts was another pain point. Documents often got stuck in email inboxes, making it hard to track who had signed what — and exposing the company to risk if something slipped through the cracks. With every team using slightly different processes, consistency and visibility suffered, adding more manual work for project managers and increasing the risk of human error.
One platform to simplify client intake
The Creative Technologies team at Cinco began searching for a solution that could bring all their content together, automate tedious tasks, and support secure collaboration. After evaluating options like Google Drive and Dropbox, Box stood out for its robust integrations (including Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, and Apple iWork), customizable permissions, and strong security features. Ultimately, Cinco decided the only solution that could accomplish its goals of simplifying and centralizing its business-critical content was Intelligent Content Management from Box.
The migration wasn’t small — over 100 terabytes of data moved from various sources — but Box Shuttle and expert support made it manageable. Once live, Box’s desktop integration let users access files just like they always had, minimizing disruption.
Automation tools including Box Relay, Box Sign, Box Hubs, and Box Doc Gen helped Cinco streamline its manual NDA creation and approval workflows.
Automating client management helps Cinco unleash creativity
Automating NDA creation and tracking saves Cinco’s project managers from manual work each week — time they can spend on creative work instead of chasing paperwork. More importantly, having a single dashboard for all signed agreements reduces legal risk and ensures no contractor starts work without proper coverage. Unlimited versioning means no more guessing when changes have been made, and global access has allowed Cinco to expand its pool of contractors working with client content without missing a beat.
Box also helped Cinco retire expensive on-prem infrastructure, simplifying IT management and reducing costs. Security and compliance are easier too. Solutions like Box Shield’s automatic threat detection reinforce Cinco’s commitment to stringent security, while Box integrations with Slack and Google Drive help to keep the team aligned on client and project status.
Limitless future potential for Cinco Design
Looking ahead, Cinco plans to expand its use of Box for smarter document search and metadata extraction to classify and organize media files. For other small businesses considering automation, begin with high-impact, low-complexity automations, involve your teams early, and use secure, centralized content to scale confidently.
For information on how you can simplify, secure, and scale the work of growing your business, visit our small business resources page. Or, try Box for free today to unlock the power of Intelligent Content Management.
