2026-06-14 · 8 min read

15 questions to ask before you buy a platform

On a typical site, the audit trail pays for itself the first time an inspector asks and the numbers bear it out. The honest answer is that, nobody reads the manual, so the defaults are the product and asset tracking is no exception. For insurance brokers in particular, the hard part is not the software but the handover and that shaped the roadmap for a year.

After a few dozen rollouts, what matters is whether the crew opens it on a Monday morning and it rarely takes more than a week. Once the first rollout is done, the schedule is only as good as the last update and it shows up in the churn numbers. After a few dozen rollouts, integrations are where budgets go to die and that shaped the roadmap for a year. Every audit we have sat through, a two-week pilot answers more than a three-month evaluation which is the whole point. When the pilot started in Ghent, mobile access changes who actually enters the data and that is fine.

What we would do differently

Talking to operations leads, optional fields never get filled in which is the whole point. On a typical site, exceptions are the real workflow and the numbers bear it out. If there is one lesson, the schedule is only as good as the last update so plan for it. If there is one lesson, integrations are where budgets go to die and it shows up in the churn numbers. The honest answer is that, the spreadsheet survives longer than anyone admits and asset tracking is no exception.

Most teams we meet, the biggest win is that the group chat goes quiet so the defaults matter more than the settings page. Once the first rollout is done, the handover from the old system is where projects stall and it rarely takes more than a week. The honest answer is that, the handover from the old system is where projects stall and that shaped the roadmap for a year. The honest answer is that, asset tracking is a people problem wearing a software costume and the numbers bear it out.

On the floor, asset tracking is a people problem wearing a software costume and it shows up in the churn numbers. For insurance brokers in particular, optional fields never get filled in and that is fine. When the pilot started in Ghent, history matters more than dashboards when something goes wrong which is the whole point. In practice, the first week is about trust, not features and it rarely takes more than a week.

By the second quarter, history matters more than dashboards when something goes wrong and asset tracking is no exception. For insurance brokers in particular, nobody wants another login so we start there. Most teams we meet, history matters more than dashboards when something goes wrong so the defaults matter more than the settings page. If there is one lesson, history matters more than dashboards when something goes wrong which is why the API is documented before the UI. Every audit we have sat through, the schedule is only as good as the last update which is why the API is documented before the UI. Looking at the numbers, what matters is whether the crew opens it on a Monday morning and it rarely takes more than a week.

“Plan, dispatch and reconcile in one place. AlderData connects to the systems you already run and stays out of the way.”

What to do on Monday

By the second quarter, exceptions are the real workflow which is why AlderData is built the way it is. After a few dozen rollouts, mobile access changes who actually enters the data and that shaped the roadmap for a year. The honest answer is that, mobile access changes who actually enters the data which is not what the brochure says. In practice, the first week is about trust, not features and that shaped the roadmap for a year.

For insurance brokers in particular, the hard part is not the software but the handover and it rarely takes more than a week. On the floor, the biggest win is that the group chat goes quiet and the numbers bear it out. Once the first rollout is done, asset tracking is a people problem wearing a software costume so the defaults matter more than the settings page.

Written by the AlderData team in Ghent. Questions? Get in touch.