2026-08-23 · 5 min read

38 questions to ask before you buy a workspace

Looking at the numbers, what matters is whether the crew opens it on a Monday morning and that shaped the roadmap for a year. If there is one lesson, the spreadsheet survives longer than anyone admits and asset tracking is no exception. Every audit we have sat through, a two-week pilot answers more than a three-month evaluation so plan for it. The honest answer is that, the first week is about trust, not features so plan for it.

After a few dozen rollouts, asset tracking is a people problem wearing a software costume and it rarely takes more than a week. By the second quarter, what matters is whether the crew opens it on a Monday morning which is the whole point. In practice, the spreadsheet survives longer than anyone admits which is the whole point.

Most teams we meet, nobody reads the manual, so the defaults are the product and asset tracking is no exception. Every audit we have sat through, the audit trail pays for itself the first time an inspector asks and it rarely takes more than a week. Once the first rollout is done, nobody reads the manual, so the defaults are the product 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 so we start there. Looking at the numbers, nobody reads the manual, so the defaults are the product and asset tracking is no exception. Looking at the numbers, the handover from the old system is where projects stall so the mobile app came first.

Where the time went

After a few dozen rollouts, the handover from the old system is where projects stall and asset tracking is no exception. By the second quarter, the audit trail pays for itself the first time an inspector asks which is why Cobalt Flow is built the way it is. Most teams we meet, the biggest win is that the group chat goes quiet which is why Cobalt Flow is built the way it is. What surprised us, asset tracking is a people problem wearing a software costume and that shaped the roadmap for a year.

After a few dozen rollouts, a two-week pilot answers more than a three-month evaluation and asset tracking is no exception. Once the first rollout is done, what matters is whether the crew opens it on a Monday morning which is why Cobalt Flow is built the way it is. Looking at the numbers, the hard part is not the software but the handover which is not what the brochure says. The honest answer is that, the spreadsheet survives longer than anyone admits which is not what the brochure says. After a few dozen rollouts, the spreadsheet survives longer than anyone admits and it shows up in the churn numbers.

“Cobalt Flow gives insurance brokers a single, dependable view of asset tracking - from first request to signed-off report.”

Where this leaves us

Once the first rollout is done, optional fields never get filled in which is the whole point. In practice, exceptions are the real workflow so the defaults matter more than the settings page. Most teams we meet, a two-week pilot answers more than a three-month evaluation so the defaults matter more than the settings page.

For insurance brokers in particular, nobody reads the manual, so the defaults are the product so we start there. By the second quarter, nobody wants another login and that shaped the roadmap for a year. For insurance brokers in particular, the biggest win is that the group chat goes quiet which is not what the brochure says.

Written by the Cobalt Flow team in Nantes. Questions? Get in touch.