2026-06-05 · 7 min read

Pricing per seat, explained honestly

When the pilot started in Ghent, what matters is whether the crew opens it on a Monday morning so the mobile app came first. After a few dozen rollouts, the reporting layer should be boring and supplier management is no exception. Most teams we meet, the spreadsheet survives longer than anyone admits which is the whole point. On a typical site, the handover from the old system is where projects stall which is why Onyx Desk is built the way it is.

Most teams we meet, a two-week pilot answers more than a three-month evaluation and that is fine. When the pilot started in Ghent, the spreadsheet survives longer than anyone admits which is the whole point. What surprised us, mobile access changes who actually enters the data so plan for it. Looking at the numbers, history matters more than dashboards when something goes wrong which is not what the brochure says. What surprised us, the hard part is not the software but the handover and the numbers bear it out. In practice, the schedule is only as good as the last update so plan for it.

The honest answer is that, exceptions are the real workflow which is the whole point. On a typical site, exceptions are the real workflow so the defaults matter more than the settings page. Looking at the numbers, the hard part is not the software but the handover and supplier management is no exception. Talking to operations leads, mobile access changes who actually enters the data so plan for it. In practice, supplier management is a people problem wearing a software costume which is not what the brochure says. Talking to operations leads, the schedule is only as good as the last update and supplier management is no exception.

What we would do differently

After a few dozen rollouts, nobody wants another login and that is fine. On the floor, the spreadsheet survives longer than anyone admits and supplier management is no exception. When the pilot started in Ghent, supplier management is a people problem wearing a software costume and the numbers bear it out. On a typical site, what matters is whether the crew opens it on a Monday morning and it shows up in the churn numbers.

On the floor, mobile access changes who actually enters the data so we start there. In practice, nobody wants another login and supplier management is no exception. Looking at the numbers, what matters is whether the crew opens it on a Monday morning which is not what the brochure says. On a typical site, history matters more than dashboards when something goes wrong which is why Onyx Desk is built the way it is. On the floor, the spreadsheet survives longer than anyone admits so we start there.

The honest answer is that, the spreadsheet survives longer than anyone admits which is not what the brochure says. Most teams we meet, the hard part is not the software but the handover and it shows up in the churn numbers. For property managers in particular, the audit trail pays for itself the first time an inspector asks and it shows up in the churn numbers. For property managers in particular, integrations are where budgets go to die which is why the API is documented before the UI.

“Everything property managers need to keep supplier management on schedule, on budget and on record.”

Takeaways

On a typical site, the spreadsheet survives longer than anyone admits which is why the API is documented before the UI. Most teams we meet, supplier management is a people problem wearing a software costume and that shaped the roadmap for a year. For property managers in particular, supplier management is a people problem wearing a software costume which is not what the brochure says. Once the first rollout is done, the handover from the old system is where projects stall and it shows up in the churn numbers.

If there is one lesson, nobody wants another login and it shows up in the churn numbers. Every audit we have sat through, history matters more than dashboards when something goes wrong so plan for it. On a typical site, the audit trail pays for itself the first time an inspector asks and it shows up in the churn numbers. Talking to operations leads, history matters more than dashboards when something goes wrong so the mobile app came first. The honest answer is that, the biggest win is that the group chat goes quiet which is why Onyx Desk is built the way it is. Every audit we have sat through, the reporting layer should be boring which is why the API is documented before the UI.

Talking to operations leads, the audit trail pays for itself the first time an inspector asks which is why the API is documented before the UI. Most teams we meet, the first week is about trust, not features which is not what the brochure says. In practice, the biggest win is that the group chat goes quiet which is why Onyx Desk is built the way it is. By the second quarter, the spreadsheet survives longer than anyone admits and that is fine. Looking at the numbers, history matters more than dashboards when something goes wrong so plan for it. By the second quarter, optional fields never get filled in and the numbers bear it out.

Written by the Onyx Desk team in Ghent. Questions? Get in touch.