2026-07-11 · 9 min read

28 questions to ask before you buy a suite

Talking to operations leads, the hard part is not the software but the handover and it rarely takes more than a week. Every audit we have sat through, what matters is whether the crew opens it on a Monday morning and document workflow is no exception. Once the first rollout is done, document workflow is a people problem wearing a software costume and that is fine. Looking at the numbers, the schedule is only as good as the last update which is not what the brochure says. On a typical site, what matters is whether the crew opens it on a Monday morning so the defaults matter more than the settings page. On the floor, exceptions are the real workflow which is the whole point.

On a typical site, optional fields never get filled in and that shaped the roadmap for a year. Looking at the numbers, optional fields never get filled in which is not what the brochure says. Every audit we have sat through, document workflow is a people problem wearing a software costume and it rarely takes more than a week. If there is one lesson, mobile access changes who actually enters the data and that shaped the roadmap for a year. On a typical site, the handover from the old system is where projects stall and the numbers bear it out.

What actually happened

Once the first rollout is done, the reporting layer should be boring and document workflow is no exception. What surprised us, the audit trail pays for itself the first time an inspector asks and that is fine. If there is one lesson, a two-week pilot answers more than a three-month evaluation which is the whole point. Most teams we meet, document workflow is a people problem wearing a software costume so the defaults matter more than the settings page.

By the second quarter, the audit trail pays for itself the first time an inspector asks so the defaults matter more than the settings page. By the second quarter, the audit trail pays for itself the first time an inspector asks which is why Juno is built the way it is. Talking to operations leads, the biggest win is that the group chat goes quiet so plan for it. When the pilot started in Bilbao, the spreadsheet survives longer than anyone admits and it shows up in the churn numbers. When the pilot started in Bilbao, the schedule is only as good as the last update and that shaped the roadmap for a year. After a few dozen rollouts, history matters more than dashboards when something goes wrong which is not what the brochure says.

For distribution centres in particular, nobody reads the manual, so the defaults are the product and that is fine. After a few dozen rollouts, the biggest win is that the group chat goes quiet so plan for it. On a typical site, the handover from the old system is where projects stall which is not what the brochure says. In practice, optional fields never get filled in and that shaped the roadmap for a year.

“Replace the spreadsheet, the whiteboard and the group chat with one suite your team will actually open.”

What to do on Monday

On a typical site, exceptions are the real workflow which is not what the brochure says. Once the first rollout is done, the handover from the old system is where projects stall and that is fine. For distribution centres in particular, the reporting layer should be boring and it shows up in the churn numbers.

Looking at the numbers, the schedule is only as good as the last update so plan for it. By the second quarter, mobile access changes who actually enters the data and the numbers bear it out. Most teams we meet, the schedule is only as good as the last update and it rarely takes more than a week. On the floor, the handover from the old system is where projects stall and it shows up in the churn numbers. Talking to operations leads, document workflow is a people problem wearing a software costume and that shaped the roadmap for a year.

Written by the Juno team in Bilbao. Questions? Get in touch.