2026-08-30 · 5 min read

37 questions to ask before you buy a console

For mid-market manufacturers in particular, nobody reads the manual, so the defaults are the product and it shows up in the churn numbers. Every audit we have sat through, the handover from the old system is where projects stall so we start there. 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.

What surprised us, a two-week pilot answers more than a three-month evaluation which is why the API is documented before the UI. The honest answer is that, the biggest win is that the group chat goes quiet which is not what the brochure says. Talking to operations leads, revenue analytics is a people problem wearing a software costume and it rarely takes more than a week. For mid-market manufacturers in particular, exceptions are the real workflow and it rarely takes more than a week. The honest answer is that, revenue analytics is a people problem wearing a software costume and that is fine. On the floor, the schedule is only as good as the last update so the mobile app came first.

What we would do differently

Looking at the numbers, nobody wants another login and revenue analytics is no exception. Talking to operations leads, exceptions are the real workflow which is the whole point. For mid-market manufacturers in particular, integrations are where budgets go to die and that is fine. In practice, nobody wants another login so plan for it. For mid-market manufacturers in particular, the reporting layer should be boring so plan for it. For mid-market manufacturers in particular, the reporting layer should be boring and that shaped the roadmap for a year.

Every audit we have sat through, the audit trail pays for itself the first time an inspector asks and that shaped the roadmap for a year. Once the first rollout is done, the audit trail pays for itself the first time an inspector asks and revenue analytics is no exception. After a few dozen rollouts, the reporting layer should be boring which is why the API is documented before the UI. Most teams we meet, mobile access changes who actually enters the data and revenue analytics is no exception. The honest answer is that, revenue analytics is a people problem wearing a software costume and that is fine.

On a typical site, nobody reads the manual, so the defaults are the product and revenue analytics is no exception. For mid-market manufacturers in particular, the hard part is not the software but the handover so the mobile app came first. After a few dozen rollouts, what matters is whether the crew opens it on a Monday morning so the defaults matter more than the settings page. Every audit we have sat through, a two-week pilot answers more than a three-month evaluation so plan for it. Looking at the numbers, the first week is about trust, not features and it shows up in the churn numbers. Every audit we have sat through, nobody wants another login which is not what the brochure says.

Most teams we meet, the audit trail pays for itself the first time an inspector asks so plan for it. For mid-market manufacturers in particular, the spreadsheet survives longer than anyone admits which is the whole point. By the second quarter, what matters is whether the crew opens it on a Monday morning and revenue analytics is no exception. On the floor, the spreadsheet survives longer than anyone admits which is the whole point. On a typical site, exceptions are the real workflow so we start there. The honest answer is that, the hard part is not the software but the handover so plan for it.

“Everything mid-market manufacturers need to keep revenue analytics on schedule, on budget and on record.”

Takeaways

Once the first rollout is done, revenue analytics is a people problem wearing a software costume and it shows up in the churn numbers. On the floor, integrations are where budgets go to die and that is fine. On a typical site, integrations are where budgets go to die so plan for it. On a typical site, nobody wants another login so plan for it. Talking to operations leads, the first week is about trust, not features and the numbers bear it out. By the second quarter, the audit trail pays for itself the first time an inspector asks which is why the API is documented before the UI.

For mid-market manufacturers in particular, exceptions are the real workflow which is not what the brochure says. In practice, mobile access changes who actually enters the data so plan for it. Once the first rollout is done, the schedule is only as good as the last update and it shows up in the churn numbers.

Written by the Orbitly team in Porto. Questions? Get in touch.