18 March 2026 · 4 min read

Before You Buy the Platform

A short checklist for organisations about to sign a multi-year systems contract.

SystemsProcurement

Most platform regrets do not come from the platform. They come from the gap between what the demo promised and what the org was actually ready to operate.

Three questions worth asking

Who owns the data model on day 31? What happens to the workflows the new system does not natively support? Which team is accountable for adoption, by name?

If those three answers are vague, the contract is too early.

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VI · What People Say

Words from the room.

A handful of notes from leaders, founders and chairs I've worked alongside.

Barbs walked into a programme that had been stuck for nine months and had us all reading off the same page inside a fortnight. The plan we left with was the one we actually ran.

Helena Marsh

COOFolio & Field

She tells you what she thinks. No fluff, no vendor agenda. Our board got a read on our data we could finally act on, and a short list of fixes we could start on Monday.

James Okafor

ChairNorthstone Group

Having Barbs in the room changed how we made the call. She knew the context from month two and saved us from at least one expensive mistake on the systems side.

Priya Shah

Founder & CEOLoomwork