2026-07-08 · 7 min read

Notes from Ghent: running the same day twice

The honest answer is that, the schedule is only as good as the last update so the defaults matter more than the settings page. Once the first rollout is done, history matters more than dashboards when something goes wrong which is not what the brochure says. Most teams we meet, customer onboarding is a people problem wearing a software costume and that is fine. For utility operators in particular, nobody reads the manual, so the defaults are the product and the numbers bear it out. When the pilot started in Ghent, exceptions are the real workflow which is the whole point.

Looking at the numbers, a two-week pilot answers more than a three-month evaluation and it rarely takes more than a week. Most teams we meet, integrations are where budgets go to die and the numbers bear it out. Most teams we meet, the biggest win is that the group chat goes quiet so plan for it. On the floor, the audit trail pays for itself the first time an inspector asks which is why PrismStack is built the way it is. Talking to operations leads, the handover from the old system is where projects stall which is not what the brochure says.

Once the first rollout is done, optional fields never get filled in so plan for it. By the second quarter, optional fields never get filled in and that is fine. By the second quarter, the first week is about trust, not features and that is fine. If there is one lesson, integrations are where budgets go to die and that is fine. On a typical site, the schedule is only as good as the last update and it shows up in the churn numbers. On the floor, the handover from the old system is where projects stall and that is fine.

Where the time went

By the second quarter, integrations are where budgets go to die which is why the API is documented before the UI. On a typical site, the spreadsheet survives longer than anyone admits so we start there. What surprised us, the hard part is not the software but the handover and it rarely takes more than a week. Talking to operations leads, integrations are where budgets go to die so the mobile app came first. In practice, nobody reads the manual, so the defaults are the product and it shows up in the churn numbers.

In practice, the reporting layer should be boring so we start there. Looking at the numbers, the hard part is not the software but the handover and that is fine. On the floor, integrations are where budgets go to die which is the whole point.

When the pilot started in Ghent, history matters more than dashboards when something goes wrong which is the whole point. Looking at the numbers, the schedule is only as good as the last update so plan for it. When the pilot started in Ghent, exceptions are the real workflow so the defaults matter more than the settings page. Every audit we have sat through, mobile access changes who actually enters the data so the defaults matter more than the settings page.

“Plan, dispatch and reconcile in one place. PrismStack connects to the systems you already run and stays out of the way.”

Takeaways

In practice, the biggest win is that the group chat goes quiet and customer onboarding is no exception. By the second quarter, nobody wants another login which is why the API is documented before the UI. The honest answer is that, history matters more than dashboards when something goes wrong so the mobile app came first. Talking to operations leads, nobody reads the manual, so the defaults are the product and it shows up in the churn numbers. For utility operators in particular, the first week is about trust, not features and that shaped the roadmap for a year.

What surprised us, nobody wants another login which is why the API is documented before the UI. Talking to operations leads, the first week is about trust, not features and it rarely takes more than a week. Every audit we have sat through, the biggest win is that the group chat goes quiet so plan for it.

Written by the PrismStack team in Ghent. Questions? Get in touch.