A desk booking platform evaluation led by IT should answer three questions before any vendor demo: what outcome the company needs, what the platform must connect to, and what security setup is the minimum it will accept. Then test candidates on ease of use, single sign-on, integrations, data protection, hidden costs and the quality of the space usage data they produce.
When Kadence co-founder Dan Bladen first published this guidance in August 2021, many companies had just decided to go hybrid and needed desk booking software within a quarter. IT managers found themselves balancing IT, facilities and workplace experience at once. The advice below comes from that period, and the evaluation principles still apply to any IT team choosing desk booking software.
What does an IT manager own in a desk booking rollout?
In a hybrid rollout, the IT manager often owns far more than the software. The role spans the information infrastructure, the return-to-office plan and the business case. In 2021, IT managers described themselves as the architects of how their companies would work, which made the desk booking decision part of a much larger brief.
In the 2021 return to the office, IT managers were typically:
- overseeing tech, software and the overall information infrastructure;
- implementing safety protocols;
- navigating the return-to-work plan to give hybrid workers the technology and software they need;
- defining the requirements for a desk booking solution to adopt quickly;
- helping the company optimize and repurpose its real estate;
- trying to secure clear ROI to drive internal buy-in and user adoption.
Why do desk booking evaluations go wrong?
Desk booking evaluations usually go wrong because the company has not agreed what it needs. Without that clarity, teams choose a solution that is not the right match, either because there was not enough time to evaluate the options or because they missed requirements and hidden costs until after implementation.
One IT director admitted on a call with Kadence in 2021:
“At the moment, if I’m honest, I don’t think we’re clear on what we need.”
He was not alone. In 2021, after surveying 100 executives across industries and geographies, McKinsey found that although 90% of them expected to become a hybrid company, most had no more than a high-level plan. A third had not reached internal consensus on what the hybrid workplace would look like.
How do you define requirements before a desk booking platform evaluation?
Define requirements by starting from the outcome you want, not from another company’s setup. That avoids carrying over the shortcomings of the previous way of working or copying an industry standard that does not fit. The outcome then points to the non-negotiables: the core functions needed to support each group of end users.
Work through these questions first:
- What hybrid work model will the desk booking solution need to support?
- Will there be set office days or regular in-person team or company meetings?
- What is the office for: collaboration, focused work, or a bit of both?
- Which restrictions will you need to apply, such as closing certain desks or office areas?
- What level of reporting will you need?
- Which software integrations are required?
- What are the minimum viable and the ideal security setups?
Build employee personas
To complete the requirements, make sure the company has defined employee personas. A persona is a profile of a group of employees with similar needs. Base them on:
- their hybrid work needs and preferences;
- how often they want to be in the office, and what for;
- how comfortable they are with adopting new technology.
Identify the tech-savvy early adopters who will happily test a new workplace app, and the concerns and challenges that keep everyone else from doing the same.
What drives user adoption of desk booking software?
User adoption is driven by three factors beyond good internal communication: ease of use, frictionless setup and actionable insights. McKinsey’s 2021 research pointed to continuous iteration of processes as one of the key differentiators of market productivity leaders, and that iteration starts with people actually using the tool.
In 2021, anxiety about returning to the office ran high. People worried about their safety, keeping a healthy routine, commuting, finding the colleagues they wanted to see, and locating a desk that suited their needs. To drive adoption, look for a solution that:
- prioritizes excellent UI and UX;
- offers floor plan views that show which desks are clean and available, what amenities are nearby, and where the booked space is;
- lets team managers and admins book spaces on behalf of others;
- comes with a mobile app and works seamlessly across devices.
For a sense of what fast adoption looks like in practice, read how MOPAC implemented desk booking.
What security, SSO and integration requirements should IT check?
The main advice IT leaders gave on choosing a desk booking solution was to consider the full cost of implementation. That starts with single sign-on, integrations and reliability, and extends to how data is stored, separated and protected. Weak answers here slow onboarding, create risk, and erode the trust that user adoption depends on.
The essentials
- Single sign-on (SSO), which lets employees log in with their existing company credentials, to make onboarding frictionless.
- Integrations with the tools already in use, from Office 365 and Google Workspace to employee directories. See Kadence’s workplace integrations for how this works today.
- Reliability and system availability.
Security protocols
- Data storage and residency. Data residency is the location where data is physically stored, which matters for regulatory compliance.
- Data isolation. A multi-tenancy solution with row-based separation. Multi-tenancy means many customers share one platform while each customer’s data is kept separate.
- Access controls. Strict control measures to eliminate the risk of data exposure beyond its tenant.
- Password protection. Salted and hashed passwords for further protection in the case of an attack.
- Data encryption.
Data privacy matters for adoption too. If employees are not convinced that their data is secure and managed responsibly, user adoption rates will suffer.
What hidden costs should IT budget for?
The hidden costs of desk booking software sit in hardware, customization and day-to-day administration. A platform that looks affordable can become expensive if it needs new devices, costs time and money to reconfigure, or lacks the automations that keep the office running smoothly. Ask each vendor three questions before committing.
- Does the software require additional hardware, or can it integrate with your existing tech stack?
- Is it easily customizable, or will it cost additional time and money to manage, especially in a crisis?
- Does it support operations with automations and flexible policy settings, such as notifying cleaners once a workspace is no longer in use and quickly locking an office area?
How flexible do office policies need to be?
IT should expect to change office layouts and capacity rules quickly, sometimes at short notice. In 2021 that need was driven by health and safety, but the same controls let a workplace team respond to any change in demand, policy or building availability without a new project each time.
As one IT manager put it in 2021:
“I want to easily see everyone that was sitting here that day because someone there went home sick yesterday.”
That level of agility comes from:
- adjusting core parameters, such as the number of available workspaces and the maximum capacity of meeting rooms, for an area, an office or the whole real estate portfolio;
- planning for different scenarios and defining the follow-up actions in each;
- adding rules that trigger certain processes or work patterns when conditions change.
To do that, the platform needs a real-time office view, historic space usage data, flexible policy settings to block desks or areas instantly, and floor plans that update automatically so staff see changes right away. In 2021, Kadence also offered customizable layout suggestions that adjusted layouts to make the most of real estate while higher safety standards were in place.
How does space usage data help prove ROI?
Space usage data proves ROI by showing how the office is actually used: which spaces are in high and low demand, which features and integrations work, and where space can be cut. Without it, IT has no control or insight, and a poorly set up hybrid workplace leads to expensive, underused real estate.
Picture an employee returning after a year of remote work. They commute in, find a desk, and discover that none of the colleagues they wanted to see are there. They spend the day with headphones on and decide not to make the trip again. Multiply that across a workforce and the result is underused space, falling satisfaction and harder collaboration.
The business case in 2021 drew on outside research:
- Businesses with highly engaged employees see 41% lower absenteeism and considerably higher profitability, according to Gallup.
- Improving employee productivity can triple business gains compared with other cost savings such as space and energy, according to JLL.
Softer returns include improved sustainability from less commuting and a smaller real estate carbon footprint, and better wellbeing and work-life balance.
What should the analytics let you do?
With the right platform, you can:
- experiment with office layouts and scenario planning using multi-location space usage analytics;
- use real-time occupancy data to see who is in the office and who is working from home;
- eliminate zombie bookings with auto desk release, which frees a desk if the employee has not checked in within a set time;
- analyze historic usage to see whether people come in as often as they intended, whether assigned desks are used, which times and areas are busiest, and where office space could be cut;
- forecast demand for different amenities and plan meeting spaces more effectively.
The result is agility, load-balanced workspaces, engaged staff who feel their needs are valued, and an employer brand that attracts and keeps talent. To compare platforms side by side, use Kadence’s buyer’s guide.
Frequently asked questions
What should IT managers look for in desk booking software?
Look for ease of use, frictionless setup through single sign-on, integrations with tools such as Office 365, Google Workspace and employee directories, strong data security, flexible policy settings, a mobile app and actionable space usage analytics. Check hidden costs such as extra hardware and ongoing administration before committing.
What security features should desk booking software have?
Check data storage and residency, data isolation through a multi-tenancy design with row-based separation, strict controls against data exposure beyond each tenant, salted and hashed passwords, and data encryption. Also confirm reliability and system availability, because downtime undermines trust and adoption.
Why does single sign-on matter for desk booking?
Single sign-on lets employees use their existing company login, which makes onboarding frictionless. Less friction at setup is one of the three factors that drive adoption, alongside ease of use and actionable insights, and adoption determines whether the booking data is reliable.
What is auto desk release?
Auto desk release changes a booked desk’s status back to available if the employee has not checked in within a set time. It removes zombie bookings, which make the office look fuller than it is and distort space usage data.