Read the workflow behind the columns
A spreadsheet is useful when a small group can coordinate one clear process and its access rules are sufficient. Rows organise information; they do not by themselves decide who has authority to approve, whether delivery must wait or which facts become protected.
Ask what each status means, how identity is established and where a handoff actually occurs. The illustrative row below says what people recorded, not which actions were enforced.
| Item | Requested by | Status | Approver | Delivery |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standing desk | Avery | Approved | Alex | Awaiting handover |
Compare the three choices
Use the same requirements to assess every option. Retaining a spreadsheet can be the sensible decision. Configuration can be preferable when an existing system already expresses your roles and workflow. A custom app needs a clear owner and a reason to take on continuing operation.
For this equipment example, the case for an app is the combination of separate approval, controlled visibility, protected decisions and recorded delivery. First check whether the company’s existing tool can express those exact requirements.
ChoiceKeep the spreadsheet
- When it fits
- Few users, one owner and a process people can coordinate reliably.
- Equipment decision
- Retain it if tracking is enough and no unmet guard or visibility need justifies a change.
- Check before choosing
- Can the owner keep handoffs and access reliable?
ChoiceConfigure an existing tool
- When it fits
- Existing workflow and access controls fit the work.
- Equipment decision
- Try separate approval, own-request visibility and delivery evidence against the current tool.
- Check before choosing
- Confirm fit, ownership, integration and operating cost with the operator.
ChoiceBuild a custom app
- When it fits
- Specific roles, guarded actions and continuing changes warrant owned software.
- Equipment decision
- Build only if the required controls and business fit justify ongoing responsibility.
- Check before choosing
- Name business and operating owners and a bounded first outcome.
Map the workflow before moving data
Translate meaning, not just column names. An approver’s name is not an approval permission; a status cell is not a guarded state transition. Ask which decisions become protected and which exceptions people currently resolve outside the tracker.
Tracker fieldItem
- Application meaning
- Catalogue item related to a request
- Question to resolve
- Who maintains active items?
Tracker fieldRequested by
- Application meaning
- Authenticated requester identity
- Question to resolve
- Which accounts and own-record visibility apply?
Tracker fieldStatus
- Application meaning
- Requested → Approved → Delivered
- Question to resolve
- Who may advance each state?
Tracker fieldApprover
- Application meaning
- Separate actor and time of approval
- Question to resolve
- How is self-approval refused?
Tracker fieldDelivery
- Application meaning
- Recorded time and nonempty asset tag
- Question to resolve
- Who records handover and which fields stay protected?
Blank comparison and mapping worksheet
Copy this worksheet to compare three approaches, map the workflow and record a justified decision.
Workflow context
- Workflow and owner
- Name the process and decision owner.
- Current problem
- What fails, and what evidence supports that?
Compare the choices
- Keep spreadsheet
- Fit, limitations and decision.
- Configure existing tool
- Fit against the same rules, limitations and decision.
- Build custom app
- Specific unmet need, ongoing responsibilities and decision.
Workflow and data map
- Column or field
- Name and meaning.
- Record and relationship
- What is stored and what it links to.
- Owner and visibility
- Who owns it; who may read whose record?
- Handoff and allowed action
- Actor, state and next step.
- Exception
- What happens outside the ordinary path?
- Protected decision
- Which decision or field must stay unchanged, and from when?
Migration and decision
- Data cleanup
- Duplicates, missing identities and inconsistent states; name an owner.
- Migration questions
- Which records move, how are they checked, and what stays available?
- Decision and reason
- Keep, configure or build; list unresolved questions.
Make a justified choice
Before moving data, agree its ownership, cleanup, treatment of incomplete records and how the result will be checked. Record the decision and its reason, including the option to retain the tracker. This planning worksheet does not imply automatic Excel import.
If building is justified, use the map to write a reviewable brief with permitted and refused cases. Keep import and deployment procedures with the chosen source-owned tooling.
Keep / configure / buildChosen against the same requirements
- Accountability
- Business owner + data-cleanup owner
- Before moving data
- Ownership, incomplete records, migration questions
- Proof of fit
- A first-outcome acceptance check
Authored illustration of workflow rules and responsibilities.
Data cleanup
Name the data-cleanup owner.
Ownership and access
Confirm record ownership and access.
Existing-tool fit
Assess the existing tool against the same requirements.
Exceptions
Explain exceptions and protected decisions.
Migration and acceptance
Record migration questions and a first-outcome acceptance check.