{ "$schema": "https://doorjames.com/page-schema.json", "url": "https://doorjames.com/compare/desk-sharing-with-excel/", "path": "/compare/desk-sharing-with-excel/", "language": "en", "locale": "en", "type": "compare", "section": "resources", "title": "Desk sharing with Excel", "headline": "Desk sharing with Excel – where the limit is", "metaTitle": "Desk sharing with Excel vs software | Door James by CGI", "description": "Up to which size a spreadsheet works for desk booking, which costs stay invisible and when software starts to pay off.", "summary": "A spreadsheet for desk booking works perfectly well with one location, few desks and stable teams. The limit is reached once several locations, parking, visitors or reporting are added: then double bookings appear, attendance becomes unclear, manual maintenance grows and there is no reliable basis for space decisions.", "keywords": [ "Desk sharing with Excel", "vs Excel & Outlook", "Door James" ], "updated": "2026-09-22", "product": { "name": "Door James", "vendor": "CGI Deutschland B.V. & Co. KG", "vendorUrl": "https://www.cgi.com/", "category": "Workplace management software", "subCategory": "Office management, desk booking, visitor management, space management", "url": "https://doorjames.com/", "pricing": { "currency": "EUR", "price": 2, "unit": "user/month", "minimumUsers": 250, "allModulesIncluded": true }, "hosting": [ "Google Cloud, Frankfurt (Germany)", "IONOS, Germany (option)" ], "languages": [ "en", "de", "fr", "nl", "es", "it", "pt", "fi", "fr-CA" ], "award": "German Innovation Award 2022", "rating": { "value": 4.4, "count": 45, "best": 5, "source": "Apple App Store", "storefront": "DE", "url": "https://apps.apple.com/de/app/door-james/id6444570436", "checkedOn": "2026-09-21", "googlePlayDownloadsMin": 10000 } }, "breadcrumbs": [ { "name": "Home", "url": "https://doorjames.com/" }, { "name": "Compare", "url": "https://doorjames.com/compare/" }, { "name": "vs Excel & Outlook", "url": "https://doorjames.com/compare/desk-sharing-with-excel/" } ], "comparison": { "columns": [ "Criterion", "Door James", "Excel & Outlook" ], "rows": [ { "criterion": "Cost", "cells": [ "EUR 2 per user per month", "Apparently free; in practice maintenance effort and error cost" ] }, { "criterion": "Double bookings", "cells": [ "Prevented by the system, including Outlook sync", "Regular, especially with concurrent editing" ] }, { "criterion": "Attendance data", "cells": [ "From check-ins, distinguishes booked from used", "Planned bookings only, no actual usage" ] }, { "criterion": "Visitors", "cells": [ "Digital invitation, self check-in, badge, host notification", "Paper list or a separate tool" ] }, { "criterion": "Parking and assets", "cells": [ "Same logic as desks", "More spreadsheets or informal arrangements" ] }, { "criterion": "Reporting", "cells": [ "Occupancy per floor, area and weekday, automatic reports", "Manual evaluation with limited meaning" ] }, { "criterion": "Data protection", "cells": [ "Configurable retention, roles, processing agreement", "A spreadsheet of personal data without retention logic" ] }, { "criterion": "Mobile", "cells": [ "Apps, widgets, QR and geofence check-in", "A spreadsheet on a phone" ] } ], "note": "Comparison as of September 2026. Statements about other providers come from their publicly available information and can change; please verify before using them in a decision." }, "whenOther": { "title": "When another product fits better", "items": [ "You have one location with few desks and stable teams – a well-maintained spreadsheet is often good enough there.", "You are below 250 employees and therefore under our minimum.", "You are planning a move or reorganization anyway and want to introduce software afterwards." ] }, "sections": [ { "heading": "Where the spreadsheet genuinely works", "level": 2, "text": "It would be dishonest to claim Excel is fundamentally unsuitable for desk booking. With one location, 30 desks and a settled team, a maintained spreadsheet works well – it is available immediately, everyone can use it and there is no licence cost." }, { "heading": "Where it tips over", "level": 2, "text": "The limit is rarely headcount; it is the number of dimensions. Add a second location and maintenance doubles. Add parking and a second spreadsheet appears. Add visitors and a third list appears at reception. And as soon as someone asks about actual occupancy, the core problem surfaces: a spreadsheet knows planned bookings only, not real usage." }, { "heading": "The data protection angle that gets overlooked", "level": 2, "text": "A spreadsheet with names, attendance days and seat numbers is a collection of personal data – usually without a deletion concept, without access restrictions and in any number of copies on drives and in mailboxes. In practice that is more often the trigger for replacement than the convenience gain." } ], "faq": [ { "question": "When is it worth switching?", "answer": "A pragmatic indicator: as soon as more than one person maintains the spreadsheet, more than one location is covered, or the question about actual occupancy is asked for the first time." }, { "question": "What does the spreadsheet really cost?", "answer": "The visible part is maintenance time. The invisible part is wrong bookings, search time, missing reporting and – with personal data and no deletion concept – a data protection risk." }, { "question": "Can we reuse the spreadsheet?", "answer": "Yes. Asset lists are captured in spreadsheet form during the rollout anyway, so an existing one is useful preparation rather than wasted work." } ], "related": [ { "title": "Space calculator", "url": "https://doorjames.com/tools/office-space-calculator/" }, { "title": "Desk booking", "url": "https://doorjames.com/features/desk-booking/" }, { "title": "Workplace analytics", "url": "https://doorjames.com/features/workplace-analytics/" } ], "alternates": { "en": "https://doorjames.com/compare/desk-sharing-with-excel/", "de": "https://doorjames.com/de/vergleich/desk-sharing-mit-excel/" }, "formats": { "html": "https://doorjames.com/compare/desk-sharing-with-excel/", "markdown": "https://doorjames.com/compare/desk-sharing-with-excel/index.md", "json": "https://doorjames.com/compare/desk-sharing-with-excel/index.json", "jsonld": "https://doorjames.com/compare/desk-sharing-with-excel/index.jsonld" }, "contact": { "email": "doorjames.support@cgi.com", "bookDemo": "https://meet.doorjames.app/public-schedule/99469a6d66d20f7fdd5ee19182a8f8bd", "demo": "https://doorjames.app/demo", "helpCenter": "https://help-center.doorjames.com/hc/door-james/en", "app": "https://wa.doorjames.app" }, "actions": [ { "type": "bookDemo", "name": "Book a demo", "url": "https://meet.doorjames.app/public-schedule/99469a6d66d20f7fdd5ee19182a8f8bd", "minutes": 30, "platform": "Microsoft Teams", "description": "A scheduled call with the Door James team, 30 minutes over Microsoft Teams, slot chosen by the visitor." }, { "type": "liveDemo", "name": "Try the demo yourself", "url": "https://doorjames.app/demo", "description": "Interactive demo environment of the Door James app, no sign-up." }, { "type": "contact", "name": "Contact us", "url": "https://doorjames.com/contact/", "description": "Contact form and email address." }, { "type": "email", "name": "Email", "url": "mailto:doorjames.support@cgi.com" } ], "citation": { "title": "Desk sharing with Excel", "publisher": "Door James by CGI", "url": "https://doorjames.com/compare/desk-sharing-with-excel/", "dateModified": "2026-09-22" }, "license": "Content © CGI Deutschland B.V. & Co. KG. Quotation and summarisation are permitted with attribution to Door James by CGI and a link to the source URL.", "generated": "2026-10-23", "wordCount": 340 }