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Platform vs. "Best-in-Breed"

Platform vs. "Best-in-Breed"

Klas Bernehjält
May 2022
Klas Bernehjält
Two hands reaching for each other

When a business invests in its digital infrastructure, it often ends up in discussions and what can be described as political games where internal interests and different providers and systems are pitted against each other. This may involve investments in new business systems, CRM systems, marketing automation, e-commerce or web systems. In the relatively short history of increasing reliance on digital tools, the pendulum has swung many times between overall strategies where the group steps in and decides to concentrate all or large parts of its tool fleet to one or a few systems or vendors, to tactically and economically simply using the tool that is best suited for the particular task for which it seeks help from a tool. 

We often come across these discussions and tendencies to choose between "platform or best-in-bred" solutions as their strategy for choosing which tools or vendors to select.  

The problem with the whole discussion is that all too often it is the discussion that determines the decision, not the actual needs that were the starting point of the initiative. But let us return to our angle on the problem.


What is best?

A simple question, but which is better, an all-in-one or best-in-broad platform? What is your experience? But it is rather impossible to answer as the answer is individual to the business to which the answer is to be applied.

Which systems best suit the needs of a business? Should different departments be given the freedom to choose their own applications based on their own perceived needs and desires or should they buy into a platform that offers the necessary applications for each department in the hope that life will be easier if everything is in the same system?!

Choosing in the system architecture is a bit like planning a holiday. Should you go with an "all inclusive package" with a range of integrated applications from a single vendor, or plan your own trip, the so-called "best-in-breed" approach. 

If you are looking for the optimal solution in each business area, the "best-in-breed" options usually provide specific functionality and satisfy specific roles and functions well as the whole system is built with one or a few values in focus. The speed to solve specific challenges and to make employees happy, makes best-in-breed attractive. Price-wise, it can be easier decisions that do not lower the budget. The challenges come when the system has to interact in a larger context where information cannot flow between functions and departments, where integration projects become year-long projects, data quality suffers and a quick survey shows that you have X number of systems that do much the same things or at least on paper have the capability to handle the same type of tasks.

The platform solution that likes to highlight the 360 view of the customer, the project, the finances, etc., with a large number of integrated applications with a common database and a consistent user interface so that all modules have a familiar look and feel may be attractive to "bring order to the chaos". However, the disadvantage is that one has to adapt to the functionality and possibilities available within the platform instead of starting from the need and choosing the platform that meets the requirements. It is almost always a major project requiring a large financial investment. In addition, large parts of the business will be directly or indirectly affected by the project.

guy who makes a decision


Which of these solutions best suits your business? 

Of course, both models have advantages and disadvantages and may suit some companies better than others. Here are some factors to keep in mind when making the choice:


Benefits of an "all-in-one" platform

  • One counterparty and one system, simplifying administration and management
  • A simpler system architecture in the organisation with one or a few business-critical systems
  • A more consistent interface and recognition for users
  • Simplified training and adoption
  • Easier skills provision and development and the opportunity to build internal teams


Disadvantages of an "all-in-one" platform

  • Reduced flexibility and system limitations may become more apparent. 
  • Important integrations and broad support from 3rd party solutions.
  • Extra cost for features you don't necessarily need
  • Lack of development speed in de-prioritised areas from the system provider.
  • Less adapted platform for each individual department
  • A higher investment cost with longer and more complex implementation projects.
  • Greater impact (positive and negative) on the whole business with "more eggs in the same basket"

 Things to consider if you choose "All-in-one"

If you choose the platform option, it is important to have included stakeholders from all affected departments, so that they have the opportunity to influence the decision in the procurement project. This can make a procurement project more complicated and time-consuming but it is a key to success to get buy-in from all affected parts of the business. This will lead to a smoother implementation and a greater understanding of the lack of flexibility in the applications that make up the platform.

girl making a decision


Benefits of a "Best-in-breed" platform

  • Creates greater flexibility and reduced risk as there are fewer dependencies.
  • Niche and focused on solving specific problems
  • Generally higher user satisfaction and easier adaptation (greater departmental ownership)
  • In general, less investment is required for the specific case, which shortens decision times and leads to smaller implementation projects with fewer stakeholders to consider.


Disadvantages of a "Best-in-breed" platform

  • Can lead to fragmented customer data spread across multiple platforms
  • Unclear ownership and responsibility for both systems and processes
  • More and more integration needs
  • May lead to more complex skills supply with broader training and support needs
  • More supplier relationships with different contracts and increased administration.


Things to consider if you choose "Best-in-breed

If you follow the "best-in-breed" option, you are likely to end up with a sprawling architecture consisting of different system tools and services, possibly built on different technologies and developed in different languages. Unfortunately, interoperability is still not a given between different platforms, and even when products claim to be standards-compliant, there are often integration problems. Two products that work well in isolation can create problems when put together.


It is important that you allow for any development costs and consultancy needs included in this option. Such a landscape places higher demands on clear processes and ownership of these, understanding of data flows and possible investment requirements in integration projects. 

girl with an idea


Alternative

The challenge of juxtaposing these two extremes is not new, the pendulum has swung many times as trends, but our picture is that the complexity of the issue has increased as there are more and more different solutions on the market and many solutions become broader in what kind of functionality they deliver.


The problem that quickly arises when you pit the two alternative paths against each other is that it quickly becomes polarised and the focus shifts from the problem to be solved and for whom to make the change to one or the other "side" "winning". If the focus can be kept on who you are making the change for, which is hopefully ultimately the customer (and therefore the business), then more pragmatic solutions that can include both platform and best in breed solutions, are possible, simultaneously. By creating a digital architecture that creates flexibility and reduces reliance on individual solutions, both approaches can exist simultaneously and overall create a better solution than either could have achieved individually. 

With a proper needs analysis as a starting point, you can choose a platform capable of delivering key functions. In cases where the business prefers "best in breed" in some areas and it is economically justifiable, this can be allowed as long as they integrate and interact with the main platform. 

To create the conditions for this type of modular and integrated architecture, there are a few more tools that enable this. 


Integration platform

The integration platform is crucial to effectively integrate many different data sources and provide control and security through the flow of information.


Customer Data Platform

The more places customer data is stored, the more difficult it is to ensure data quality, integrity and security. Here, the role of the CDP is to be the central location for all information relating to a customer or individual and from which rights to the various linked systems are controlled. This makes it easier to enable each system in the chain to do what it is good at and designed for. For example, for the CRM to manage relationships with the various Stakeholders the organisation has, for the Marketing Automation system to manage communication in a personalised and relevant way, the ERP system to manage financial and economic relationships such as orders, returns, logistics etc. All elements are needed to effectively manage a 'customer lifecycle' from first touch to long term customer relationship and even beyond. 


Our recommendation

Avoid locking the discussion into one strategy or another, but work pragmatically on the problem to be solved and how it can best be achieved from the perspectives of the different stakeholders. If there is no clear-cut alternative that meets all needs, solve the individual problems that are simple (low hanging fruits) first and rather create the conditions needed to solve the whole, i.e. a solution architecture that creates room for change through efficiency and flexibility and reduces lock-in effects.


The best way forward is to start doing things and learning along the way. It is difficult to set relevant requirements and define a desired state if it requires too long a move for the business to absorb. Rather, set a level of ambition ahead of time and make sure to start moving in the direction it implies. Focus on increasing the propensity to change and therefore the pace of change within the organisation and the goal will soon be closer and more realistic.

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