As a finance officer, you may be faced with the tough choice of replacing your financial accounting system. This decision will be followed by another tough assessment on whether to replace the system with a “best of breed” or an “integrated” one. Your prior solution may have lasted twenty years. Your next solution may last twenty more. Which path do you follow?
A “best of breed” solution consists of multiple systems strung together to meet a need. A typical example is an organization using one software package for financial accounting; another for human resources and payroll; and another for purchasing. The range of systems may vary from a couple of systems to a multitude of systems.
Contrast the “best of breed” system with an integrated solution. Using the example above, financial accounting, human resources and payroll, and purchasing are delivered via a single software package in an integrated solution.
As one might guess, there are risks and benefits inherent to either type of solution. Organizations that choose the “best of breed” approach usually base their decision on the notion that they will reduce the risk of becoming too dependent on a single vendor. This, in their view, is a potential single point of failure. On the other hand, organizations that choose “integrated” solutions consider it more of a risk that they are unable to hold a single vendor accountable for potential issues. In other words, they desire, “one throat to choke.” Using either argument is the wrong way to identify the right solution.
Consider the capability of your organization. Does your organization have a strong governance structure? An integrated solution is a shared solution and requires coordinated decisions for configuration and maintenance. Does your technology support organization have the capability and resources to coordinate system integration? A “best of breed” approach requires coordination of technology implementations, maintenance, and integration management. What are the needs of the business community? Are users comfortable with more autonomy (i.e., “best of breed”) or do they desire easier single points of access to data (i.e., integrated approach)?
Making the decision to choose a “best of breed” solution or an “integrated” solution based upon the distance the organization is from vendors is the wrong approach to selecting the right type of solution. Forming an opinion based upon business needs, technical resources and organizational capacity is the smarter way.
