I talk to a lot of businesses and Chief Information Officers in my business role. One of the most common challenges they talk about is how difficult it is to find the right technology to help them grow and accomplish their goals. There are more choices than ever before, which creates a lot of noise and confusion.
In my experience, there are two common mistakes a business can make when it comes to information technology:
First, most businesses leave themselves vulnerable by skimping on IT and not having the proper system in place. Skimping usually leads to more spending later to fix problems.
Second, too many businesses subscribe to the philosophy that they should use one vendor or limited vendors to minimize the complexity of IT.
There is a popular notion among CIOs that they'll have a better, less complex system with fewer vendors. While this seems logical, I believe this notion is wrong and, in fact, better solutions typically require multiple vendors.
The big, single vendor manufacturers aren’t single vendor at all. Because of acquisitions in the IT industry, businesses are using multiple vendors anyway. Each product has a unique call center even though the sales pitch was “operational simplicity.” Knowing this, you may as well create your own solution and adopt a best-of-breed mentality.
Don’t let the jack-of-all-trades but master of none be a sentiment that describes how you select IT solutions. You can pick vendors to solve critical IT issues better than large companies can, based on their previous acquisitions.
Do not get locked into mediocrity. You owe it to yourself and your company to purchase products that best meet your needs. These best-of-breed solutions have a number of benefits, including the following:
Best-of-breed manufacturers specialize in one thing and do it well.
Best-of-breed IT solutions often significantly reduce capital and operational expenditures.
Best-of-breed solutions come with massive support options. Instead of having one team with little knowledge of the whole solution, you can leverage highly specialized teams for each area of concern. Coupled with a true systems integrator, it becomes a powerful combination.
I prefer to focus on pain points, issues, and developments in the market, and then focus my expertise on solutions for an individual business and its needs, as opposed to focusing on vendors. I also prefer to not be tied down to one service provider or technology company because that typically means a higher cost with no additional benefits. I focus on providing the right products for the right solutions regardless of the vendor. A best-of-breed solution allows you to do all of these things.
The counterargument to using multiple vendors is that if you have a problem, there’s only one vendor to blame. In my experience, it doesn’t work this way. Single, large manufacturers have many call centers, which are mostly outsourced, and product groups that simply point fingers at each other in a crisis. In these cases, all you’re getting is a multi-vendor solution under the guise of a single vendor, without the best-of-breed component.
The counterargument doesn’t hold ground. In fact, a best-of-breed solution provides additional flexibility not available from single vendor solutions, so it must be considered.
Author Nancy Pearcey said, “Competition is always a good thing. It forces us to do our best. A monopoly renders people complacent and satisfied with mediocrity."
IT is challenging but, when done right, can help businesses accomplish their goals and enjoy long-term success.
Christopher Barney is a Partner and the VP of Sales and Marketing for Red Sky Solutions. He has over 20 years of experience in the data communications field in both engineering and sales. He can be reached at cbarney@redskysol.com.