http://www.whyamirich.com/ Articles at Free Website Content from Whyamirich.com en-us http://www.whyamirich.com/computers/small-business-computing/many-companies-one-solution-should-your-business-go-all-in-with-a-single-vendor.html http://www.whyamirich.com/computers/small-business-computing/many-companies-one-solution-should-your-business-go-all-in-with-a-single-vendor.html Sat, 02 May 2009 05:06:39 -0600
That's really quite the list. And there are a few companies out there who claim to be able to cover off all of these areas in one comprehensive package, but a bit of skepticism is called for. Is it really possible for a single business software suite to combine the strengths of the best-developed single-purpose solutions out there?

For example, Quickbooks may be great for accountants, but it can't integrate into most point-of-sale systems or handle multiple warehouse locations. On the other hand a comprehensive business software package like ManageMore can't give the user the kind of upgrade and add-on options, or the support commitment, that a company like Microsoft is in a position to guarantee.

One major advantage of single-vendor systems is that they make it a cinch for staff to learn different parts of the software, since it should look and feel identical to what they've already been trained on. And often, single-vendor solutions can be customized to match your industry, since they tend to be modular.

On the other hand, single-solution vendors really can't invest the same amount of person-hours into their management software system as, for instance, Kronos is able to put into their single, targeted solution. All-in-ones who offer add-ons by client don't necessarily offer the same user base or face the same competition pressure that pushes specialist organizations to create add-ons and bother with incremental improvements and updates.

Often, though, staff spends a lot of time, in terms of dollars, just moving information from one container to another, because many software systems just are not compatible with each other. Either the data is vastly different, or it is not worth a company's time to connect with a disprate product in another industry. A one-stop-shop might also make collaboration between departments easier, since it is able to track every transaction from end to end. You might actually shell out less on a single business management software solution in the long run simply through economization of work.

Now we get to the real question: cost. Single-system solutions aren't cheap. But when you actually throw together all of the one-off medium-sized business management solutions you need to buy, licensing might approach tens of thousands of dollars, even for a relatively small package. Going with multiple vendors for all of your purchasing, inventory control, marketing, and management needs represents a large chunk of a company's operating costs.

Single-solution vendors might be able to save money and time using a modular design, but training costs will be much higher due to the proprietary nature of the system - there are more manuals out there on Microsoft Excel than there are on the project-management module in the education version of BizAutomation!

Keep in mind, also, that in many cases, data formats are incompatible, so unless you pay somebody to get your data back out for you, it is hard to switch systems. Once you commit to a single-solution business management software vendor, you're pretty much stuck with them.

If most of your data and employee face-time is going into using only one of a few business management software suites, like Microsoft Office or Quicken, you're likely going to be better off sticking with them. Analyze closely your business's day-to-day operations. If you have employees who are spending as much time in the warehouse as they are analyzing product sales patterns, it's definitely worth at least giving a single-source vendor a try. Just make sure that it offers industry-standard compatible formats: all information should be compatible, off-the-shelf, with the comparable standalone software suites that the system is replacing. ]]>