However, NetSuite CEO Zach Nelson took a big swing a best-of-breed. “That’s the next big software lie,” Nelson said. “Integrating Salesforce and Intacct is as messy as integrating Great Plains and SalesLogix.” Someone articulated the evolution theory—software categories start out with best-of-breed, but functionality gets brought together as they mature. Microsoft Office, with Word, Excel and PowerPoint, is in many respects one application with different features. Financial software has also tended to grow like “The Blob”, absorbing other capabilities as it moves. And clearly, given the wide range of specializations, no one ERP vendor can write them all. My opinion is best of breed is a moving target. As specialties become more mainstream those functions will be subsumed into the accounting package or Microsoft Office, or whatever offers a platform for a specific set of needs. And maybe it works for the iPad, but not for NetSuite and Intacct.
BEST OF BREED: GOOD/BAD? Featured
A string of interviews I conducted about cloud computing in the last month produced major disagreement on one topic. And that was the virtue of best-of-breed when it comes to providing functions in the cloud. We all know best of breed, that is buying the best products from different companies and getting them to work together instead of buying one company’s integrated line. “Best of breed is where the market is going,” says Erik Asgeirsson, CEO of CPA.com (formerly known as CPA2Biz.com). Asgeirsson argues that the Apple iPad has been successful because of the wide range of apps available from parties not named Apple.
