The best-of-breed strategy — you absolutely need to know about it

You have surely already heard of best-of-breed in 2022. Unfortunately it is yet another buzzword, but it is the new software trend in companies. Spoiler: the ERP is a software that can also be considered through this lens, and it is quite an interesting reflection to have. Let us take stock of this strategy together.

"Best-of-breed: the possibility of integrating software from different vendors in order to choose the most suitable solutions." — François Silva, Doctor of Sociology

The best-of-breed strategy: what is it?

Best-of-breed, in French "champion de sa catégorie" (champion of its category), means the choice of ultra-specialized software for a precise need and on a limited scope within the company. Generally it is the tool that has the most advanced features in an individual application domain. It is a strategy that consists of combining solutions from several software vendors: for example the best HR software, the best CRM software, another for financial management. A notable advantage of best-of-breed solutions: they are SaaS (Software As A Service) designed in the Cloud, which allows them to communicate very easily with each other through integrations. Everything is fluid and company performance is multiplied thanks to these cutting-edge tools. This strategy clearly stands in opposition to the classic strategy of taking a generalist management software or "putting all your eggs in one basket," aka choosing a generalist software or something with 500 modules that are all mediocre and moderately effective at meeting needs. The perfect example — SAP. SAP allows for many things… but to make it a software of the future… It is clearly a key tool… of the past (to be avoided therefore if you want to be at the top of what technology has to offer you).

How to choose your ERP according to this domain champion strategy?

When you think about it, the term ERP — Enterprise Resource Planning — is a catch-all term since traditional ERPs (and unfortunately still widely used in our French SMEs, so let's spare a thought for the mental health of our factory managers) are designed as catch-all solutions — an integrated suite provided by a single vendor (the vendor is king in this case, not the customer).

For many, the single ERP solution is more appropriate than the best-of-breed approach, because it has the advantage of having a single tool allowing data to be kept in one and the same place, enabling collaboration. Spoiler: this is not a good solution. Why? To this day there is no ERP that is truly high-performing across a very broad range of features, which is unfortunately very penalizing for SMEs. Even the famous Gartner Inc consultancy says it: "all modules of an ERP system are rarely the best of their category." Taking a single and unique ERP will not be a good practice for an industrial SME, because a single software is often rigid and very complex to customize. Let us not forget that a classic ERP project often ends (unfortunately) in failure. We have already talked about the mistakes not to make. In summary: goodbye to the old-school strategy of a single and unique software of which one can become a slave!

But then why bet on best-of-breed?

A 100% customizable and flexible ecosystem

Choosing best-of-breed means taking the best tools from each domain and therefore adapting the tools to your business and having software that perfectly meets the real needs of the company. Thus, a best-of-breed ecosystem is unique and specific to each company, which remains free in its processes! In short, goodbye to expensive consultants working on endless projects!

Reduced costs

An old-school ERP project is expensive, very expensive. Let us remember the company that almost went bankrupt because of this type of project. This strategy allows you to move forward step by step and spend gradually and on tools that are adapted to the processes. A very good thing.

Reduced risks and unparalleled agility

Rather than betting on a single horse, you diversify risks and bet on several software solutions. Generally it goes well! Having the best software from each category allows for a very agile environment and the ability to quickly face changes!

Incredible results

Well, betting on the best tools means being agile, but also guaranteeing greater ease of use since Cloud software often has better UX and simple integrations. Teams are delighted and the company gains in productivity. Best-of-breed is the right path toward growth!

Bonx, the best-of-breed supply chain and production ERP

Well, if you have to start somewhere when you are an industrial SME, it is by choosing the best production ERP — enabling the digitalization of operations through four key features:

• Custom views: to manage your operations in real time
• Objects: from any screen you can access a real-time object view and validate sales or manufacturing orders in a few clicks.
• Forms that make the link between the real world and the digital world.
• Automations: that allow you to automate your alert or information processes in a few clicks

Clearly a champion of the ERP category, Bonx is based on:

• A no-code technology that allows you to create unique and extremely powerful operations management dashboards in a few clicks.
• The same databases as Meta and Google, therefore extremely customizable (and very secure too)
• Integrates with all cloud software on the market used by many SMEs, notably Hubspot, Pipedrive, Salesforce, Sellsy, Pennylane, or other tools facilitating work such as Fabriq (a nod to the OSS ecosystem).

So shall we discuss what Bonx can do for you?