Best of. Should catch a few eyes. We tend to love the idea of ‘Best of’. Many of the top internet searches relate to the ‘Best of…something’. Good search and SEO practice.
As far as ‘Best of’ is concerned, Martin Soler and I were discussing the topic while sharing a taxi in Berlin last week. We reflected on the term and I determined that this week’s article would pick up on the discussion.
I am referring to ‘Best of Breed’. As long as I can remember in the hospitality technology industry it has been the flavour of the day. Best of breed for this role. Best of breed for that role. Best of breed strategy. The frequency of use has extended into an industry phraseology in relation to technology identification and selection. Even transferring into an underlying principle of an overall approach to technology architecture and deployment into organisations.
In fairness there was a time when Best of Breed had a level of accuracy and relevance as related to specific areas of business capacity and supporting technology. Reservations and Front Office operations for example.
Although, in industries outside of hospitality the concept of best of breed has been supplanted by larger technology concepts. For example Enterprise Resource Planning and other enterprise approaches across that same timeline. The truth is that technology has been consolidating for a long time. Particularly as development tools have improved. Also because customers have learned that to gain advantage from their tools, broader business capability has been a natural evolution. More recently as a result of acquisition of technology solutions.
Almost overnight the term ‘Platform’ emerged. This was what we had found peculiar. That a term used extensively for decades in industry has almost vanished overnight. More curiously, those who had purported Best of Breed in the technology vendor space migrated to a ‘platform approach’. Platform, being software for more than one specific business function. Somehow, all those acquisitions need to make sense.
It’s an interesting moment as the customer navigates such a rapid switch in technology methodology. For someone who reviews technology constantly, the term ‘Best of’, has always been a subjective one. ‘Best of’ is only ever relevant to the scenario for which it is required. Rarely does ‘Best of’ translate to best fit. But that’s another article.
Life is so tech. Time for a new platform.
Mark Fancourt
