Branding as Integration
Is branding an effective integration strategy? The BigCo ERP vendors seem to think so. They sell business applications. They also create the technology stack beneath the application. The various elements of the stack come from many different sources. Because they carry the same brand name, however, it’s often assumed that they work together seamlessly. It ain’t necessarily so.
At Lawson, we use the IBM® technology stack. Why IBM? Because the components actually do fit together seamlessly. Why can IBM do what the BigCo ERP vendors can’t? Because IBM builds the stack for a market, not for internal use. It’s a profit center. As such, it gets more investment and its customers get more attention. The result is a well-integrated set of technologies. They have to be well integrated or they wouldn’t sell. There’s a huge difference between delivering a product to a market and delivering a product to engineers down the hall.
If you’re considering a BigCo ERP vendor, take a look beneath the covers. It may be more “unseamly” than it seems.
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