Difficult Decisions
Difficult Decisions
Our recent renovation project included a big remodel of our kitchen and an opportunity to build it to our specifications. There are multiple cooks in our house, so selecting a cooktop and oven range was a key decision. There are many options in the marketplace, but it narrowed significantly to industrial-grade offerings with more burners than a typical residential home might see. The actual brand we selected is not important here but it is one of the leaders in this market and can be seen in many commercial kitchens and restaurants.
There were some suggestions from a variety of people to select “matching appliances” and pick the same brand for other appliances from a design perspective, where possible. We did pick our fridge and freezer modules from the same brand on the basis of that.
Months, even years on, 4 or 5 freezer units later, multiple repair and support visits we had had enough and pushed for these two units to be taken back and new alternatives from a different manufacturer put in.
More than a year on, this was a great decision and worth what was a challenging conversation with all the interested parties.
What became clear to me was that the cooktop manufacturer like so many companies, wanted to expand in other areas and had decided to build out other appliances to capture some of the market that they were giving up to other manufacturers of dishwashers, fridges, freezers, and microwaves. And manufacturers known for some of those appliance areas were doing the same thing, pushing into other areas for the very same reasons.
But our experience is typical of this decision around best of breed or integrated. The compromise is not always worth the “integration”. The integrated solution is built by a company and people who are not focused only on that area. In the case of our freezer, it was a never-ending stream of problems, some irritating, others significant and problematic. Despite repeated attempts from our supplier and support from the maker never resolved. We could have persisted but ultimately reversed and moved to best of breed, getting a fridge freezer from a manufacturer expert and well known in the area of fridges and freezers.
You give up functionality and capabilities, and reliability in the name of this integrated option.
Which brings me to the recent announcement of Epic entering another area of capability reminded me of the age-old question that continues to show up.
A Design and Functionality Decision
Do you buy the best of each solution or should you compromise on capabilities and get something from one solution provider, accepting that the functionality will be lacking?
We have seen this before in healthcare and in many other areas with companies spreading into adjacent areas keen to acquire much of the customer spending tied to their product that is often perceived to be leaking out. Meanwhile, the specialized systems and products on the edge of a big solution provider are watching their space and disappearing and respond with a similar expansion.
So this latest expansion of the EMR to do another task was inevitable. It offers another option to those who see this as the way to a single brand system for whatever reasons they decide. But I would suggest that much like my freezer, it comes with compromises.
Meanwhile, the best-of-breed players continue to develop and innovate in their area of focus, and to be clear, probably a little of the expansion into conglomerate territory as well 😁. For sure your options will get broader, but the decision-making process is going to be harder.
What do you think?
❓ Are you best-of-breed or one-stop shopping
❓ Does it matter, and if so, why? If not, why not?
❓ What can you give up for one stop shopping and what is a hard pass issue for you and your organization
