The end of a one size fits all solution.

One of the most common requests I receive when talking to clients is the request for a single platform solution.

People have been conditioned to expect one all-encompassing solution due to their past experiences, mainly through Microsoft office. Oddly enough it has never been the case, Microsoft created the illusion of an all in one solution by bundling their products under the Office Suite. Otherwise, Exel would have only been bought by accountants and Word would have gone to attorneys.

The latest iteration of cloud-based solutions has adopted the mantra of hyperspecialization. For the most part, every solution excels at one thing only. This allows each vendor to provide not only an unprecedented performance but also of ease of use. A system is only as efficient as the people using it, and without intuitive controls, we will never be able to maximise our tools.

Please never ignore the basic principle of GIGO Garbage In Garbage Out.

Today, all the major platforms offer native integrations as well as an open API. We have now reached a point in which multiple systems work and react as one bespoke system. No matter how good our accounting system was, if we cannot integrate it with our inventory system and our sales platform it all becomes an exercise in futility.

A great example is a relationship between Unleashed and Xero. From both platforms, you can access the other one. If you are looking at a shipped order on unleashed you can immediately click on the Xero logo and it will bring up the customer invoice on Xero, and vice versa. Even though they are two completely different platforms they interact as one.