Tips for Choosing the Right Software Strategy for Your Business

As a business owner, you are called upon to make key decisions for the business daily. Some decisions are small in scale, like deciding to update the company’s marketing brochure, and some have the power to shape the long-term viability of your business. 

An example of a long-term business-shaping decision is the focus of today’s blog as we review the latest thought-leadership article penned by LigoLab CEO Suren Avunjian for Forbes Business Council.

Choosing the Right Software, Step One

In his latest article for Forbes Business Council, Avunjian begins by making it clear that for a business that’s made up of multiple departments, workflows, and products, choosing the right software strategy is anything but straightforward. Instead, it requires nuance, research, and forward thinking. 

“A complex business typically must employ multiple software solutions to cover all facets of business operations.”

Suren Avunjian, LigoLab CEO

Avunjian recommends researching the available options as a first step toward filling your business software needs. He suggests reading reviews and testimonials to find out what solutions have worked well for comparable companies and which ones would be potentially a good fit while also remaining within budget constraints. 

Avunjian believes that this research will lead to a choice between two distinct software strategies. 

Best-of-Breed and Best-of-Suite, Defined

Next, Avunjian introduces and defines the two most common software strategies that a business can deploy to satisfy its unique needs. 

Best-of-Breed: A software strategy where the business aligns with multiple software vendors, with each vendor providing a specialized application for a particular part of the business. 

Best-of-Suite: A software strategy where the business aligns with a single software vendor that provides a comprehensive all-in-one solution that supports multiple aspects of the business. 

Best-of-Breed Advantages 

After defining both options, Avunjian next dives deeper into the best-of-breed advantages. They include vendor expertise, vendor flexibility, user experience, advanced features, and scalability. 

“Best-of-breed software applications often are more scalable than all-in-one solutions. This allows your business to add or replace a specific application as needed without having to overhaul the entire system.”

Suren Avunjian, LigoLab CEO

Best-of-Suite Advantages

Avunjian also lays out the key best-of-suite advantages that include streamlined vendor management, workflow integration, unified experience for all applications, robust analytics, and enhanced security.

“Best-of-suite solutions are designed to work seamlessly together with other applications within the suite, eliminating potential barriers between solutions and providing users with a consistent interface and familiar experience as they move from one module to another.”

Suren Avunjian, LigoLab CEO

Additional Considerations to Weigh

So which software strategy represents the best fit for your business? In the end, Avunijan suggests that the over-arching philosophy of your business is one of several other factors to consider.

He writes that if your business is looking for a best-in-class software solution that’s highly specialized and you don’t mind working with multiple vendors and systems, best-of-breed may ultimately be the right choice, even if that means managing these multiple systems will require more effort and resources going toward integration, maintenance, and compatibility issues.

On the other hand, if your business would benefit more from a comprehensive and unified solution that excels in areas like integration and analytics, the best-of-suite option may represent the best way forward even if you may miss out on having the top-performing option for a specific function. 

Avunjian closes by writing that both software strategies have their pros and cons, and ultimately, choosing the right software strategy for your organization comes down to your business's priorities and requirements.

Read Other Suren Avunijan Articles

Avunjian is a highly sought-after lab industry voice and a regular contributor to the Forbes Business Council. 

Through his articles, he combines previous experience as a laboratory chief technology officer with a business acumen gained from nearly 20 years of leading LigoLab Information Systems, an enterprise LIS software company that specializes in tailor-made pathology lab software solutions. 

Suren excels in taking complicated business-related subjects and turning them into easy-to-understand and compelling thought-leadership pieces. 

Here’s a sampling of Suren’s previous contributions to Forbes Business Council.

Enhancing Patient Care With Electronic Health Records And Laboratory Information Systems

Reducing Medical Waste And Cost With Just-In-Time Testing

The Impact Of Current Technology On The Future Of Medical Laboratories

Funding Versus Bootstrapping For An Enterprise Software Company

About the Author

As a Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at LigoLab Information Systems, Avunjian oversees all business growth and operations for the LIS company while leading a team of best-in-class personnel. He’s also the creative force behind LigoLab’s strategic vision to build the most comprehensive and infinitely configurable laboratory information system backed by unlimited and unmatched customer service.