Software Buying Trends: Pros and Cons of Purchasing Multiple Apps From the Same Company

It all started with the iPod. You just had to have this state-of-the-art music player that was way better than any MP3 player on the market. You were already in love with your Mac so why wouldn’t you want another Apple product? Then the iPhone came along. Nobody else on the market had anything that came close so you added that to your tech collection. Then the iPad. Another great Apple product. So far so good with this relationship.

Then one dark day you got the opportunity to play with the Samsung Galaxy S6 and it was love at first sight. The problem was that all your data was stored in iCloud and your music in iTunes and the thought of moving all that over to your Android device was giving you sleepless nights. So you stuck with your iPhone in a familiar case of Apple lock in.

The business equivalent of this software buying trend would be having purchased a suite of products from big software companies such as Microsoft, Salesforce, Oracle, Netsuite, or SAP because they were the best on the market at the time, thus buying into their app ecosystem. If you’re a small business or you’ve recently started out you may be considering going down this route of adopting a product set from a single cloud app vendor. Here we discuss the pros and cons of buying multiple products from the same software company.

Speeds up the buying process

If you already have a contract with a software company in place, it will be easier to implement a new piece of tech under these existing frameworks. This saves you hours of admin time and means you can get up and running quicker. You’ll also save yourself the headache of shopping around for different vendors (although GetApp does try to make this process less painful), inviting them to pitch, signing up for free trials, and checking out review sites.

Quicker to set up

Whether it’s your second, third, or fourth product from the same software company, the upside is that they know your business, the way you work, and how your employees like to work. The same is true the other way around - you ironed out most of the implementation problems the first time so this setup process should be quicker and less painful. Not only that, but the infrastructure will already be in place from the first implementation and so integrating the second piece of software into your existing technology landscape will be easier than if another vendor has to try to make their product fit.

Easier to train employees

Different products from the same software company are usually built in the same way with similar user interfaces, meaning the training barrier for your staff will be lower as they’ll already be familiar with the way it works. This isn’t always true, of course, especially if the products have come about through acquisitions, or were developed in different eras.

Costs and licensing are simpler

While the advent of subscription-based cloud software has simplified pricing structures, as your business grows, you’ll have ever more licenses and subscriptions to keep on top of. If you’re only dealing with one company, the process and paperwork are simplified. In addition, you may be able to negotiate a discount for the additional software. There will also be less overlap between product features if you pick software from the same vendor.

Easier to integrate

No system works in isolation and getting all your disparate systems to work together - from accounting to marketing automation to CRM to HR - can be a nightmare. The advantage of buying multiple products from the same company is that they are designed to work together, meaning fewer compatibility issues, no duplicate data, and one point of contact to go to when things go wrong.

Faster problem solving

“Why can’t I get MailChimp to import data from Salesforce CRM and send out my newsletters,” you cry down the phone at your point of contact for both companies. Two points of contact for two different products - which only multiples with the more vendors you add into the mix - means two different opinions (and apportions of blame) for one problem.

When you’ve got one point of contact because both pieces of software are from the same company you can get a faster and more satisfactory resolution to problems because you know where the fault lies and the vendor can’t pass the buck on fixing it. You will also have a consistent level of support.

Prices are higher

Competition breeds more competitive prices, but if you put all your eggs in one basket, then there’s no incentive for your software provider to try and outbid a rival, meaning you’ll pay the full price. Also, if the software vendor is big enough to offer multiple products, it will likely have higher overheads and so their solutions will cost more.

Different products don’t have same benefits

While two products may officially be sold by the same company leading you to expect to see all the benefits listed above, if one or more of these pieces of software are the result of an acquisition then all bets are off.

The longer ago the product was acquired, the better the chances that it’ll be fully integrated in the vendor’s stack and retain a similar look, feel, coding base, pricing structure and support, there are less guarantees that the processes will all work as smoothly as two products that were built by the same company.

Vendor lock in

You’ve implemented a piece of software just because it’s from the same company and you want to take advantage of quicker and easier deployment, speedier training, and better integration. Then you realize months down the line that it’s not right for your business and you want to cut the cord, but only for the one product.

Migrating to a new piece of software is tricky enough, but trying to maintain a relationship with the vendor for the original piece of software makes it a whole lot more complicated. Not only that, but you’re data can be tied up in the systems and the vendor isn’t being all that cooperative in helping you extract and transfer it. After all, there’s a reason people end up staying with all Apple products for years, even if they see the advantages of other platforms.

“One downside to using more than one software program from the same company is that when you want to switch or cancel, it becomes much more difficult than just canceling one piece of software,” says Mark Tuchscherer, co-founder and president of technology consultancy company Geeks Chicago.

It’s not the best product for your company

While it’s possible that the best software for your business could come from the same company, sticking with one vendor will limit your options. Choosing best-of-breed solutions will ensure that you have a product that meets your specific needs, especially if you have any particular niche demands. As these products tend to be more niche, there is also more possibility that you’ll be able to adapt them to fit with any additional needs, and that the updates delivered will be in line with the way your business is heading.

Loyalty leads to complacency

As we’ve already mentioned, migrating from one piece of software to another is an arduous process, and not one you’ll want to undertake regularly. So when you choose more than one product from the same company, the vendor will assume you are happy with the service and stop trying to please you. This can lead to less timely support, and less incentive to go above and beyond for your business.

There’s greater risk

If you’re running multiple solutions from the same company, what happens if it goes out of business, is acquired, or there’s a major problem at the firm or with the product? This could have a significant effect because it will hit multiple systems and different parts of your business. At least if you’re relying on different vendors, the rest of your business can continue as normal.

You end up behind the times

When a lot of your software comes from the same vendor and it’s more or less fulfilling your needs, they’ll be even less incentive for you to go looking for a new piece of kit, even if your business needs have changed. As a result, you end up with legacy systems that you work around to get the job done, and that have to be supported, even when the people that originally wanted the system have moved on.

It always helps to hear from users who have been through the process think. We spoke to some companies that have been through the process and they share their tips with us below.

Sales prospecting app KiteDesk uses both Salesforce CRM (Sales Cloud) and Pardot (Marketing Cloud).

CMO Eric Quanstrom explains: “When we were looking at marketing automation platforms, bi-directional sync of data and sync times between systems was critical. One of the best reasons to use Pardot with Salesforce is that data sync between systems is fast and easy to set up. One of the few drawbacks to this are different data sets between the two systems (ex: US State Code inputs– FL vs Florida).

“We also found there to be favorable price breaks for becoming a customer of both systems. The only drawback to this is the differing business models– Salesforce CRM is per-seat, while Pardot is a monthly fee (unlimited seats), tiered by contacts in the system.

“There also seemed to be decent feature set alignment between the two systems, though the roadmaps between the two platforms appear to be quite independent. There is also no common support–in fact, Pardot uses a talented, responsive group called Cheshire Impact for support and onboarding– but the lack of overlapping support teams leaves certain issues between the systems unresolved.”

Technology consultancy company Geeks Chicago has implemented three software options from Atlassian.

“We have been very happy with them,” says Mark Tuchscherer, co-founder and president of the company. “The main reason I prefer to utilize more than one piece of software from the same company is these programs are usually built to work together. We use JIRA and HipChat for all of our projects, and there are many cross-compatible options that make projects run more smoothly.”

John Turner, CEO and founder of QuietKit, both Google Analytics and Google Apps for Work.

“The experience has been very positive, but only because each of the two options were independently high quality,” says Turner. “Using a tie in product, such as Google+, isn’t as much of a selling point, as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn all offer much higher value as social networks. The two Google tools I choose to use are because they are of such high quality, and if they weren’t I would look for alternatives. There wasn’t too much tie in between the two products, but it did help that there was some design similarities, making the second product easier to adapt to.”

The decision about which piece of software to implement is difficult enough without throwing the issue of buying into a vendor ecosystem into the mix.

If you have quite general needs, and want a cloud based app that you can get up and running on quickly and easily, that is more likely to be fully adopted by your users, and that will fit right into your existing technology landscape with minimal disruption, then sticking with one software company is a good option.

However, if you have very specific needs, are worried about being tied to one company, or think you will want to change software more regularly, a multiple vendor approach is your best bet. If you want more information on which approach is right for you, then check out our AppFinder, which will help you search for software for your company according to business need, type of company, pricing model, and location.