Why single-point solutions often lead to a strategic dead end
Fast, inexpensive, precise: that sounds like the perfect answer to the pressure that many CIOs are feeling. Anyone who wants to digitize a specific process today – in logistics, for example – will immediately find providers with a “single-point solution” that is optimized for precisely this purpose. At first glance, this is attractive – like a savings book: simple, solid, without much planning effort. What you have, you have. But this is exactly where the trap lies. Because what looks like a clever shortcut often turns out to be a dead end. Why? Processes in companies never exist in isolation. They are connected, interlinked and need to exchange data – not just today, but especially tomorrow. A logistics process needs a mobile app for recording, a backend for data processing, integrations in SAP, interfaces to partners, perhaps even a workflow for approvals. One use case has already become several applications that are difficult or impossible to integrate with a single-point solution. So anyone who only relies on the “one quick tool” is overlooking the big picture: the need for an integrated, future-proof digitalization strategy.
Why CIOs should think bigger
Let’s stick with the comparison mentioned above: single-point solutions are like a savings account – safe, simple, short-term. But sustainable “financial provision” requires a comprehensive plan that takes all assets into account. Long-term building blocks, short-term, fixed, variable and so on. This is exactly what a low-code platform can do: it creates a networked architecture in which processes can be flexibly orchestrated and seamlessly integrated. Here’s a practical example: many companies rely on sales solutions that specialize in efficiently managing leads and opportunities and offer outstanding CRM functionalities. A super smart solution in isolation! However, sales does not live on CRM data alone. For a sales process to really work end-to-end, it usually needs information from SAP or other systems: Price and condition data, stock levels & availability, delivery dates from production planning, invoice status & payment information, etc. This is where things get complex: although the specialist service providers usually also provide standard connectors to SAP, these can be expensive (premium licenses), limited in depth (only certain objects) and associated with ongoing transaction costs. The result: although sales teams see CRM data, they have to constantly jump between systems in order to really qualify a deal or create a quote. Processes are therefore more or less fragmented and full of media disruptions. Data consistency may also suffer because information is distributed across different systems. Additional interface projects and middleware licenses then drive up the TCO.
When are single-point solutions likely to make sense?
- If it is a very clearly definable use case and involves a single function (e.g. time recording, travel expense accounting, contract management) that requires neither deep SAP integration nor complex process chains.
- When an express introduction is important: Special solutions are often “plug & play” – sometimes an advantage, especially for SMEs.
- When market best practices are sufficient: Many single-point solutions already perfectly map standard processes without the need for much customization.
- When budget and scope are small: A specialized solution can be cost-effective for a department or a pilot process.
When is it worth using a low-code platform?
- When integration is crucial: As soon as a process touches several systems (e.g. SAP, Salesforce, MES, databases), one platform is clearly superior in terms of efficiency and consistency.
- When there are many use cases: CIOs who don’t just want to solve one problem but modernize dozens of processes naturally always benefit from economies of scale.
- When governance and clean core are important: A platform allows modern, future-proof side-by-side development without “tinkering” with the SAP system.
- When the focus is on a long-term architecture: If you want to avoid fragmentation, rely on a platform that makes all applications consistent and maintainable and enables centralized governance.
- When ROI over several years is crucial: single-point solutions can be expensive in bulk – platforms offer better TCO as demand grows.
In short, a single-point solution is often the pragmatic fair deal for specific problems. For company-wide digitalization issues and sustainable IT architectures, there is no way around a platform.
And because everyone wants to work cost-efficiently …
In the worst-case scenario, the costs of single-point solutions only come into play during operation: for example, every extension may cost extra – whether it’s new modules, new interfaces or new licenses. It may also be that annoying silos arise when specialist departments have applications that do not talk to each other. And strategic scaling is often rather difficult, because what works for one use case falls apart with the third or fifth process. And, as with the bank’s savings book, you are always dependent on the customer friendliness, business policy and product maintenance of a single provider who defines the conditions (savings book case) or dictates the digital agenda (single-point solution case).
Digitalization with vision
A low-code platform like Simplifier takes a different approach:
- Multi-experience instead of point solutions: processes can be thought through and implemented end-to-end – mobile, web-based, integrated.
- Re-use instead of redundancy: once developed, modules can be reused in dozens of apps.
- Seamless integration: Whether SAP, non-SAP, cloud or on-premise – all systems can be connected.
- Clean Core by Design: SAP transformation is not slowed down, but supported.
Instead of buying individual parts, a platform gives you a modular system for your entire digitalization strategy. In other words, a single-point solution is like the aforementioned savings book: easy to understand, secure in the short term, but a vulnerable strategy in the long term because it is not very open. The opposite of this would be a well-diversified financial or digitalization portfolio. This involves investing not just in a single solution, but in the sustainable interplay of different factors. Of course, one of the tasks of a CIO may be to tick off the next use case in record time. But the task is certainly also to build a scalable, future-proof digitalization strategy that enables speed and stability in equal measure. Single-point solutions deliver quick wins for certain requirements and are still the first important step towards process digitalization for some companies. But what about the next thousand steps?
