As part of digitalization, many businesses are tasked with the challenge of establishing new workflows and new software solutions. Two approaches in particular are competing with one another in the choice for the most suitable system: “best of suite” and “best of breed.” Which one is the most appropriate hinges entirely on the particular requirements.
Best-of-suite approach
The best-of-suite approach delivers a complete, all-in-one solution. A company using this approach chooses products from one software provider that are designed to work seamlessly with each other. This not only makes integration much more straightforward, it also creates stability and security. Having a single point of contact facilitates communication when working together in a future-proof end-to-end solution with a low risk of system failure.
The look and feel is consistent across the entire system landscape, which provides a uniform user experience. As a result, companies are able to reduce the onboarding time and substantially minimize the amount of training required for employees.
In a best-of-suite approach, internal processes are restructured and adapted from the ground up. Reengineered workflows are especially useful and strongly recommended as a means to achieve an efficient, automated publishing process.
Best-of-breed approach
In contrast, best of breed combines separate software products into a complete and customized system. Using this strategy, a company selects different programs for specific use cases and tries to combine them by means of interfaces.
This approach assumes that the company – or its IT team – is adept at integrating third-party products and prepared to bear the costs associated with training and upgrades. The exchange of data between individual systems tends to be complicated, making updates error-prone. On top of that, the staff in charge need to understand that each type of software involves a different contact person. Hence, when one provider fails, the functionality of the entire solution can be compromised.
Best-of-suite for multichannel publishing
When it comes to publishing applications, the choice is clear: Best of suite delivers some definitive advantages when compared with the best-of-breed approach. Rather than having to painstakingly integrate a myriad of systems from multiple vendors, having a single, fully comprehensive solution contributes to a short time to market and simple, automated multichannel distribution.
With Xeditor and Xpublisher, Xpublisher GmbH offers two leading products in its portfolio that provide a homogeneous environment and allow a high degree of flexibility in implementation.
Xpublisher – the all-in-one publishing solution
Xpublisher is a full-featured publishing solution that provides companies with a simple best-of-suite experience. The editorial system guides users through the entire process, from the generation and management of their content to automated publication. With Xeditor built right into the system, users can create and edit structured content in XML format easily and intuitively.
Thanks to its versatile configuration options, Xpublisher can be used in a wide range of applications. What’s more, it’s easy to connect the publishing tool to existing in-house systems and deploy it in no time at all. The Xpublisher team of experts is the central point of contact, providing support at every stage – from integration to ongoing maintenance.
Everything from a single source
Xpublisher is also available as a cloud solution, featuring the highest security standards and a dedicated data center. Companies don’t have to worry about having their own server structures or hosting providers.
Xpublisher enjoys the support of its strategic partner Fabasoft AG, a company that contributes decades of experience in business process digitalization along with a compelling product portfolio in the field of cloud technology and managed hosting. This partnership guarantees ongoing investment in our products and technologies.
And most importantly, Xpublisher is a single-source provider. Besides saving valuable time and financial resources, this also makes modular stand-alone solutions superfluous.
