Is it better to use integrated software where not all the pieces are equally good or to search out the best applications of each category and try to use them together?  My current organization has chosen the integrated route, but it’s very a painful process.  One vendor which promised to integrate with our existing fundraising software has never been able to get it working completely.  Two other products that we bought from the same vendor, expecting them to work well together, still have been a challenge to integrate.  Obviously many are concerned about this issue, as evidenced by the site Integration Proclamation.

This reminds me of the early days of PC software.  Remember Symphony and Framework?  Of course now you have Microsoft Office, which does have modules that work together well.  But it seems that if an organization can identify its top needs, there’s some merit to searching out the products that are strong in those product types.  Integrated software can work too, but only if the ‘strong’ modules agree with your top priorities.

With Convio & GetActive’s recent announced merger, the ‘all from one vendor’ concept seems to be gaining new steam.  But it seems like there will always be room for products which do one thing especially well.