The Myth of the Homogenous Platform

Successfully integrating multiple technology platforms

by Bill Koch, Editor, definingINSIGHTS

Those of us of a certain age remember being dressed in Garanimals. For kids who didn’t know which clothes matched—or had parents with the same problem—Garanimals made all the hard choices very objective. You simply took a shirt with a giraffe label and matched it with a pair of pants with a giraffe label. Girls took a parakeet labeled blouse and matched it with a parakeet labeled skirt. What could be simpler?

The problem was: What if you received a new orange turtleneck from your grandma that wasn’t a Garanimals brand? How would you know if it matched the new plaid pants that your aunt gave you for a birthday present? You were stuck. You hadn’t really learned how to integrate your wardrobe.

Companies who think basing their technology infrastructure on one platform find themselves in a similar bind. While they may be able to maintain their infrastructure to meet their current goals, what happens when their goals change?

Clinging to homogeneity

Paul Hernacki, vice president of information technology for Definition 6, has heard all the arguments for trying to maintain a single platform. “The most obvious rationale companies give is that it saves money. They only have to maintain IT expertise for one platform.

“That can be hard to dispute,” Hernacki admits, “but it’s often short-sighted.” Hernacki feels companies that stay devoted to just one technology platform find themselves very limited in their ability to expand. “Beyond a few very small firms, no one uses only one technology platform. Companies will say, 'We’re a Java shop' yet they use Exchange and Outlook for e-mail, and their desktops run Windows and Office. Or perhaps they claim to be Microsoft through and through but you find Linux running as their firewall. All the big guys have integrated multiple technology platforms into their infrastructure and this is not a bad thing. Your lower IT costs for having just one platform can actually cost you more in your inability to meet key business needs or communicate effectively with partners and customers not using your chosen platform.”

Even companies that have built a “religion” around sticking with one platform show some signs of willingness to bring in other vendors for products that better meet their needs. “They have already demonstrated a willingness to integrate different products into their mix,” Hernacki notes. “Moving towards further integration is only natural.”

Two reasons to integrate

Hernacki says the first reason for adopting a multi-platform infrastructure is competitive advantage. “Businesses of any size are working in a lightning-fast environment. Decisions are made in days, not weeks. If a company bidding on a project doesn’t have the technology to communicate with a new vendor or customer today, they might lose a bid to someone who can.”

Hernacki explains, “This is where I see the need for a multi-platform environment most clearly. Most companies think about their infrastructure only as internal communications. But what about how you communicate with the outside world? With new business partners?”

Limiting your IT environment to one platform can severely hamper your ability to expand. Hernacki continues, “Your infrastructure dictates how well you communicate with the outside world. An infrastructure based on one platform limits potential customers and vendors. Do you want to place another limit on how your business can grow?”

“The second reason to integrate platforms,” Hernacki says, “is leverage. If you work with only one vendor, you don’t have much room for negotiation if you need new services or want to add capacity. Why should they lower their prices or improve their services?”

Sticking with one platform also makes you dependent upon that vendor’s timetable for upgrades and new products. “If you see another product that would better meet your needs,” Hernacki says, “and you are working in a one-platform environment, you have to wait for your vendor to create a competitive product. That can take years. Or it may simply never happen.”

Who is driving your business?

During the boom years of the 90s, technology was king. Any new product or gadget or vendor was instantly hailed as the next big thing. Ten years later, we have a little more objective perspective on what works and what is hype.

“IT should never limit your business,” Hernacki states plainly. “IT should support the business goals laid out by the company’s leadership. Having an IT department that religiously sticks with one homogenous platform dictates what your business can and cannot do.

“The best IT departments,” Hernacki continues, “are those willing to embrace new technology and apply them to build a competitive advantage. IT should be a business partner, never an adversary to stated business goals. Platforms and languages are tools to be wielded in order to solve business problems.”

From myth to reality

The fog has lifted. You’re rubbing your eyes and ready to face reality. Where do you start?

“A few years ago,” Hernacki says, “integrating multi-platform environments was a much more daunting task. Today, standardized web services protocols allow products from different vendors to communicate more easily. An EAI (enterprise application integration) server can translate and orchestrate data and protocols between very different vendor solutions.”

What about the cost of training your IT staff to maintain new platforms? “I advise companies to look at their long-term business goals,” Hernacki states. “Often the cost of re-tooling or reconfiguring your IT staff to meet business needs served by varying platforms is far less then the opportunity cost incurred when IT holds up business decisions because their chosen platform doesn’t meet the needs.”

Investing today in “upgrading” your IT staff’s knowledge about different platforms gives you a competitive advantage. Hernacki says, “Once you have implemented a truly multi-platform environment and your staff is ready to handle any challenge, you can successfully compete for new customers. You won’t have to worry about communicating with a new client or vendor.”

Growing through integration

No business decision should be limited by what your IT department can do. “IT needs to support where the business needs to go,” Hernacki says. “By adopting a multi-platform infrastructure now, you can make that next bid without a moment’s hesitation.”

When you realize how limiting a homogenous infrastructure can be, it’s clear that any cost savings of homogeneity really is a myth. A multi-platform environment allows you to quickly and easily communicate with potential customers and vendors. It gives you the competitive advantage to meet your business goals without hesitation. Just like coordinating your wardrobe, integrating technology not only makes you look pretty smart—it gives you the edge with your customers and prospects.