Best-in-Class vs. All-in-One Software: What Actually Drives Value

Most software decisions get made backwards: teams start with a shortlist of vendors and work their way to a rationale, instead of starting with what the business actually needs to get better. Philip Skou has seen this from both sides. He spent years at Johnson & Johnson selecting and implementing enterprise software as a buyer, then moved to the vendor side at BSI Life Sciences. In this session, he will share what actually drives value when a company brings in new software, and where most of that value gets lost.

You will learn:

• How a company the size and complexity of J&J actually evaluates and selects software, and what that process looks like from inside the walls
• What genuinely creates value in a software purchase, separate from the feature list and the sales pitch
• Why picking a tool built specifically for your problem tends to outperform a broader, more general one, even when the general tool looks like it covers more ground
• The case for best-in-class point solutions over a single platform that tries to do everything, and where that tradeoff actually bites
• Philip's firsthand view from both sides of the table: what happens when companies get this choice right, and what happens when they don't

If your job includes choosing or maintaining any part of your company's tech stack, this is a direct look at what separates a purchase that pays off from one that just adds another tool to the pile.