Microsoft’s recent AI announcements offer another sign that the enterprise software market is shifting. In July, the company expanded its partnerships with Mistral AI and Databricks, giving customers more options for bringing AI models, enterprise data, and automation together across Azure and its broader AI ecosystem. Instead of building its strategy around a single AI model, Microsoft is investing in connected platforms that give organizations flexibility while still integrating AI in daily workflows.
Partnerships like this are a reflection of a broader shift happening across IT. Best-of-breed strategies have been a longstanding approach for many IT teams, selecting the strongest individual product for each function instead of relying on a single vendor. However, as AI continues its takeover and requires connected data and cross-platform context, IT leaders are beginning to reevaluate whether specialized tools still provide the greatest long-term value or whether broader platforms can deliver better outcomes.
AI is shifting how organizations evaluate software
While the answer to the debate doesn’t mean choosing one strategy over another, many IT leaders are now asking how AI fits into their existing environments, how easily data moves between systems, and whether new capabilities create measurable business value.
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“AI deserves the same scrutiny as any other technology investment,” said Peter Bretton, VP of Product Strategy at IT operations software company NinjaOne. “It should be evaluated by the business outcomes it delivers.”
Even though AI is now a standard feature across enterprise software, Bretton believes organizations should resist evaluating products based solely on AI capabilities. Instead, IT leaders should focus on a clearly defined business objective and a way to determine whether the technology actually improves operations.
“Every use case needs a defined business outcome, budget, and a way to measure return,” Bretton said. “Without a clear baseline, teams can’t determine whether a new AI tool is adding value.”
Integration is becoming a competitive advantage
In a recent discussion on the Spiceworks Community, IT pro questioned why organizations continue adopting overlapping endpoint management, security, and infrastructure tools from multiple vendors, asking, “Why can’t they just stick to one?”
Many administrators are currently fighting the battle as they balance multiple dashboards, management consoles, and vendor relationships while trying to simplify daily operations.
While the simple solution may seem like it would reduce the number of vendors, it’s not quite that easy. The quality of AI-generated recommendations often depends on how well information flows between systems and whether AI is embedded directly into the work employees are already doing.
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“Platform integration decides whether AI becomes part of the workflow or another standalone tool,” Bretton explained. “AI outputs still require human review, so organizations should embed AI into the systems and processes employees already use. This setup enables AI to reduce manual effort and improve productivity instead of adding more steps.”
The wider conversation is also shifting more towards data quality. Large language models can only provide meaningful recommendations when they have access to accurate, connected information, which gives platforms with broad visibility across the IT environment a potential advantage.
“Having unified and clean data makes AI more effective,” Bretton noted. “Platforms with the greatest breadth and depth of data are the vendors who are best able to create deeply contextualized and specialized AI tools that offer differentiated value to customers.”
It’s about finding the right balance
Despite IT professionals being more selective about vendors, the best-of-breed strategy is far from dead. One user on the Spiceworks Community argues that “market competition drives innovation better than a monopoly would,” noting that every organization has different needs and use cases.
“Teams should evaluate solutions based on whether they solve the problem they’re facing without creating unnecessary dependencies,” Bretton said. “AI is evolving too quickly to lock yourself into a single model or provider.”
As AI reshapes enterprise software, the conversation is becoming less about choosing platforms over point solutions and more about finding the right balance between integration, flexibility, and measurable business outcomes.
How is AI influencing your software strategy? Join the conversation in the Spiceworks Community.
