It’s hard to believe, but since I’ve known this research, there have been more than 1,000, to be exact about 1,200. In marketing and sales, according to the MarTech Conference in Boston 2018, that would be about 100 to 120 cloud tools. As the Netscope Cloud Report reports
When I ask this question at lectures or in lectures, the following happens: The audience estimates are usually around 30 to 50. 100 is usually a high number. But this sheer quantity is still unimaginable.
A quote from Scott Brinker fits this very well: “I’m used to getting a lot of ribbing pushback on the scale of the marketing technology landscape. “7,000 martech vendors is way too much!” My gut-level, defensive reaction is to reply, “Hey, it’s not my fault. I’m just counting them.”
How does such a large number of – more or less well – used software tools come about? In my estimation or observation this is quite simple. The pressure to innovate leads to a capacity bottleneck in IT. In this respect, the classic user or #CMO or #CSO switches to the multitude of cloud solutions. These are available in large numbers, in simple #Cloud access (just open the browser, log in and go) and they are – according to the promise of the manufacturers – “very easy” to adapt to the respective needs. The installation effort, which was previously only guaranteed by IT, is usually completely eliminated. So everything is very easy.
From the point of view of IT, the works council and a data protection officer or the DSGVO (GDPR), this is of course a disaster. And from a 360-degree perspective, it is also a disaster, because a complete networking of data for analysis or selection is not guaranteed.
Conclusion:
This uncontrolled growth is not good. There is a lack of a strategic approach and meaningful control. Muck out, cut off braids and throw off ballast are the order of the day. Especially since many tools are often no longer used or only used rudimentarily.
Note: This is a machine translation. It is neither 100% complete nor 100% correct. We can therefore not guarantee the result.
