Ten years ago, the pitch was simple: "One platform to run your entire real estate operation." Property management, accounting, leasing, construction, and investor reporting all from a single vendor. No integration headaches. No data silos. Just one login and one contract.
That vision is dying. And if you're still betting on monolithic software, you're betting against the future of real estate technology.
Why Monoliths Made Sense And Why They Don't Anymore
The all-in-one approach solved a real problem. In an era before modern APIs, connecting different software systems was genuinely painful. Integration projects took months, cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, and broke constantly. If one vendor could do everything adequately, that was often better than trying to connect best-in-class tools that couldn't talk to each other.
But "adequately" is the keyword. Monolithic platforms spread their development resources across dozens of functional areas. They can't out-innovate focused competitors in any single domain. The result is software that does many things acceptably but nothing exceptionally.
Meanwhile, the PropTech landscape has exploded. Industry analysts describe the current wave as "PropTech 3.0", characterized by AI-powered tools, IoT integration, and specialized solutions that transform specific workflows. These purpose-built applications are leapfrogging the monoliths in functionality, user experience, and innovation speed.
Frequently Asked Questions: The Best-of-Breed Debate
Q: Doesn't using multiple vendors create integration nightmares?
This was true a decade ago. Today, purpose-built middleware has transformed the equation. Modern integration platforms connect real estate systems Yardi, MRI, Procore, Anaplan, and hundreds of others, through productized connectors that work out of the box. The integration layer has become infrastructure, not a custom project. Organizations running best-of-breed stacks with proper middleware often have fewer integration issues than those locked into monolithic platforms with poorly designed internal modules.
Q: What about data consistency across systems?
This is actually an argument for the middleware approach. A dedicated integration layer creates a single source of truth for data mappings, transformations, and business rules. When a lease record needs to be synchronized between property management and financial planning, the middleware ensures it occurs consistently. Monolithic platforms often have internal data consistency issues across modules built by different teams or acquired through M&A.
Q: Is managing multiple vendor relationships worth the overhead?
Consider the alternative. With a monolithic vendor, you're entirely dependent on their roadmap. If they deprioritize a capability you need, you either wait or build workarounds. With best-of-breed, you can swap out underperforming tools without replacing your entire stack. The flexibility has real business value, especially as PropTech innovation accelerates.
Q: What happens when one of my specialized tools gets acquired or discontinued?
This risk exists, but middleware mitigates it. When your integration layer abstracts the connections between systems, replacing one tool requires reconfiguring a single connector rather than rebuilding your entire data architecture. Organizations with well-designed integration infrastructure can swap components in weeks rather than months.
The Integration Layer: The New Essential Infrastructure
Here's what technology strategists and PropTech investors increasingly understand: in a best-of-breed world, the integration layer becomes the most critical piece of infrastructure. It's the connective tissue that makes specialized tools work together. Without it, you have a collection of great software that can't communicate with each other. With it, you have an ecosystem.
Deloitte, JLL, CBRE, and other major real estate advisory firms have recognized this shift. Their technology practices increasingly focus on helping clients architect connected tech stacks rather than selecting single-vendor solutions. The question isn't "which monolith should we buy?" It's "how do we connect the best tools for each job?"
For technology investors evaluating PropTech opportunities, integration infrastructure represents a compelling category. Unlike point solutions that compete in crowded markets, middleware platforms benefit from ecosystem effects; they become more valuable as more systems connect through them. The integration layer is defensible, scalable, and increasingly essential.
Building the Connected Real Estate Tech Stack
At KriyaGo, we've built the integration infrastructure that makes best-of-breed real estate technology work. Our Connect 360 platform includes over 120 proprietary connectors linking Yardi, MRI Software, Procore, Anaplan, and the broader real estate technology ecosystem. We handle the data transformation, event synchronization, and failure recovery that make multi-vendor architectures reliable.
The monolith era served its purpose. But the future belongs to specialized, intelligently connected tools. The organizations that thrive will be those that embrace best-of-breed innovation while investing in the integration layer that holds it all together.
The question isn't whether all-in-one platforms will survive. It's whether your organization will be ready when they don't.
Ready to build a connected real estate tech stack?
See how KriyaGo connects your best-of-breed tools into a unified ecosystem. Request a demo to explore our integration platform.
