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Buy or Build ? |
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Some would call this "Reinvent the Wheel" versus "Buy a Proven Solution".
To remain competitive, companies must stay on the cutting edge of evolving
technologies and changing business needs. This is especially true with a web
application solution.
When looking at the "Buy or Build" items, you should be aware that in many
situations there is usually always an option to buy. However, when you do
buy, your business model should not be compromised because of the
limitations of purchased software. When looking for web application
solutions (or any type of software solutions) a due diligence search should be
done to analyze all of the options PRIOR to proceeding to a "Build"
decision. If you find yourself sitting with a consulting company that
does not recognize this, then you should carefully review there interests in
their relationship with your company.
Sometimes, the business model will be unique, and this uniqueness offers a
significant competitive advantage. Many times, off the shelf software cannot be
applied to this type of business model. A search should still be
done to potential discover any areas that might be offered by a commercial
product.
When looking at the "Buy or Build" decision, there are a few factors to
keep in mind. These include:
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Time to Market
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Cost Savings
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Core Competencies
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Custom Fit
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Time to Market |
Building your own web application solution always means longer
time to market. To that end, time-to-market is often the first and most
important factor that a company considers when making the "Buy or Build"
decision. If time-to-market is a concern in your development process (and it
most likely is) then purchasing an existing solution will yield results faster
than building one from scratch. Even with this consideration, it could be
that a purchased solution just isn't viable. In those cases,
time-to-market needs to be addressed as part of the build development strategy
and plan.
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Cost Savings |
What are the costs associated with buying versus building? Does the benefit of
building justify the cost, especially when a mature solution might be
available? When looking at raw costs, the customization and
integration costs need to be included. On the surface it sometimes
appears that a "Buy" decision is much cheaper. However, these costs
could be substantial once the customization and integration estimates are
factored into the purchase. |
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Core Competencies |
The choice to build often entails more 'building' than one may
realize. Your employees/staff will need to be trained in the IT
core competencies for the application. This core competency in staffing
will need to be maintained through development AND through the life of the
product. When you buy off the shelf you may still need a subset of these
competencies (to deal with custom and integration development support).
On the other hand, with a build decision, having these core competencies "in
house" provides you with leverage to support and alter the software solution as
your business model evolves.
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Custom Fit |
A custom fit is sometimes required to recognize the competitive advantage
inherent within a business model. The custom fit (build) provides
unlimited flexibility. The non custom fit (buy) provides a narrower level
of flexibility at the lower cost. |
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Software Experts .NET works with customers/partners to assist them with
this decision. We recognize the solution should be the one that best fits
the needs of our customer/partners. A relatively new technical
architecture (service oriented architecture)
is easing the cost and time-to-market issues inherent within a "Build"
decision. Pre-built services (components) can be incorporated within
"Build" options. Software Experts .NET currently maintains (and is
evolving) an inventory of critical services to assist in quantifying and
bulding solutions. |
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