Buy, Build or Open-Source

"Buy", "Build", Or "Open-Source" - The Technology Dilemma

As solution providers continue to look for ways to enhance their offerings with new capabilities, their technology savvy IT teams are often faced with the dilemma of whether to:

• Build new capabilities from scratch by either hard-coding functionality into their offerings or by extending open-source technology
• Consider the Alternative - Buy commercially available off-the-shelf technology to incorporate into existing solutions

"Buy", "Build", Or "Open-Source" - Things To Consider

Here is a checklist of things to consider when making the decision around "building" vs. "buying" technology to enhance software solutions:

• Can the "build alternative" significantly reduce the amount of coding required to incorporate advanced functionality into an offering?
• What are the risks of building functionality on your own?
• Does the "build alternative" support existing interoperability standards to ease integration efforts?
• Does the "build alternative" come with extensive documentation and experienced technical resources that help reduce the time to deploy and roll-out your enhanced solution?
• How easy is to re-brand the "build alternative" and change its look-and-feel?
• Is the "build alternative" easy to operate and administer?
• How do the "build alternative", "build using open-source", and "build on your own" options compare as a single source for all your technology requirements?
• How do the "build alternative" and "build on your own" options stack up in terms of cost of support and maintenance, and cost of future functionality?
• Can the "build alternative" scale to support significant increases in capacity?
• Is the "build alternative" backed by a company that is committed to continuously enhancing the technology and incorporating your feedback?
• What business and marketing opportunities are provided by leveraging the "build alternative"?

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