Building Vs Buying

Building Verses Buying

Software applications are powerful tools in the battle to make businesses more efficient and effective. Many have tried to make do with commercial off-the-shelf software (COTS), only to find that their specific needs demanded professionally developed software. Others insist on reinventing the wheel by developing software in areas where vendors are offering an already mature, reliable and relatively cheap version to buy.

There are some significant advantages to build-it-yourself software and systems. For one, the company has absolute control over their capabilities--at least within the bounds of the staff's expertise. One can decide to stick with standards, or build completely customized applications. Custom web software development is software that is written specifically for a certain business application designed and developed to meet a specific need and built to specific requirements. In other words, its specific to each individual company. When an off-the-shelf, generic software package just won't do, then the company should build it's own. Frequently businesses use custom software development applications to solve a problem unique to their organization. Before turning to custom software development the following questions should be researched: will the business save money and solve its current problem by going with custom made software applications and are there any time constraints?

It's likely that most businesses and will choose to buy the majority of their software instead of building and here are several reasons why:

1. Speed. Speed to market is crucial, as is the speed with which change is accommodated, service is delivered, customer needs are met, information is managed, and transactions are processed. The need for speed becomes more crucial in the context of e-business. As things move and change quickly on the Internet, products, services, and delivery methods must be able to adapt just as quickly.

2. Complexity. E-business increases complexity and makes your entire system more vulnerable to performance problems.

3. Scalability. Core business systems must be able to accommodate growing lines of products and services. They also must have the capacity to incorporate the growing demands of customers and corporate management.

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