To Buy or To Build - Comparing the Risks

Financial Risks

Microsoft reports that computer software advances ten-fold every 18 months!  With this fast pace, any manager committing their organization to a custom developed system is also committing them to ongoing support, maintenance, and update costs.

Inevitably, the organization will try to avoid these costs.  This places your initial investment at risk, as your home grown system becomes increasingly obsolete.

In many cases, it can take 12 months or more for a custom system to be developed.  By that time, technology has moved well beyond what it was when the project started.

Plus, with the high cost and high turnover of IT staff, internally developed software is likely to have multiple people involved over the course of development.  When combined with advancing technology, this can mean a project can continually be restarted until the project runs well over budget.

For more on Risks, please see:

• Quality of Support

• Documentation and Training Services

• Obsolescence

• Some Conclusions

For anyone considering building a "home grown" system, we strongly recommend you read this article in detail and review the references provided.