I should have pointed out this is the strategy that should be employed by an established company. If your company is just starting out then buy everything if po

I should have pointed out this is the strategy that should be employed by an established company. If your company is just starting out then buy everything if possible - your competitive edge is the fact you're small and nimble. You can respond to market changes faster than the established companies can. Over time you'll recognize what are to become your Systems of Differentiation and then and only then should you consider building that yourself. When you're starting out you typically don't have the time or capital to wait and build the software you may need. For such companies doing business and generating revenue now is more important than having a perfect application portfolio. And yes, this is why systems are never as perfect and pristine as developers would hope.