Cloning a product requires you to clone the API bug-for-bug an locks you in architecture-wise quite a bit, since your interface must be similar. This requires y

Cloning a product requires you to clone the API bug-for-bug an locks you in architecture-wise quite a bit, since your interface must be similar. This requires you to solve problems the same way the original software did, but doing so similarily well might not be easy. Also, this takes time. Then, once you cloned the software, you still need to convince the customer base to switch. It's far easier to simply write a check and get code, talent and customers at once without delay.