Time travel, time travel, wherefore art thou time travel. When it comes to build versus buy, there are only right answers with hind-sight. >> Maybe cataloging

Time travel, time travel, wherefore art thou time travel. When it comes to build versus buy, there are only right answers with hind-sight. >> Maybe cataloging the feature set of the internal software, seeing what is a necessity, and seeing which vendors can cover those requirements? Feature set is part of it. Longevity is another. (been relyinb on Google Reader lately?) Cost us part of it (internal is usually more expensive, but not always.) Flexibility is another - building up the knowledge and expertise helps morph the system to your needs, not the other way around. I'd say it's mostly better to buy, you'll likely get much more for much less, but it comes at a cost beyond just money. Beware of things on your critical path, to which you are beholden to outside "partners". All that said, I think developers err on the build side way more than they should.