I think the exercise of saying let's legitimately try to build something vs buy, is a great place to start. It will help determine what you need in an off the s

I think the exercise of saying let's legitimately try to build something vs buy, is a great place to start. It will help determine what you need in an off the shelf solution, while also serving as a useful pricing target. If the buy solution is more than maintenance and development, then it makes sense to build yourself and avoid vendor lock-in and allow for bespoke flexibility. I've experienced both situations, some rules of thumb to go by: 1. is this service or product similar to what your company creates, or would you have to create an entirely new business unit to develop and support it 2. how complex would it be to integrate the off the shelf solution into your current system. if it's the same as building on your own, then why pay for it 3. is there competition in the market for the buy solution so pricing and innovation are competitive. 4. who is this company selling this product or service, what is their track record, do you service as just their financier and guinea pig testers