Custom Application Development: Buy, Build or Ignore?

Sep 18 2007   8:19PM GMT

Buy, Build or Ignore? — What does THAT mean?



Posted by: Joe Coley
Agile, Custom software development, CIO, Software Quality

What I’m getting at here is this — Let’s say you have users in your organization who need to have certain information — but the information is not readily available except on a paper form located somewhere in another location. You may realize this as a possible use for a document management system. Great! …Until you have priced it that is! “Buy” is NOT in the budget! Is “Build” an option? Can a custom designed program accomplish what you’re looking for? Might a “Build” option be affordable? …Or…Should you just ignore the need altogether and wait for the lack of information availability to “show up” in a dramatic way which might “raise some eyebrows” so that it will get attention? These issues I expect will come up on a regular basis in this blog.

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Applause14  |   Sep 19 2007   7:56PM GMT

Hi Joe:
Applause software frequently runs across this problem, and being the huge behometh that we are, we always find a NEDC consultant to help us make the best move. ref: <a href="http://www.nedataflex.com/nedctest1.asp?pageid=22" rel="nofollow">THE ANSWER MAN</a>


 

GarretMott  |   Sep 19 2007   11:37PM GMT

Good topic!

Problem is, if this is a corporation, some middle manager will be making the “decision”. That means that nothing will be done until it’s an absolute emergency, when he’ll buy the most expensive software available & discover 3 months (& hundreds of consulting hours) later that it won’t do what they need done.

He’ll then blame it on the software industry as a whole & never consider any option other than Microsoft….