Quoting "Frumkin, Jeremy" <[log in to unmask]>:

>

>
> In general, a Buy approach is easiest to determine TCO, while a   
> Build approach is the most difficult. Generally, there are more   
> unknowns with a Build than there are with a Buy. The more unknowns,   
> the greater risk of inaccurate cost estimates.
>

I know this is the common wisdom, but I've had experiences where Buy  
turned out to be much more expensive than expected. If the product is  
mature and stable and you expect to do almost no customizing, yes,  
then Buy is predictable. But if you're on the cutting edge, it's a new  
vendor offering, you expect to customize, then Buy can have all kinds  
of hidden costs. In the end, Buy can be more expensive than Build  
because you have to struggle with a product over which you have no  
control.

When pitting Buy v. Borrow v. Build, functionality has to be taken  
into account. What do you want the software to do? How big is the  
market for your functionality? (that is, are vendors likely to step up  
to this plate?) Are vendors already offering this?

kc

-- 
Karen Coyle
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