 |
 |
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 [log in to unmask] http://kcoyle.net ph: 1-510-540-7596 m: 1-510-435-8234 skype: kcoylenet