Buy vs. Build: The Answer Has Changed (opens in new tab)

Every company that uses software eventually faces a version of the same question: should we pay a vendor for this, or build it ourselves? For most of commercial software history, the answer leaned heavily toward buying. That answer is shifting, and the implications are uncomfortable for vendors and buyers alike. Where the question came from Before packaged software existed, every company that needed software built it. Payroll systems, inventory tracking, order management: all custom, all inte...