Deciding to Buy or Build Web Applications

By Chris Butler, December 2008

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To Buy or To Build

»	Buy or Build
2.	Strategic Planning
3.	Pros and Cons
4.	Third-Party Examples
5.	Custom Examples

There are few things more satisfying than creating something from scratch. But sometimes, assembling existing components is actually the more efficient approach. Perhaps you don't have the luxury of starting from scratch; the raw materials and time needed to complete the job may far exceed the time and budget actually at your disposal. Or, perhaps someone else has already done some of the work you need to do, better than you could ever do it yourself! After all, we can't all be Tony Stark, right?

Tony Stark, the hero of Iron Man, is a reformed arms dealer and technological genius who's abilities far exceed the talent his own company hires to replicate one of his designs. In a scene from the film, which reminded me of a frequent reality for companies like ours, rogue CEO Obadiah Stane demands that one of his engineers replicate the functionality of one of Stark's designs. When the engineer complains, “it's impossible,” Stain rages in reply, “Tony Stark was able to build this himself... in the desert... with scraps!” Finally, the exasperated engineer cries out, “But I'm not Tony Stark!”

Believe it or not, we can't all have the individual genius of Tony Stark, nor can every company have the collective resources of a juggernaut like Google. This is a helpful comparison when we are inevitably confronted with questions like, “Google offers insert your favorite functionality here for free, why do you charge for/can't you build the same thing?”

Of course, this doesn't mean we always have to settle for an “it can't be done” mentality. By leveraging existing modules, tools and applications, we can often meet the goals of an ambitious project while still meeting its deadline and budget. This month, I'd like to examine some of the pros and cons of taking a buy or build approach within your web development project. next >

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Comments

jklondon

January 6, 2009 10:07 AM
an age old debate what you fail to mention is a 3rd way - using modular platforms such as coghead which provide benefits of both flexibility and robustness. See this approach going enterprise over the next few years.

Chris

January 6, 2009 10:37 AM
jklondon,

Thanks for your comment. I'm not sure that this is really a third way. I'd probably say that using Coghead apps would fit within the "buy" category. In fact, their Coglets are pretty much exactly like the Wufoo concept- the form gets hosted on Coghead's server and can be published on your website, but the form data is not integrated with it. Their tools look pretty useful, especially for webmasters with a limited development knowledge.

Chris