Building or Buying Software
14 May 2025
Software is never done. We wish it was, but there are always more things to add or something to update, whether it is a security patch, server update, or upgrading the framework it’s built on.
I read an interesting quote today on Reddit regarding build vs. buy - "buy for parity, build for competitive advantage". And on the flip side, “it’s really hard to build and maintain competitive advantage with something that your competition can buy just as easily. "
I agree, and I am not a big believer in creating software for everything.
Only software developers know that there are a lot of hidden costs associated with building and managing software in-house:
- Maintain infrastructure.
- Apply security patches.
- Ensure uptime.
- Manage encryption, access controls, audit trails, expiry policies, and regulatory compliance (if any).
- Periodic VAPT.
- Ongoing security overhead.
- Manage storage.
- Make sure backups happen.
- Timely bug fixes.
- Most important question: who is going to manage the software in the future?
- Feature creep: and now that we have this software, let’s start adding features!
- So now we need to add one more person: HR overhead.
The costs of building something new add up over time, and not to mention the mental space it takes up.
Do you really need to build?
My rule of thumb is if it’s not going to differentiate your business and not part of your core offerings, then DON’T build! Why re-invent the wheel?
It’s absolutely okay to pay for reliable, good-quality software. Just because you have a software team does not mean they start building everything!