{"id":49515,"date":"2023-09-22T05:46:47","date_gmt":"2023-09-22T05:46:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/syndigo.com\/?p=49515"},"modified":"2025-01-21T08:54:28","modified_gmt":"2025-01-21T13:54:28","slug":"build-vs-buy-mdm-solution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/syndigo.com\/pl\/blog\/build-vs-buy-mdm-solution\/","title":{"rendered":"Build vs Buy Software: The Eternal Battle"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The choice of whether to build or buy software is a challenging question with different answers for each case, especially in the business case for Master Data Management.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As organizations deal with a rapidly increasing volume and complexity of data across the enterprise, they inevitably reach a critical tipping point where they recognize the importance of having a single unified source of their data to achieve their long-term goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether this data originates from the product, customer, or location domains, a multi-domain Master Data Management (MDM) <\/a>solution is the obvious solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/strong>Now comes the million-dollar question: Should you build or buy the software solution?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Build vs. Buy Decision<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For executives looking for ways to innovate and streamline their business, the decision between building in-house software versus buying an external solution can be fairly complex.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhy should we buy this vendor\u2019s software instead of building our own?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a fair question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You are proud of your IT and development teams and are confident in their abilities. They maintain your current IT infrastructure and data ecosystem. They understand the organization\u2019s uses of information. So, why shouldn\u2019t they build the roadmap and put together a single application?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consider Uniqueness in the Build<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s consider a hypothetical first. Say your child has seen the latest Barbie movie and, inspired by the movie, wants a dollhouse to play with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You have two choices: You can either buy a nice dollhouse from the store or build a dollhouse yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"syndigo<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Dollhouses are a fairly mature product. You will not have any difficulty finding a dollhouse to by that meets broad specifications \u2013 big\/small, bright or sober toned, two- or three-storied, etc. All you have to do is simply walk into a store and pick up the dollhouse you want, and you\u2019re ready to play in a matter of minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But maybe your child wants a very specific kind of dollhouse \u2013 maybe the dolls are of a non-standard shapes and sizes, maybe the shade of color they want isn\u2019t available in the store, maybe they want the dollhouse to exactly match your current home, or just maybe Godzilla and Barbie both have to fit through the same dollhouse door! None of the choices you have seen in the market can meet your current requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s also say that you have the required expertise to build a custom dollhouse with these unique requirements. You know that procuring the parts can be expensive and the effort laborious, but it is the only way in which your child\u2019s requirements will be met. If that is what that is needed, then it is certainly worth all that trouble for you to build that special dollhouse for your child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarly, in the reasonably mature market for MDM and Product Information Management (PIM) solutions, most businesses will find that their needs will be met by products that are already in the market, without needing to build it themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But if you feel that you are a unique business with very specialized needs, and you have the ability to build the application yourself, then the decision follows that you may wish to build it yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Challenges of Building Versus Buying<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In our experience, businesses thinking about developing their own applications underestimate the challenges of successfully doing so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In particular, when businesses explore building an MDM or PIM solution, they undervalue three significant factors in their build vs. buy decision framework:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Technical expertise<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Developing software that is both specialized and complex\u2014like MDM<\/a> or PIM<\/a> is by nature not a one-size-fits-all solution. There is no \u201csilver bullet\u201d. Your first considerations:<\/p>\n\n\n\n