Spidel Tech Solutions, Inc.

Make or Buy

This question is asked everyday by developers who need a component for their system. Technologists excel at taking off the shelf components and making them work together. Designers on the other hand like to build it themselves. But this is a relative perspective, Hardware designers rarely make their own resistors and very few people need to write another compiler compiler. So how do you decide when to make it or build it.

Some say if it is not in your core competency then buy it.

A core competency is some unique capability of an individual or company. We all have common skills like; verbal an written, but if the collective skill of an organization is not so common then it may be called a core competency.

Even if the skill to make the thing you want is in your core competency you should still buy it if one exists that is suitable where suitable includes cost and performance.

Even if the one on the shelf is not quite right you should still buy it if the product is toward the end of its useful life.

Making buggy whips was a bad business to get into as automobiles were emerging while making wheels was still a good thing to do.

So resist making unless; 1) you are good at it, 2) you can make it cheap and 3) its time has not since gone by.

Back | Next

Wikipedia Enrichment