When looking at content automation and sales enablement solutions, firms are often confronted with a tough decision: To build or buy? Over the past 20 years, I’ve participated in many of these discussions and seen it go both ways. Sometimes the decision is successful and other times it ends up a costly mistake. On one hand, it isn’t always less expensive nor less risky to build software as opposed to buying commercial solutions. For example, when application development projects are initiated with the intent of justifying and maintaining the technology team. Then, unfortunately, they never get off the ground because they can’t be supported technically or economically. What then happens, after all the internal effort and expense, is a new commercial solution is procured to replace it.

On the other hand, sometimes the technological or business needs are so pertinent to operations that they cannot be outsourced. In these circumstances, there’s a good case for insourcing as opposed to outsourcing if the board of directors approves. Also, the IT organization must be truly committed to the budget and vision. At the end of the day, the success or failure of development efforts should be measured against the same criteria. When weighing the decision to build or buy, I recommend using these six criteria:

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Having run technology RFPs from both a vendor and customer standpoint, I’m disturbed by the trend I’m seeing.  RFP processes are becoming longer and longer. The depth and complexity seem to have little to do with the actual scope of work the customer is seeking bids on.

Without exaggeration, I recently received an RFP that had 171 long-response-format questions that, in the end, supported a deal that only had a three-year value of about $100,000.  Compare that to a 111 question RFP that we won in 2012 for a contract with a three-year value of over $1 million.

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