𝗕𝘂𝘆 𝘃𝘀. 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗻𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗛𝗮𝘀 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗱
Companies always face one choice: buy software from a vendor or build it yourself.
For decades, buying was the clear winner. Vendors like SAP and Oracle built massive systems. They handled the complexity so you did not have to. You bought commodity tools like payroll or HR systems. You only built things that gave you a competitive edge.
The math was simple. Building was too expensive and slow. Buying was fast and predictable.
Now, that math is breaking.
AI has changed the cost of building. It helps with coding, debugging, and integration. A single developer can now do tasks that once required a whole team.
The line between buying and building is shifting:
• Tools that were once too expensive to build are now affordable. • Small teams can create custom internal tools in weeks instead of months. • Specialized data pipelines and integrations are moving from the "buy" list to the "build" list.
This creates a new problem for software vendors. If a customer can build a basic version of your tool in a few days using AI, why would they pay you?
To survive, vendors must offer more than just surface-level features. They must provide depth. They must solve the hard problems that only appear after months of real-world use.
However, building is not a free lunch. You must consider the cost of ownership.
Software is never finished. It needs updates. It needs bug fixes. It needs maintenance when dependencies change. A tool you build in a weekend can become a burden every weekend for the next year.
The real question is no longer just about the cost to build. It is about the cost to own.
The threshold for buying has moved. You should only buy software if the vendor provides value that exceeds your cost to build and maintain it yourself.
Source: https://dev.to/camma_smith_1/buy-vs-build-the-answer-has-changed-13me
Optional learning community: https://t.me/GyaanSetuAi