June 30, 2008
Build, Buy or Both?
The great debate: Build or Buy?
For as long as long as I can remember most BI buyers have been torn between the idea of a quick "out of the box" pre-packaged BI application or the lure of a completely customized solution designed specifically to meet their needs and domain expertise.
After working for both, a software vendor and a custom software development firm, I firmly believe the answer is both. There is no doubt that pre-packaged BI applications provide value, and most can do so pretty quickly.
Of course, if you don't have the data ready or know what people need, even the best software won't answer your prayers. A lot of the background work, the research, the requirements gathering, you do to implement a pre-packaged solution can be re-used to extend the value of your investment with customized applications.
Customized applications have suffered a bad rap. Many take too long, are over-budget, and don't meet the expectation of the audience that has been waiting for this killer app. Why? Because after a long requirements gathering process a large document is produced that is too big, too complicated, and too boring to be effectively reviewed by anyone. This information is then sent to an internal development team or outside vendor for estimation. Things invariably change, questions arise, hidden requirements start to surface, and more time and money are spent to address a virtual moving target. The software is delivered late, and when it is delivered, people start noticing that some features are not implemented how they had envisioned and some critical features are not there at all.
Agile Development to the rescue!! With Web 2.0 and the right development team and methodology, you can create a custom application that delivers on the promise of competitive advantage. Agile teams have proven to produce software that does a better job of meeting business needs because it can adapt to changing requirements and produces working software every few weeks. Agile makes it easier to predict the time and effort necessary to implement particular features, providing greater transparency into the software development process. At any time the application can be evaluated to determine if it meeting expectations.
I am a new convert to Agile development but I must say the results I have seen so far have been stellar. Customized applications combined with pre-packaged BI tools offer the best of both worlds and the one-two punch for creating business breakthroughes and game changing results.
Share your build or buy stories. Which worked and why?
Posted by Eleanor Taylor at 2:45 PM | Comments (1)
