Buy or Build?
Today's wealth of quality components makes building your own less practical every day.
by Jeff Hadfield

VSLive! San Francisco, February 13, 2003

In today's challenging economy, it's no longer feasible to focus on the purity of our creations rather than the harsh business realities surrounding our projects. A core piece of that challenge: When does it make sense to buy a commercial software component, and when does it make sense to build one yourself?

As witnessed by the packed exhibit hall at this week's VSLive! San Francisco conference, today's wealth of quality components and tools makes building your own components increasingly impractical.

"It's shocking to us that companies would build, not buy," said Dean Guida, CEO and President of Infragistics. Component vendors like Infragistics have a vested interest in encouraging developers to buy components rather than build—but their products fit a real need and provide an essential service.

Many VSLive! attendees agreed. According to one, "If you can buy it, and it fits your needs, it's our company's policy not to build it." Another added, "You don't even need to calculate return on investment (ROI) if you need the component. The only hidden costs are if you don't do your homework first and evaluate the product's features against your needs."

It's good advice. While component vendors can help developers understand the exact dollar value of purchasing a component instead of building it, there's more than just a significant dollar savings at stake. Bob Wolf, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Infragistics, listed one key benefit as time to market. Accelerating the development process by a month or two can provide critical business benefits.

Guida added to this list of key benefits. "Quality assurance is another," he said. "Commercial components are tested as standalone components. Most custom-built components are tested as part of a larger application instead." To that important distinction, he advises developers to consider commercial components' field-tested feature sets. Plus, developers using commercial controls can draw upon training and support options—impractical with "built" components—such as detailed help files, samples, knowledge bases, and live technical support.

To take a virtual tour of the VSLive! exhibit hall, visit our exhibitor roundup at http://www.ftponline.com/reports/vslivesf/2003/02_13_03/products.

About the Author
Jeff Hadfield is publisher of Visual Studio Magazine.