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Published on: October 2007
Type of content: WHITE PAPER
Format: Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) (105 kb)
Length: 5 pages
Price: FREE

Overview:
Prior to the 1980s almost all companies built their own software applications to handle their needs. Every company believes that its business processes and challenges were so unique that only software built by its own business and IT staff would be adequate to solve the problems. Surprisingly this process extended to applications such as General Ledger and Payroll. An interesting example is the case of PG&E, the energy firm on the west coast. PG&E actually built its own operating system.

Over time, with application vendors such as Dun and Bradstreet, Oracle Applications, PeopleSoft HR, SAP R/3, QuickBooks, Peachtree etc, most business applications have been standardized and created as installable packages. Still the choice between Build and Buy is often debated within many companies. This article considers the choices in the context of the need to have a working sales commission application.

‘Buy’ typically defines the purchase of a standard vendor package for the application, being used by other companies in the marketplace. ‘Build’ typically defines the building of the application with internal resources, external resources or a combination of both. This article discusses the benefits of a Buy choice compared to a Build choice for sales commission software.