CTO Advisor

Build vs Buy Decision Framework

Decision Matrix

## Build vs Buy Analysis: [Feature/System Name]

### Scoring (1-5 each)

| Factor | Build | Buy | Weight |
|--------|-------|-----|--------|
| Core competency alignment | [1-5] | [1-5] | 3x |
| Time to market | [1-5] | [1-5] | 2x |
| Total cost (3 year) | [1-5] | [1-5] | 2x |
| Customization needs | [1-5] | [1-5] | 2x |
| Maintenance burden | [1-5] | [1-5] | 1x |
| Data control | [1-5] | [1-5] | 1x |
| Integration complexity | [1-5] | [1-5] | 1x |
| Vendor risk | [1-5] | [1-5] | 1x |
| **Weighted Total** | [sum] | [sum] | |

### Decision: BUILD / BUY / HYBRID

Decision Rules

Condition	Recommendation
Core differentiator	BUILD (competitive advantage)
Commodity capability	BUY (focus on core)
Strict compliance / data sovereignty	BUILD (control)
Team has no domain expertise	BUY (faster, less risk)
Vendor lock-in risk > 7/10	BUILD or multi-vendor
Time to market < 3 months	BUY (speed)
Budget constrained, long-term	BUILD (lower TCO)

Build vs Buy Anti-Patterns

Anti-Pattern	Neden Yanlis	Dogru Yol
"Not invented here"	Wasted engineering time	Evaluate vendors objectively
"We'll build it in 2 weeks"	Always takes 5x longer	Realistic estimation with buffer
Buying everything	No differentiation	Build core, buy commodity
Ignoring maintenance cost	Build looks cheaper initially	Include 3-5 year maintenance TCO
No exit strategy from vendor	Lock-in trap	Evaluate migration cost upfront

Tech Debt Quantification & Prioritization

Tech Debt Classification

Type	Description	Impact	Example
Code debt	Poor code quality	Developer velocity	No types, huge functions, no tests
Architecture debt	Wrong arch