There's a false choice at the heart of a lot of technology decisions: build everything bespoke, or buy everything ready-made. Both extremes are expensive in their own way — one in effort, the other in fit.
Build what differentiates you
Custom engineering pays off where a business does something distinctive — the workflow, product or experience that is genuinely theirs. That's worth building well, because it's the part no vendor will ever fit exactly.
For everything else — the solved problems every business shares — proven building blocks are usually the right call, integrated cleanly rather than reinvented.
The line moves as you grow
Where that line sits isn't fixed. What made sense to buy at one stage may be worth owning at the next. Revisiting the decision deliberately — rather than by accident — is part of keeping technology aligned with the business.
