TECHNOLOGY
Grainger on the buy versus build question
“ Before thinking about technology partners , it ’ s really important for you to look at the fundamental question of buy versus build . I think in many companies this decision tree has almost got reversed . “ There has been a universal frustration with internal technology departments perhaps not being able to deliver as quickly as people would like , certainly historically , and so there is a draw towards the buy . So , you buy the product and it doesn ’ t exactly match your needs , so you need to customise it . That customisation process takes some time – you ’ ll eventually get there , but any further customisation is going to be a trip back to the vendor . This can sometimes take years . “ My proposition is to look at buy versus build with a slightly different lens . First thing is , you ’ ve got to have credible delivery . So , looking at our platform , that gives us our credibility . If it ’ s a source of competitive advantage , then by its nature it shouldn ’ t be available anywhere else , because otherwise what ’ s to stop another competitor just buying it off the shelf . If it truly is a differentiator , a source of competitive advantage , then you should look really carefully at building it . “ However , our platform isn ’ t solely for the individuals and engineers that work in Manchester . We ’ ve developed our platform so that we can have other third parties doing the development . We could use a hybrid team , we could use teams split over two locations .”
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