Inside MCI’s decision to build or to buy IT applications
At MCI, a routine series of questions helps IT managers decide how to best meet their needs
Follow @infoworldIn the past year, MCI had to make a decision about whether to buy or build a system to track third-party services inventory. The following series of questions illustrates how the company arrived at a decision to buy the application.
Should we build?
Q: Is there competitive advantage in building?
A: No competitive advantage.
Q: Is the project covering core or generic business processes?
A: Generic.
Q: Is there business expertise in-house to build something world-class?
A: Yes, but resources are tight and this is not a priority.
Q: Is there technical expertise in-house or available on the market to build something world-class?
A: Same as previous answer.
Q: What is the total cost of ownership?
A: Low to medium.
Should we buy?
Q: Do capabilities exist that meet or nearly meet our needs?
A: There are two packages that meet our needs.
Q: Can our business processes fit those imposed by the package?
A: Yes.
Q: Is the vendor going to be around for a long time? Many of the best solutions come from smaller vendors, so it is necessary to review their financials.
A: Both vendors are viable.
Q: Does the vendor fit into our cornerstone technology stack? (For MCI: Microsoft .Net on the portal side, IBM Websphere on the back-office OSS side.)
A: Yes, for both vendors.
Q: Does the vendor have a vision that is compatible with our vision of future growth needs for the package?
A: Excellent vision; better than we have in this area.
Q: Does the vendor have a demonstrated ability to deliver releases on time?
A: Yes, based on reference checks.
Q: What is the TCO (total cost of ownership)? Is it less than building and maintaining this ourselves?
A: An RFP was conducted and significant concessions were obtained. TCO is favorable.
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