Analytics is a powerful tool that can help businesses make better decisions. But, it’s not always easy to find the right tool for your company. There are two ways to go about building a data analytics solution: build it yourself, or buy one. In this blog post, we’ll discuss the various aspects of making the right decision on whether to buy or build your data analytics platform.
Build custom analytics solutions
The first option is to build your own data analytics solution. This can be a difficult and time-consuming process, as you’ll need to train your staff on how to use the systems and make sure that you have the right skillset in-house. In addition, you’ll have to implement all of the tools yourself—which means more time and money spent on technology staff salaries.
Pros of building a custom analytics solution
3. Control the costs of the solution, since you’re not paying for someone else’s service 4. Add new features as you see fit 5. Ability to hire people with the right skillset who can help you build a great product | Cons of building a custom analytics solution: 1. Time and money are required to build the solution. 2. You may need to hire a developer, which is often expensive and time-consuming. 3. You will have to maintain the solution over time as needs change or new features are added. 4. It’s difficult to change an analytics solution once it’s built, so you’ll need to plan carefully before building your own. 5. It’s hard to predict how complex your analytics needs will be in the future, so it’s possible that you’ll end up with more functionality than you really need or want. |
Buy analytics solutions
The second option is to buy an off-the-shelf analytics solution from a vendor. This allows you to get up and running quickly without having to invest in training or other resources that may not be necessary for your needs (or even useful). You also don’t have to worry about whether or not your team has the right skillset for implementing and maintaining the software—this will be handled by the vendor.
Pros of buying an analytics solution 1. You can compare different analytics solutions and choose the one that best fits your needs. 2. It’s more cost effective than building a solution yourself in the short-term. 3. There is no need to hire additional staff or train your current employees on new skills, which saves time and money. 4. You can get access to a variety of analytics tools without investing in them individually, which saves money as well as resources like space and power consumption, etc. 5. If you don’t want to commit long-term, you can always switch providers at any time without having to worry about maintaining an in-house system. | Cons of buying an analytics solution 1. The cost of the software can be very high and can lead to a large amount of work to implement and configure the software. 2. The vendor may not be able to address all of your requirements and you may need to hire additional resources to handle the missing functionality. 3. It is difficult to get a good understanding of how well an analytics solution will meet your needs before making a decision on whether or not to purchase it. 4. You may have less flexibility in customizing the software than if you built it yourself because most vendors will have their own proprietary frameworks that they use when building their products. 5. Vendor lock-in may occur if your organization chooses a particular vendor and finds out later on that they are no longer able to support your business’s needs as they grow over time. |
Should you buy or build analytics solutions?
It’s important to understand the pros and cons of each approach before deciding which way is right for you. But what’s the best way forward? Build or buy?
The answer is not always clear. When choosing between building or buying, there are several factors that must be considered before making a decision.
- Internal Expertise: First and foremost, you should examine your own internal resources and capabilities. Do you have enough technical knowledge and experience to build your own solution? If not, then you would need to look into hiring someone who does have those skill sets. If this is the case, then building may be more cost-effective for your needs.
- Time Frame: Next up: time frame! This can be tricky because building an analytics solution can take anywhere from six months to two years depending on its complexity and scope (and these numbers will likely increase as time goes on). You’ll need to take into account any delays that may occur due to problems that arise during development or implementation phases; these could delay deployment by weeks or even months depending on severity level (which could mean losing customers!).
- Costs: Cost is one of the main reasons businesses choose to build their own analytics solutions. Because the software has been built from scratch, there are no licensing fees or maintenance fees—just the initial cost of building it. The downside is that you have to pay for all the resources needed to build and maintain it, which can be extremely expensive for larger companies.
- Scalability: Another factor that plays into this decision is scalability. If your company needs an analytics solution that can grow with it as it grows, then you would want an off-the-shelf solution that has been built by someone else. This means that there will be ongoing costs associated with maintaining and updating the software as your company continues to grow, but these costs will be less than what it would take to hire programmers and developers in-house who could build something similar on their own time frame over several months (or even years).
However, there are a few questions that you can ask yourself to help you see the light at the end of this tunnel.
Do you have a specific need for an analytics solution?
If so, then building your own solution may be less expensive in the long run than buying an off-the-shelf software package. This is especially true if you plan on implementing custom code or adding features that aren’t available out of the box.
Do you have the expertise needed to build your own solution?
Whether you’re looking at building from scratch or implementing a custom solution like Tableau or SAS, it’s important that your staff has the right skill sets in place to be able to build something that will meet your needs without breaking anything else along the way. If not, hiring someone with experience doing this kind of work could end up being cheaper than hiring someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing—and even more expensive when things break down later on down.
How much time do you have/can afford to spend on this project?
If building your own solution means taking away from other projects or slowing down progress elsewhere, then it might not be worth it in the long run. On the other hand, if you have enough resources available for your project and want to learn more about how analytics works, go ahead! Just make sure that whatever solution you choose fits with what your company needs at this moment in time—and don’t forget about those resources!
Do you need scalability and depth in your solution?
Depth refers to how comprehensive the solution is (does it include everything you need?), while scalability refers to how easy it is for your company to grow with the solution (can it adapt as you grow?). If you’re looking at these two criteria separately, you might assume that buying would always be better than building—but if you look at them together, you’ll see an interesting picture emerge: sometimes buying isn’t better than building after all!
Ultimately, it comes down to what works best for your company’s specific needs and goals. If you’re looking for an easy way out of this decision, we recommend taking advantage of our free consultation and get unbiased advice from our experts here