Fig. 01 · Glossary
Build vs. Buy
Also known as Make or Buy, Build or Buy
Definition
Build vs. buy is the ownership decision for a software capability. Framed as a binary it produces bad outcomes; the full menu is renew, renegotiate, switch, consolidate, or build. Build candidates must pass an ownership screen - stable workload, weak vendor moat, material spend, a named internal owner, no key-person dependency - and carry a five-year total cost of ownership model, because maintenance and staffing dominate the true cost of owned software.
AI-assisted development reopened this question everywhere at once by collapsing the cost of the first draft. It left the expensive parts - security, integration, monitoring, years of maintenance - unchanged. The decision discipline matters more now, not less, because the temptation arrives weekly.
Human Renaissance glossary · operator-grade definitions · Research methodology
