The Temptation and the Trap of Homegrown Systems
By Mike Raia 
| Published August 9, 2016
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When talking to companies looking for workflow automation solutions, we often find we're competing against a potential homegrown solution. This certainly isn't unique to workflow automation software vendors, as the ability to build applications with internal resources has gotten easier over the years, and development talent has become increasingly available.
That means that building internally is always one possible option for companies with sophisticated IT organizations, and sometimes it is the best choice, depending on the use case. Organizations wisely perform the necessary due diligence of determining if existing resources can be leveraged. However, as we've seen, the decision to "just build" a workflow system is often simply delaying the inevitable, which is investing in a purpose-built third-party workflow system. Many companies realize this, which is reflected in the fact that many organizations' technical and development roles have transitioned to become integrators, extenders, and, at a higher level, architects.
Many companies have begun to realize this, reflected in the fact that many organizations' technical and development roles have transitioned to become integrators, extenders, and, at a higher level, architects.
The value of workflow automation software derives from the customization, rather than being hampered by it.
The Type of Software Matters
Depending on the type of software, the decision to buy over building may depend on the willingness of your business users to rethink or at least bend their business processes to fit the software's strengths. Most software is customizable to one degree or another, but often it may seem that the further you move in the direction of customization, the less you reap the benefits that drew you to the software in the first place.
The good news in the case of workflow automation software is that it is designed to either mimic your existing business processes and/or improve upon them. The value of workflow automation software derives from customization rather than being hampered by it.
So depending on the nature of the business problem, “homegrown” applications can be adequate as temporary solutions. Still, there are some essential things to consider before building a solution internally for workflow automation:
Buy It or Build It Considerations
Speed
Consider how quickly the solution needs to be rolled out. Even in the most sophisticated and well-managed internal IT organizations, developing a new custom software solution can take several months or longer. IT needs to balance a department’s needs with the entire organization's needs. A dedicated workflow automation system offers a great deal of configuration and can be up and running quickly while meeting very specific business needs. Lastly, consider these statistics:
- The average large IT project runs 45% over budget, 7% over time, and delivers 56% less value than expected (The Project Management Institute).
- One in six IT projects has an average cost overrun of 200% and a schedule overrun of 70% (Harvard Business Review).
- 80% of teams say they spend at least half their time reworking completed tasks (Geneca).
Internal Skillsets
A significant factor that significantly reduces the ROI of a custom solution (and, in many cases, ultimately causes the endeavor to fail) is the lack of available personnel with proper skill sets. It takes many skills to design and deploy a business solution that is both scalable and extensible. Likely, your technology resources do not include all the skill sets necessary for launching, maintaining, scaling, and improving a successful software solution.
"One in six IT projects has an average cost overrun of 200% and a schedule overrun of 70% Harvard Business Review)."
Total Cost of Ownership
The cost of the development team, the time spent on all phases of development (including changes, bug fixing, training, documentation, and updates), and the additional tools that may be required need to be considered before building any solution. Consider this frightening statistic from McKinsey & Company, "17% of large IT projects (budgets $15M+) go so badly they threaten the existence of the company."
One-Off or Platform
A one-off workflow solution can be built for a specific need. Still, IT and the organization must consider workflow holistically throughout the organization (or the department, depending on the size). Will IT keep building niche solutions or take advantage of a platform that provides an ecosystem for rapidly building and reusing workflows centrally?
So the question becomes less about should IT build it from scratch and more about if business users can be empowered to "roll their own."
The Rise of the Citizen Developer
As I mentioned early on, the tools for building applications have become easier to use. In fact, with the right workflow automation solution, even business users can become "Citizen Developers" and produce their own workflow applications. So the question becomes less about whether IT should build it from scratch and more about if business users can be empowered to "roll their own."
Updates and Upgrades
Once an internal software solution is developed, the improvement cycle can become extremely slow. A solution may have been purpose-built for your needs today, but your needs can change quickly once people use it daily. What's the development cycle internally? How soon can you expect changes and new features to be implemented?
Support
IT teams must support the applications they build. Every new system they build increases pressure on their support staff, and they may be unable to scale resources to relieve the pressure. Pre-built solutions have experienced service and support teams dedicated to their product alone. They have extensive knowledge bases and documentation and are updated regularly based on the daily questions and feedback we receive from customers.
Complexity vs. Impact
Workflow Management systems involve a great deal of complexity to build. Is the strategic impact on the business worth the internal effort required to build one from scratch? In some cases, a workflow management system can provide a distinct competitive advantage, but in most cases, the benefits are largely in the form of internal efficiency improvements.
Turnover
IT turnover is a fact of life. Often internal solutions are built leveraging the discreet knowledge of an IT resource, leaving a skill/knowledge gap when the resource moves on. Investing in a stable, proven solution means uninterrupted professional support.
The Final Decision
Ultimately, every decision to buy or build is unique to the organization, the use case, and the level of need. However, many organizations are now looking at third-party systems before considering in-house development resources, especially considering the historical track record of large IT development projects. Regarding workflow automation software, it makes sense to strongly consider the benefits of rapid deployment, customization, and lower total cost of ownership than internal development.
Want more?
Check out our eBook: Inhouse Development vs. Packaged Solutions for a deeper dive into the Buy vs. Build debate.
Many thanks to Wrike's excellent Project Management Statistics post.
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Mike Raia
Marketing the world's best workflow automation software and drinking way too much coffee. https://about.me/mikeraia