Context
The marketing team was outgrowing a manual campaign management process and needed a system to manage customer targeting, scheduling, and reporting at scale. Engineering had been asked to build a custom solution, but the scope was growing and the timeline was long.
Challenge
The temptation to build was strong — the team had the skills and the internal solution would integrate perfectly with existing data. But building meant a multi-quarter commitment, ongoing maintenance, and opportunity cost on product roadmap items.
Approach
I ran a structured build-vs-buy analysis: mapped the actual requirements against market solutions, modelled the true cost of build including ongoing maintenance, and identified which requirements were genuinely differentiating versus table stakes. I presented the analysis to the CTO and marketing leadership, with a clear recommendation.
Outcome
The decision was to buy and integrate an existing platform. The integration was delivered faster than a build would have been, and the engineering team redirected capacity to higher-value product work. The buy decision has held up well over time.