Question

Blackburn is a growing company based in Vancouver. Over the years they have hired some of the best business experts in the province. However, their IT department is quite young and inexperienced. Blackburn knows that they are going to need to build a better information system to stay competitive. Both the business experts and the IT specialists are hoping to be allowed to build their own system. The company is also looking at purchasing an existing information system developed by an American technology company. Blackburn has decided to hire you as a consultant to help them decide on the best course of action. You are a business expert and knowledge worker and you have studied Busi 237. Using the key terms and concepts from your textbook explain to Blackburn management why they should choose one method of system development over another.

Answer 1

There can be two scenarios for the above problem that is both the methods (Buying and building) can be chosen over one another. so let's discuss them separately by explaining the pros of both the methods.

Purchasing an existing information system developed by an American technology company can be chosen over building one in-house because:

• COST: there will be cost-saving due because where will be no need to hire specialists and experienced knowledge workers.
• TIME: making software will take longer than buying software, it can delay implementation of other business strategies.
• ACCESS TO NEW FEATURES: External software companies are compelled to keep systems by adding features, keeping up with industry trends, etc. This is why the company can get these new capabilities for free, whereas a home-built system will need ongoing investments.

building one in-house can be chosen over Purchasing an existing information system developed by an American technology company because:

If the company has complex software needs that are not common to other businesses, it may be difficult to find what they are looking for in the market so the main benefit to the building is that it provides the ability to customize the software to your needs including:

• Features that are specific to the unique business model
• Integration with the existing proprietary software
• The ability to highlight the services that only your company offers in the marketplace

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