The buy or build software debate has been going on long enough, and it is time we settled it. To better understand, let us take you down history lane. During the industrial revolution, the economy of Europe was flourishing. Due to this, companies started hiring third parties to take some workload off their shoulders.
Hence began the era of outsourcing, which has changed face over time to a point where companies can buy ready-made solutions. Buying reduces the cost of production and complexities of tasks that can not be performed in-house due to a lack of resources, expertise, and infrastructure. It ensures that the organization can concentrate on its core activities and mitigate risk.
On the other end of the spectrum, critics say buying software damages a company’s reputation, restricts its potential, and brings about huge job losses. So, their best option is to build the software in-house.
That is why in this article, we will enlighten you on the pros and cons of either choice. Hopefully, it will be of great help when making the buy vs build software decision for your fintech company.
Pros of developing fintech software in-house
Pros and cons of developing fintech software in-house
In-house or insourcing development is the process of building software using specialists from your company with no external help. Here are the benefits of using in-house experts to develop your banking software:
Full control. All of the team members involved in building the software are employed by you and trained from scratch. They understand your company’s goals, culture, and workflow well to develop software that perfectly matches its intended purpose. Also, you retain ownership of the software code and can use it the way you see fit.
Direct communication. Seamless communication among team members is a crucial factor when developing software. Communication is boosted when the employees do it face to face. It becomes faster to implement changes to the project and avoid mistakes caused by misinformation.
Carefully selected team members. You will often entrust your banking or payment software development to people you can trust who fully understand your business process. That is why the recruitment process takes more time and needs to be thorough. So, you end up with employees who you deem fit enough for the role.
Cons of developing fintech software in-house
Even with the advantages of in-house development, some disadvantages make a strong point for people to consider other options.
Time to recruit employees and build the software. If your development team is not skilled enough, you need to hire new experts. However, It takes, on average, about 40 days to recruit an in-house developer. This information is based on a study performed by DevSkiller. This period also does not consider the time taken for the employee to transition from their old job completely. Also, you will need time for onboarding and educating new employees on the company culture and workflow. All of these processes can extend the development time to a few years. This amount of time is not ideal for the fintech industry, which is rapidly changing. When your solution goes live, it may already be outdated and will need heavy changes to meet new industry demands.
Cost of development. According to Glassdoor, the average salary of a developer in the US is about $90K. Furthermore, additional costs increase this figure by 1.4 times, according to Joe Hadzima, MIT. This much expenditure to acquire a team of experts can strain the company’s resources, especially if it is a startup.
Difficult to find qualified experts. With the high demand for software and development skills, you will find it difficult to attract high-quality experts. You will need to dig deep into the company’s budget to bring in the best.
Alternative to in-house development: Dedicated IT team from FinTech Software development company
You must not always hire in-house developers to build your fintech software. Hiring a FinTech software development company such as SDK.finance can eliminate all the cons for building software in-house. They already have a dedicated IT team that is highly specialized in building FinTech software. This will eliminate all the problems of hiring and managing IT teams. It will also reduce the time-to-market for the software. With the SDK.finance development team building your software, you will have time to focus on other pressing business issues.
Now, let us talk about the other alternative: buying ready-made fintech software from a vendor.
Pros and cons of buying software
Pros and cons of buying fintech software
It is often said that “necessity is the mother of invention.” If building the software in-house is the solution, then the vast market of ready-made software would not have emerged. Here are some of the benefits of buying ready-made fintech software:
Reduced costs. It is considerably cheaper to purchase ready-made software than build one from scratch since you do not require a large internal IT team for implementation. This leaves your company with more resources to invest in other projects. It is often more affordable because the IT company that develops the solution commercializes it. You and all the other businesses that purchase the software will cover the cost. So, it is a win-win for all. However, when deciding to build the software from the ground up, you should be ready to bear the costs alone.
Fast implementation and proven technology. Once you purchase the software, it is ready for implementation in your system and conforms to regulatory standards. Also, you do not have to worry about quality since the software has a proven track record with other users. The developer has done all the pre-launch testing procedures and fixed most bugs so that you don’t waste time doing it.
Access to support and upgrades. Usually, the IT company that offers the ready-made fintech software will help you with implementation, provide troubleshooting services and upgrades. Therefore, you will not necessarily need a dedicated in-house team for all these processes.
Cons of buying software
Even though buying software is cheap and easy to implement, it has its disadvantages. Here is what you should know:
High one-time payment. If you decide to use a ready-to-go fintech solution, then you should be ready to pay a huge amount of money upfront. This is not really conducive for small companies, especially startups since they have limited funds.
Difficult to choose a software vendor. Choosing a software vendor for your fintech solution is often a difficult decision to make. This is because your entire business workflow will depend on the platform. With the many vendors that are already on the market, you will need to find one with expertise and knowledge.
Not personalized specifically for your business. Ready-made software is often designed to target industries and not any specific company. They do not take into account your unique business model. Therefore, it will lack some features that may be critical for the smooth functioning of your organization. Most often, you will need to personalize the source code based on your needs.
Alternative to buying software: FinTech software with source code and its benefits
With 15+ years of experience in FinTech, SDK.finance knows firsthand what it takes to develop actual payments products. Your business can save up to 1 year for software development with our ready-to-go FinTech software solutions for payment systems, neobanks, money remittance and currency exchange services, e-wallets, accept online and in-store payments, and other payment-related services.
Why choose SDK.finance banking software source code solution?
Independence. With the ready-made SDK.finance banking software, you can manage everything in-house. It gives you the possibility to be totally independent from the vendor.
Freedom to modify. Unlike most other ready-made fintech solutions on the market, the SDK.finance On-premise software provides you with the license to modify the source code. So, you can optimize and tailor the software to the specific needs of your company.
Full control. The source code solution gives you complete control of the entire product, data, and infrastructure. You can store highly sensitive data on the servers protected behind your own corporate firewall.
Updates on your terms. You can also choose how and when the software is updated so that it does not interrupt your workflow.
Final thought
As we have seen above, both buy and build practices have advantages and disadvantages associated with them. When the projects are highly complex, time is limited, technology is not sufficient, the cost is too high, and expertise is lacking, buying a ready-made solution will help meet the expectations. On the other hand, if your company does not face any of the above problems, you can happily build the fintech software from scratch.
However, SDK.finance provides you with more options – a ready-to-go solution with the ability to modify the source code and a dedicated IT development team for those who want to build from scratch. These are the build vs buy decision criteria you need to consider before making your choice.
FAQ
Should you build or buy software?
Fintech software development involves lots of attention to detail within a specific timeframe and highly qualified developers. Although you can hire an in-house team for your fintech project, outsourcing or getting a ready-to-go solution is often the better option.
When should you buy software?
You can decide to buy your fintech software when you have the funds upfront to pay. Also, this option is ideal when you do not have enough time to wait for developers to create a solution from scratch.
How do you determine build vs buy?
You need to consider the resources that you have at your disposal such as funds, developers, and time. Only then can you decide which option is best.
Contact SDK.finance team directly to get FinTech software
Contact SDK.finance team directly to get FinTech software
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