Buy vs. Build
Address Immediate Needs, But Also Think Long-Term
After seeing the advantages of electronic signatures, many
companies next address whether to build or buy their solution.
The general consensus, as InfoWorld Magazine1 succinctly put
it, is: “Buy when you need to automate commodity business
processes; build when you’re dealing with the core processes
that differentiate your company.”
With electronic signatures, the case for buy over build tends to grow as companies
consider the long-term ramifications of their decision.
Don’t Be an Island
Often, electronic signatures come into an organization to solve a specific business
issue, such as easily signing non-disclosure agreements (NDAs). Remember an
electronic signature is never an isolated act, but part of a process that invariably
spans other departments and organizations. What’s more, electronic signature usage
tends to expand rapidly, as other business process owners see the benefits of
removing paper handling and manual steps.
Internally build systems, designed for one specific signing process, often lack
flexibility. Any solution should have a clear expansion pathway to meet all possible
future electronic signature requirements – from authenticating users to feeding data
into other systems – even if the initial deployment doesn’t have all these needs. Any
solution should also meet enterprise-wide compliance needs, integrate with other IT
applications, and support a variety of application environments – future-proofing
points often overlooked with homegrown solutions designed for one purpose.
Consider Post-Implementation Costs
In evaluating the “Build vs. Buy” decision, many companies only consider upfront
costs like software licensing and development. But as InfoWorld points out, 70 percent
of software costs arise after implementation. Homegrown systems can bring heavy
price tags for help-desk assistance, maintenance and upgrades. Homegrown solutions
are also prone to non-compliance problems and development delays that dramatically
reduce time-to-market, lowering your ROI.
A solution from a vendor with a proven track record can eliminate these concerns.
Interlink has the strongest esignature platform ― eSign Anywhere™ ― and deepest
product portfolio in the industry. That provides peace of mind you can meet any future
esignature need, ensures you’ll never create an esignature island, and frees your IT
staff to focus on your core business.
1 http://www.infoworld.com/article/06/02/13/74880_07FEbuildbuy_1.html
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