If time and money are available, everything is possible. In most cases, those two factors are most likely to be limited or missing during product development. Quickly, teams realise: should we build it or buy it?
Last week we had exactly this discussion with a prospect. An SME company that mainly focuses on their SaaS product had built a quick demonstrator prototype of a new hardware product to convince their customers of this new value-adding product to their existing product offering. One customer is convinced and wants to order more on a short timescale. This company came to us for advice.
As VAEngineering , our core expertise is full product development from schematic, PCB, firmware to enclosure design, but we are well aware of the fact that true customer success is about: “Be where your customer is at.”
When developing a new product, whether it is a connected device, embedded system or edge AI solution, the first question often sounds like this:
“Should we build it ourselves or buy/integrate something existing?”
But in reality, that’s step 3.
The first question should be:
“What are we trying to achieve? For whom? And with what resources?”
Too many product journeys derail because these three pillars aren’t aligned:
What do users, stakeholders, or customers truly expect from this product? What experience, performance, or functionality is non-negotiable?
What is our objective with releasing this hardware?
Testing market fit? A proof of concept at the customer?
Or is this about fast time-to-market, owning strategic IP, or reducing cost?
What’s realistically available in terms of money, time, and team capacity?
A decision to build or buy should only be made once these elements are in sync.
In practice, it’s rarely a binary choice.
But there’s a middle ground: build through smart integration
A product can initially be a prototype with an integration of existing subsystems that does the job for the customer. Gradually, when some resources become available or new features are required, parts of the system that require customization can form the basis of a newly designed subsystem or the foundation of a future fully custom-developed product. From our experience, a product is never a single shot.
It’s tempting to build just because you can. But in today’s market:
Build what gives you an edge. Integrate what already works.
Before you decide to build, buy, or integrate, make sure your product journey reflects the expectations, objectives, and constraints of your business.
That’s how technical decisions turn into market wins.
Need help navigating build-vs-buy?
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