You must decide between building and buying. Which factor matters most for build?
Why D is the answer
Long-term maintenance and the skills it needs
Built solutions need ongoing care, and that cost often decides the choice.
In detail
- A build leaves you owning maintenance.
- You also need the skills to do it.
- Ask who owns it after launch.
Use case
An illustrative scenario, not a real incident.
A firm can build an agent, but nobody can maintain it after the contractor leaves. That settles the decision.
See it in different ways
flowchart TD
A{"Does a prebuilt option meet the need?"} -->|Yes| B["Buy: Microsoft 365 Copilot or a prebuilt agent"]
A -->|"Mostly"| C["Extend with an agent or connector"]
A -->|No| D["Build a custom agent"]stateDiagram-v2 [*] --> Requirement Requirement --> Copilot: Copilot already meets it Requirement --> Extend: Copilot needs your data or tools Requirement --> Build: needs its own logic Build --> CustomModel: existing models fail a measured need
flowchart TD
Q{"Do you have the skills long term?"}
Q -->|"Yes"| A0["Building is possible"]
Q -->|"No"| A1["Prefer buying"]Key point: Maintenance often decides build or buy.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. The number of vendors in the market
- Vendor count does not affect your build.
- B. Whether the vendor announced it most recently
- A recent announcement is not a reason.
- C. The number of connectors in the vendor's catalog
- Connectors matter for buying, not for build maintenance.