On 5/21/13, Siegel, David <David.Siegel@level3.com> wrote:
Off the shelf stuff? There are lots of options, but it seems like the general opinion of the IT groups I've worked with is that it's just as much work to customize and integrate them as it is to write from scratch so we tend to get further way from COTS all the time.
Unless the requirement is quite trivial, or the usage quite small.. I would question 'write everything from scratch' -- now custom code for integrations makes sense; it doesn't make sense for every company to become a software company though and custom code all the bits of their systems, instead of customizing and reusing proven code. A solution implemented with mature OTS components doing all the heavy lifting may be more robust, if good choices were made. Customizing and integrating OTS components may be hard; once you do, you worry only about maintaining customizations and integrations. Chances are you get vendor support and well-tested software. :) That is, if the integrations/customizations made are supported ones, available through configuration of the software. With totally custom coded software, the org bears an ongoing burden of software reliability testing, for all the custom components. When one finds custom software cheaper than an OTS solution... one should probably ask... was ongoing testing, support, updates/security patches, and maintenance included? In other words... did the IT group just count the Initial cost to implement, or did they actually figure out a TCO, including changes to the custom software later required to solve scalability issues? The answer in some cases may be to figure out what products might fit the need/requirement in the most general sense, and find a consulting group adept with whichever products, rather than a local IT group. :) I am sure there are plenty of inventory management and accounting type products out in the world, able to be adapted for the unique requirements of inventorying different kinds of things. Chop up the problem sufficiently into bite-sized pieces, and I believe there are bound to be existing OTS options more useful than a spreadsheet. -- -JH