All playbooks
Playbook · Strategy and influence · 7 steps
Evaluating a vendor or platform
Buy the capability, not the brochure.
“The most radical possible solution for constructing software is not to construct it at all.”
- 1Core vs ContextIs this capability core to us, or context?Invest in what differentiates you; standardise or outsource everything else.Open
- 2Wardley MappingHow evolved is this market — custom, product, or utility?Map components by the value they provide and how evolved they are, from genesis to commodity.Open
- 3Build, Buy, or PartnerWhich sourcing model fits our skills and differentiation?Choose the sourcing model by differentiation, market maturity, and your ability to operate it.Open
- 4Law of Leaky AbstractionsWhere will the product's abstractions leak under our load?All non-trivial abstractions leak; eventually you have to understand what is beneath them.Open
- 5Anti-Corruption LayerHow do we keep the vendor's model from spreading through our own systems?Protect your domain model by translating at the boundary with systems whose models you don't control.Open
- 6Total Cost of OwnershipWhat will integration, operation, and exit really cost?The purchase price is the smallest part of what a technology costs over its lifetime.Open
- 7OptionalityWhich exit options are worth negotiating into the contract?Prefer positions that give you the right, but not the obligation, to act in the future.Open