Custom Software vs SaaS — Decision Worksheet
A printable scoring worksheet that turns the build-vs-buy decision into a numbers-based call instead of an argument — 12 weighted criteria, scored across both options.
What's in this whitepaper.
A leadership-team scoring worksheet for the build-vs-buy software decision. Comes as both an Excel file (for adapting the weights) and a printable PDF.
You’ll get:
- The 12 criteria that genuinely matter (cost, fit, time-to-value, control, moat, etc.)
- A weighting system that makes the priority order explicit
- Scoring scale and a decision threshold
- Worked example for a real client decision (anonymised)
The bigger picture.
Build-vs-buy debates eat hundreds of leadership hours and usually end in whoever-shouted-loudest wins. This worksheet replaces the argument with arithmetic. Twelve weighted criteria, scored across the build option and the SaaS option, with a calculated total and a decision threshold based on score margin.
It will not make the decision for you — but it will surface the actual disagreement (usually a single weighted criterion the room is split on) so you can debate the right thing.
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