53% of Singapore firms prefer building own apps to buying

Tech decision makers don’t plan to move strictly away from build and toward buy (or vice versa), but rather to shift in strategically choosing when to build and when to buy, a survey by Rackspace Technology shows.

Conducted by Coleman Parkes in September, the survey covered 1,870 CIOs, CTOs, COOs, IT Directors and other senior IT decision makers in the United States; Latin America; Europe, Middle East and Africa; and Asia Pacific including Japan. There were 187 respondents from Singapore.

Among respondents from Singapore, 53% indicated preference  to “build” their own specific applications rather than using a SaaS mode.

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Among all respondents, 69% prioritise building customised applications for customer-facing purposes because it creates differentiation. With hiring and training skilled workers among the greatest business challenges today, it is essential that valuable developer hours be used to build applications that customers will notice and will eventually impact revenue. 

In fact, 66% of respondents agreed that digital transformation and the need for differentiation is driving the need to build applications in-house.

Also, when building applications, 78% of respondents said their organisation uses low-code/no-code platforms and 81% said they are satisfied or extremely satisfied with low-code/no-code developments.

Further, the research indicates a rise in SaaS as the preferred option when buying applications to enhance crucial but non-differentiating areas of business. Of survey respondents, 66% said ease of use and implementation is the main reason for buying software.

Moreover, 62% of participants did say that with today’s SaaS advancements and customisations, it is possible to create differentiation in a pure SaaS world.

“When it comes to the buy vs build dilemma, rather than one approach dominating the other, our research and experience tell us that both methods have immense value if implemented for the right reasons,” said Jeff DeVerter, CTO-Solutions at Rackspace Technology.

Sandeep Bhargava, managing director of APJ at Rackspace Technology, noted that Singapore-based respondents have indicated that building applications internally is the favoured solution after evaluating all factors. In line with that, it is crucial for IT teams to work closely together with the senior management teams in organisations to provide the necessary IT solutions based on the vision and strategy of the business. 

“Discussions on IT investments need to be brought into the board rooms in order for there to be alignment on the needs of the business, the costs involved, the pros and cons and most importantly, to achieve the best interest of the business,” said Bhargava.