DOP 328: The Real Cost of Build Versus Buy Decisions

Episode 328

Show Notes

#328: The build versus buy decision isn’t as binary as most companies think. Every technology choice involves elements of both - you might use Linux (buy) but still configure and customize it extensively (build). The real question isn’t whether to build or buy, but finding the right balance between the two approaches based on your company’s resources, size, and unique requirements.

Companies often fall into the trap of thinking their processes are so unique that existing solutions won’t work, leading to unnecessary custom development. This not invented here syndrome is particularly common in large enterprises that mistake their size for complexity. In reality, most businesses face challenges that have already been solved by others. The key is recognizing when you truly need a custom solution versus when you can adapt existing tools.

The decision becomes more nuanced when considering factors like maintenance costs, compliance requirements, and long-term sustainability. Building internally requires ongoing resources for updates, security patches, and knowledge retention within your team. Meanwhile, buying from vendors shifts much of this burden but introduces dependencies and integration challenges. The conversation features insights from Alex Gusev from Uploadcare, along with perspectives from hosts Darin and Viktor on navigating these complex technology decisions.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is build versus buy really a choice between two options?

Viktor Farcic rejects the framing on DevOps Paradox episode 328, challenging anyone to name a case of pure building or pure buying. Running Linux on your servers is buying, and you always install and configure something on top. The same is true of Kubernetes, managed or not. The real question is the ratio, and Alex Gusev of Uploadcare agrees that managing that balance is what running the business consists of.

What do companies underestimate when they decide to build?

Alex Gusev tells Darin Pope on DevOps Paradox episode 328 that the path to shipping looks clear while maintenance stays invisible, particularly for anyone without experience running a self-built system. His example is a chief executive claiming to have rebuilt Jira in two weeks with AI and planning to drop the vendor. Viktor Farcic adds that if the objection is cost, dozens of open source alternatives already exist.

Does having thousands of engineers justify building your own tools?

Viktor Farcic calls headcount a fallacy on DevOps Paradox episode 328. A bank with fifty thousand people building something is not evidence that its problems are more unusual than those of a company with a thousand. He argues the opposite correlation is more common, pointing at AI labs that are small or medium sized by any measure while working on problems no existing solution covers.

Why does not-invented-here syndrome persist?

Alex Gusev and Viktor Farcic give two reasons on DevOps Paradox episode 328. One is managers believing their company’s processes are unique enough that no existing tool could support them, which Farcic mocks with the case of a team rebuilding a ticketing system to get Kanban boards. The other is simpler: people do not know the options exist. Gusev had not heard of Uploadcare until two years before becoming its CTO.

How do compliance requirements affect a build or buy decision?

Alex Gusev explains on DevOps Paradox episode 328 that as a SOC 2 Type 2 certified company, Uploadcare has to select vendors at the same level of compliance, and that picking those vendors is part of his job. He notes GDPR and HIPAA can conflict directly, one requiring data be removed after a period and the other requiring it be retained, which means handling data differently by customer origin.

Does buying instead of building remove the maintenance burden?

No, and Alex Gusev is blunt about it on DevOps Paradox episode 328: his whole working life is a maintenance nightmare. Integration libraries still need upgrading. He adds that building something obliges you to maintain not only the tool but the level of knowledge of it inside the company, and that a vendor’s engineering culture matters as much as its certifications, since some deprecate an API with a week’s notice.

What is the DevOps Paradox podcast?

DevOps Paradox is a weekly podcast co-hosted by Darin Pope and Viktor Farcic, covering DevOps, platform engineering, and modern software delivery. Episode 328 brings in Alex Gusev, CTO of Uploadcare, to work through build versus buy: the maintenance costs teams forget, why headcount is a poor guide, and how compliance changes the arithmetic. Every episode page carries the audio, the video, and a full transcript.

Episode Transcript

Read the Full Transcript

Topics

Share and Download

Guests

Alex Gusev

Alex Gusev

Alex Gusev has been building server-side architectures for 20 years, helping businesses grow from their very first line of code to handling up to 3.5 million user signups a day.

He’s passionate about scalable distributed systems, with a particular appreciation for simplicity in high-load environments. Every part of a system, in his view, is a set of trade-offs — not only in technology, but also in adoption, maintenance, and hiring.

Most of the systems Alex has built run on Ruby on Rails — a framework he still considers an excellent choice both for rapid product launches and for scaling when speed and reliability become critical.

As CTO at Uploadcare, Alex’s personal focus is on people first, then technology, then processes. He’s found that in a strong, motivated team, the right tools and workflows tend to emerge and evolve naturally.

He’s also a critic of cargo cults in tech — when companies mimic each other’s behavior without understanding the context, inheriting problems instead of strengths. While he values data-driven product development, he’s most energized by working with people who are deeply passionate about their ideas.

Outside of work, Alex enjoys fiction, playing ice hockey, and once, at the Nürburgring, had Kimi Räikkönen come close to crashing into him.

Hosts

Darin Pope

Darin Pope

Viktor Farcic

Viktor Farcic

Viktor Farcic is a member of the Google Developer Experts and Docker Captains groups, and published author.

His big passions are DevOps, Containers, Kubernetes, Microservices, Continuous Integration, Delivery and Deployment (CI/CD) and Test-Driven Development (TDD).

He often speaks at community gatherings and conferences.

He has published DevOps Paradox and Test-Driven Java Development.

His random thoughts and tutorials can be found in his blog The DevOps Toolkit.