01
Gather comparable facts
Collect the same level of evidence for build, buy, and extend so one option doesn't benefit from hidden assumptions or missing work.
Made for Engineers
Compare Build, Buy, and Extend Options
Also useful for: people in Software Engineering
35 min
Intermediate
Decisions
Make a Decision
Need to Compare Options
Choose the strongest implementation path using explicit requirements, comparable cost and timing assumptions, and clear risk tradeoffs.
We'll use them to write your prompt.
Completed ✓
Make Your Play
Give us the situation. We’ll build the prompt.
Turn a vague build-versus-buy debate into a defensible engineering decision.
Your answers save as you type.
What you'll do
This is the plan inside your prompt. Add your details first. Then follow these steps with ChatGPT or Claude.
02
Run the three-path analysis
Use the compiled prompt to test each path against capability fit, delivery effort, ownership burden, cost, timing, control, and exit risk.
03
Stress-test the recommendation
Challenge the leading option against its strongest downside and identify what would make another path smarter.
04
Prepare the decision handoff
Turn the analysis into a concise recommendation that stakeholders can review without losing the important engineering tradeoffs.
Make Your Play
Compare Build, Buy, and Extend Options
Tell us what the prompt needs to know
Start with the questions below. Each answer personalizes the playbook and builds the prompt you’ll use at the end.
Your situation
Describe the capability needed, the problem driving the decision, who depends on the outcome, and how long the solution is expected to last.
0/10000
List must-have capabilities, hard technical constraints, security or compliance needs, service expectations, and useful but optional features.
0/10000
Describe current systems, interfaces, reusable components, contracts, team skills, and technical debt that affect the options.
0/10000
Describe what would be built internally, which components are new, what could be reused, and the expected delivery approach.
0/10000
Describe the external product or service, the expected integration, available evidence about fit, and any contract or vendor dependencies.
0/10000
Describe the existing system that could be extended, the changes required, known limits, and who would own the result.
0/10000
Enter known estimates or ranges for cost, timing, staffing, integration work, migration, training, support, and decommissioning.
0/10000
List unresolved technical questions, dependencies, failure modes, ownership concerns, vendor concerns, and assumptions that could change the decision.
0/10000
Enter the date or milestone by which a recommendation is needed.
This playbook was updated. Review your inputs before copying.
What you'll do
Check a step when you finish it.
01
Gather comparable facts
Collect the same level of evidence for build, buy, and extend so one option doesn't benefit from hidden assumptions or missing work.
02
Run the three-path analysis
Use the compiled prompt to test each path against capability fit, delivery effort, ownership burden, cost, timing, control, and exit risk.
03
Stress-test the recommendation
Challenge the leading option against its strongest downside and identify what would make another path smarter.
04
Prepare the decision handoff
Turn the analysis into a concise recommendation that stakeholders can review without losing the important engineering tradeoffs.
Fill in the fields above to generate your prompt preview.
Assembled prompt
Beginner instructions
Start with the capabilities that must work on day one. If cost or timing is uncertain, enter a range or write “unknown” instead of guessing. Describe each option plainly enough that someone outside the project could tell what would actually be delivered.
Advanced instructions
Add weighted criteria only when the weights reflect an agreed priority. Test the recommendation against a longer ownership horizon, integration failure, vendor price changes, internal staffing loss, and an exit scenario. Challenge any option that looks cheap only because migration, support, or decommissioning work is excluded.
Use this when
You need to recommend whether to build a capability internally, buy a product or service, or extend an existing system.
You'll need
- Decision context
- Required capabilities
- Existing environment
- Build option
- Buy option
- Extend option
- Delivery facts
- Risks and unknowns
- Decision deadline
You'll get
- All three implementation paths assessed against the same decision factors
- Hard constraints separated from preferences and assumptions
- Material unknowns and their decision impact identified
- A leading option or focused investigation selected
- A fallback path and review triggers documented
- Stakeholder talking points ready to use.
By the end of this playbook
You will have:
- All three implementation paths assessed against the same decision factors
- Hard constraints separated from preferences and assumptions
- Material unknowns and their decision impact identified
- A leading option or focused investigation selected
- A fallback path and review triggers documented
- Stakeholder talking points ready to use.
Examples
Progress 1 of 4