Engineering time
Do not only take the first construction, but also changes, tuning and incidents with you.
Build vs buy
Build your own search or use a specialized solution?
The choice is not just about licensing fees. Engineering capacity, management, search expertise, roadmap, infrastructure and opportunity cost belong in the same equation.
PartBuild your ownSpecialized solution
StartDesign and engineeringIntegration and configuration
ControlMaximum technicalWithin product and API limits
MaintenanceInternal teamDivided with supplier
RoadmapCompletely own prioritiesCombination own needs and product roadmap
ExpertiseInternally build and maintainPartly taken as a product
Full Business Case
Compare structural costs and responsibilities.
Infrastructure
Add hosting, monitoring, scalability and operational responsibility.
Search Operations →Optimization
Decide who performs query analysis, relevance tuning, and regression tests.
Search Quality →Opportunity cost
Assess which other product development does not happen when the team builds search itself.
Business case →Make build vs buy concrete with your own team and roadmap.
Compare the same desired functionality, quality criteria and management period.