{"id":4816,"date":"2022-02-10T06:43:08","date_gmt":"2022-02-10T06:43:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.itilite.com\/?p=4816"},"modified":"2024-01-11T17:06:54","modified_gmt":"2024-01-11T17:06:54","slug":"te-management-solution-deconstructing-the-build-v-s-buy-conundrum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.itilite.com\/in\/blog\/te-management-solution-deconstructing-the-build-v-s-buy-conundrum\/","title":{"rendered":"T&E Management Solution: Deconstructing the Build v\/s Buy Conundrum"},"content":{"rendered":"
When you think of digitizing your travel and expense management processes, do you think of building a solution in-house or buying it from a third-party partner? Businesses have many choices today, but in the end, one has to make a decision. And your choice can change the course or direction of your business for the better (or worse)! In this blog, we will help you solve this dilemma of building vs buying with our analysis and make the right decision. Read on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here are some key factors that should be considered before you make a call on whether to buy or build a T&E management solution:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1. The Time Framework – <\/strong>This is a key factor that could help you decide if you would want to build or buy a T&E solution. Building a T&E solution takes time as you will have to hire a team that has the right expertise to develop the solution – desktop version and mobile app – and get employees to start using it. However, when buying a T&E management solution, it is ready to go live and just needs 2 weeks to create awareness about it. The time to go live with T&E management solution is as follows in a build and buy framework respectively: <\/p>\n\n\n\n So, it becomes 2 weeks vs approx one-year journey in a buy vs build conundrum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. Cost Incurred – <\/strong>The cost of any solution should play a key part in your decision-making. But the cost should always be seen in the context of the value it will produce or the ROI. Buying T&E management software has many advantages with the subscription or pay-per-use models. However, you should always check for those \u201chidden\u201d costs such as the implementation fee, training, or up-gradation costs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n On the other hand, when you build a custom T&E solution, the upfront cost will be significantly higher. You incur fixed, direct costs such as the salaries of the engineers developing the product plus the cost for the infrastructure and its maintenance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In the table below, we compare the cost incurred on building a solution rather than buying one. For a company that has 500+ employees, a team of 5 people would be required to build a T&E solution which would cost you around USD 1,10,595 annually. Apart from this, you would also incur a cost of around USD 1,32,714 on infrastructure such as your cloud-based servers, applications, etc. This means you incur a total cost of USD 2,43,309 annually. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. Knowledge of Best Practices and Technologies – <\/strong>This is one of the most important elements to consider while you are mulling overbuilding or buying a T&E solution. The T&E solution should empower you with knowledge about the direction in which the travel industry is moving in and the best practices for travel and expense management. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When you build a T&E solution, you are limited by the knowledge base of the team you hire. Also, there are machine learning algorithms that are hard to establish in a 9-month period (see time framework table), therefore, you may not have the advanced technologies for auditing and preventing frauds or live trackers for the safety of employees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the buy scenario, your third-party partner works across multiple companies and systems. Therefore, they are able to bring advanced capabilities and technologies. It offers you AI-ML-powered solutions with much superior reporting capabilities. Also, they have a global inventory of safe hotels and flights and provide you with information about country-specific travel restrictions via alerts or notifications. <\/p>\n\n\n\nTime to go live<\/strong><\/td> BUILD<\/td> BUY<\/td><\/tr> Hiring product experts and engineers <\/td> 3 months <\/td> 0<\/td><\/tr> Development plan<\/td> 9 months <\/td> 0<\/td><\/tr> Roll-out plan<\/td> 2 weeks<\/td> Pre-defined playbook<\/td><\/tr> Adoption campaigns <\/td> 4 weeks<\/td> 2 weeks<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n Cost incurred<\/strong><\/td> BUILD<\/td> BUY<\/td><\/tr> Salaries <\/td> USD 1,10,595 annually <\/td> Pay per use <\/td><\/tr> Infrastructure & maintenance <\/td> USD 1,32,714 annually <\/td> <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n