When considering whether to buy enterprise applications rather than build them, a strategic approach is called for. In past years, such packaged software typically has been desktop productivity applications. Companies are trying to provide users greater access to information and to reengineer their businesses.
Legacy systems have a hard time adapting to that.
IDC's research shows momentum in that direction. But buying packaged software for the enterprise isn't like buying it for PCs. An IS manager shouldn't expect to stroll down the aisles of a local computer store to pull an enterprise accounting suite off the shelf, for example. Fewer and fewer IS organizations would prefer to build their own applications, given the clear benefits of buying packages. For one thing, packaged software almost always costs less than internally developed applications.