The technology decision should be the last one you make. This tool helps you make it well.

What it is

Most technology decisions get made too early: a problem, a look at software, a pick, and processes built around it, skipping the question that matters most, is this actually where our competitive advantage lives? The guide makes that explicit before evaluating any option.

The three options

Build custom: when the capability is a genuine source of competitive advantage and off-the-shelf would flatten the nuance that creates value. Buy off-the-shelf: when the process is genuinely generic (finance, HR, scheduling, comms infrastructure); buy good tools and spend your custom budget where it matters. Hybrid is often the right answer: off-the-shelf infrastructure for generic parts (auth, billing, storage, notifications) with a custom layer for the proprietary logic.

The nucleus model

Map every capability to its place: expert knowledge itself (almost always custom); tools supporting expert judgement (custom on a solid foundation); systematised work for less experienced staff (often hybrid); customer-facing tools (hybrid/custom by differentiation); infrastructure (almost always off-the-shelf). Where a capability sits should determine the decision.

How to use it

For each significant capability on your roadmap, before technology conversations begin. Someone who understands commercial strategy alongside someone who understands operations. 30 minutes per capability. You'll produce a documented decision per capability, with reasoning.

Download

Kit includes the decision workbook, a platform/options assessment matrix, a guide to evaluating platform categories, and a worked nucleus-model example. Access this tool

"Buying off-the-shelf for something that is genuinely part of your competitive advantage is not saving money. It's giving away the thing that makes you hard to compete with."

Building Capability, Ch 8