Cost
Subscription, implementation, internal time, infrastructure, maintenance, and migration.
Open methodology / v0.1
A verdict you can
disagree with.
Every conclusion should be traceable to explicit assumptions. Change the assumptions and the recommendation should be allowed to change.
Time to value
How quickly the capability creates useful outcomes—not merely when the first demo runs.
Strategic fit
Whether this workflow differentiates the business or is a commodity requirement.
Operational risk
Security, uptime, backups, support, compliance, and the people required to own the system.
Control & lock-in
Data portability, roadmap control, extensibility, and the cost of changing direction later.
Confidence
The quality of evidence behind prices, estimates, product testing, and assumptions.
Decision sequence
From evidence to verdict.
The framework is a structured argument, not a proprietary score. A single decisive constraint can outweigh a small modeled cost advantage.
- 01
Define the outcome
Describe the job, users, required workflows, deadline, and constraints before comparing implementation options.
- 02
Set the realistic alternatives
Compare a scoped production build with specific purchasable plans. A weekend prototype is not compared with a supported enterprise deployment.
- 03
Collect evidence
Record dated vendor sources, hands-on observations, build assumptions, and unknowns. Apply the evidence label the work actually earns.
- 04
Model total cost
Use the visible formulas below, preferably with low, expected, and high scenarios when uncertainty is material.
- 05
Test the non-cost constraints
Security, compliance, integrations, support, reliability, switching cost, and strategic differentiation may change the answer.
- 06
State a conditional verdict
Name the recommended path, the evidence confidence, and the conditions that would flip the conclusion.
Cost model
Make every input editable.
Build total= implementation hours × hourly cost + months × (maintenance hours × hourly cost + infrastructure)
Buy total= subscription + implementation + migration + internal administration over the same period
Switching scenario= chosen option + credible exit, migration, and overlap costs if the decision fails
The public calculator currently implements the simpler first two terms. Articles must identify excluded costs rather than quietly treating them as zero.
Own the system.
Use when the workflow differentiates the business, the scope is controllable, and the team can responsibly operate it.
Adopt the product.
Use when the capability is broadly standard and vendor maturity, speed, support, or risk transfer dominates.
Own the edge.
Use when the differentiated workflow can sit on rented infrastructure, APIs, or a system of record.
Do less first.
Use when the problem, demand, or economics are too uncertain to justify either a build or a contract.
Confidence
Evidence is not decoration.
Source checked means claims were checked against attributable public material. Interviewed adds direct questioning. Evidence checked adds supporting records. Independently reproduced means Code or Buy repeated the relevant workflow. Articles also state important evidence gaps.
Read the editorial standard →