Introduction
When designing an enterprise archiving strategy, organizations face a crucial decision: build a custom archive tailored to their needs or buy a SaaS archive solution from a vendor. Each approach has benefits and trade-offs in terms of cost, control, scalability, and compliance. This blog explores the considerations behind the build vs buy decision.
The Case for Building a Custom Archive
A custom-built archive gives organizations complete control over design, architecture, and features.
Advantages:
- Customization: Tailored to unique workflows, compliance needs, or industry-specific requirements.
- Integration: Seamless alignment with existing infrastructure, APIs, and in-house systems.
- Control: Direct oversight of security, governance, and data residency.
Challenges:
- Cost: High upfront development and ongoing maintenance expenses.
- Time-to-market: Lengthy build cycles may delay compliance readiness.
- Expertise: Requires skilled in-house teams for security, scaling, and long-term support.
The Case for Buying a SaaS Archive
SaaS archive platforms provide ready-made, cloud-native solutions that reduce operational overhead.
Advantages:
- Speed: Faster implementation and quicker compliance alignment.
- Scalability: Elastic cloud storage and compute handle growth without extra effort.
- Lower Maintenance: Vendor manages updates, patches, and infrastructure.
- Compliance Features: Often pre-certified for regulations like SEC 17a-4, GDPR, or FINRA.
Challenges:
- Vendor Lock-in: Potential difficulty migrating data away from the platform.
- Limited Customization: Features may not fully address specialized needs.
- Ongoing Costs: Subscription fees can accumulate over time.
Key Decision Factors
When choosing between custom build and SaaS archive, consider:
- Compliance Needs: Are strict regulations driving unique workflows? Custom may be necessary.
- Budget & ROI: Can the organization absorb upfront build costs, or is SaaS’s pay-as-you-go model more viable?
- Time Pressure: Do regulations or audits demand a quick solution?
- Scalability: Will data growth outpace internal infrastructure?
- Risk Appetite: Does the organization want to own the risks of maintaining and securing the archive?
Hybrid Approaches
Some organizations adopt a hybrid strategy: building a minimal archive for critical compliance needs while leveraging SaaS for scalability and non-core functions. This balances control with convenience.
Conclusion
The build vs buy decision is about aligning technology choices with organizational priorities. Custom archives offer control and flexibility at higher costs, while SaaS archives provide speed, scalability, and compliance out of the box. The right approach depends on business goals, compliance obligations, and resource availability.