{"id":45,"date":"2018-06-28T17:41:42","date_gmt":"2018-06-29T00:41:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.golinks.com\/blog\/?p=45"},"modified":"2024-10-01T13:14:00","modified_gmt":"2024-10-01T20:14:00","slug":"the-big-debate-internal-vs-external-tools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.golinks.com\/blog\/the-big-debate-internal-vs-external-tools\/","title":{"rendered":"The Big Debate: Internal vs External Tools"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As companies scale, you\u2019ll hear common talk amongst engineers about the internal tools built within the company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur tools are always broken, why can\u2019t we use XYZ tool instead?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is our dashboard? I could build this in one weekend!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Building software for software engineers is a hard task.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This brings up the ongoing debate on internal vs external tools: Whether companies should build their own tools internally or use an external solution such as an open-source or SaaS solution. Depending on the size and stage of your company, you probably have a mix of both internal and external solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So which is better? Let’s dive into internal vs external tools by comparing their pros and cons. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Internal vs external tools: Pros and cons<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pros of an Internal Tool<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Security <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Sensitive data for these tools would be stored on internal databases instead of external databases, so the liability of having a data breach lies on your security engineers and not on an external company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Customization <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

If you need to connect your internal tool to your company\u2019s directory, a tools engineer could probably hack this together in a technology familiar to your company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Cons of an Internal Tool<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Cost <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

One of the biggest deciding factors for choosing an internal tool over an external tool is cost. Most companies think it\u2019s actually cheaper to do internal development, but let\u2019s break this down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The average annual salary of a software engineer is around $100,080<\/a>, so the cost to have 2 engineers working full time on a single tool would cost $200,160 annually. And that\u2019s assuming you only <\/em>need 2 engineers to do the job. Is an internal tool worth $200,160?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For small startups getting started with a typical SaaS solution like GoLinks<\/a> is 100% free. Forever. For bigger companies, it\u2019s $8 a month per person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a 100 person company that would cost $9,600 annually. Even a 1,000 person company would cost just $96,000 annually to have a dedicated product team. Compare this to the $200,160 for 2 engineers to maintain an internal tool. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Support<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

 For an internal, support usually comes in the form of unresolved bug tickets filling up a backlog, email threads going unanswered and work-around solutions that end up being \u201cgood enough\u201d. Your only support will come from tools engineers, and that\u2019s only during normal work hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Usability<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

 There is no product team designing an internal tool. It will be built and designed by engineers who are notorious for bad design and hard to follow user experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"internal
Source: https:\/\/www.smbc-comics.com\/comic\/2012-05-01<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Maintainability <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Internal tools are built to just work, not built to be maintained. \u201cHey, it works! Ship it!\u201d Documentation is the last thing on an engineer\u2019s mind when it comes to building internal tools. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 1 or 2 developers working on building this internal tool will be the only ones who know the codebase and how the product works. If they ever leave the company, you might as well rewrite the tool from scratch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"internal
Source: https:\/\/xkcd.com\/1343\/<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Timing <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

 Building any software takes time and resources. With 2 engineers it could take 3, 6, 12 months to build a reliable tool? You\u2019ll need to allocate proper engineering resources in order to build the software.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Pros of an External Solution<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Support<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

 A support team is always available 24\/7 for issues you may have around the clock. If you ever need support for your golinks, or want to suggest product improvements, reach out to us on Intercom<\/a>. We love hearing from our customers!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Product<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

 External tools have been user-tested by thousands of users and designed by a product team that understands the customers\u2019 needs. External tools are constantly being updated with the latest and greatest features. At GoLinks, our #1 priority is making a product that is useful and solves real inefficiency problems within companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Growth<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

 With a dedicated company building your tool, features are continuously being built. Can that be said for internal tools? Requests to improve internal tools will sit in a backlog, never to be read or considered. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At GoLinks, we continue to build and improve the features that our customers request. Here are just some of our many features:<\/p>\n\n\n\n