Build vs. Buy: The Merits of Each, Plus 5 Questions to Help Evaluate

by Mark Spencer| posted on May 23, 2025

In life sciences, deciding to build or buy a platform isn’t easy and shouldn’t be.

Both paths come with tradeoffs. Building gives you control and customization, while buying gives you speed, support, and scalability. What matters most is choosing the approach that aligns with your team’s goals, capacity, and vision for the future.

At L7, we don’t see this as a binary choice. In fact, many of the organizations we work with are navigating a hybrid reality, where some systems are homegrown, some are commercial, and all need to work together.

We’re not here to convince you to switch sides. We’re here to be a trusted partner, no matter where you are on your journey. Whether you’re evaluating platforms for the first time or revisiting a prior build decision, here are five questions to help guide your thinking.

1. What’s your timeline to deliver measurable value?

Building internally gives you control, but it often comes with longer timelines. Every integration, validation, and update becomes your responsibility. If you have the time and resources, that may be worth it. But if speed matters (whether for an audit, a tech transfer, or an AI initiative), it’s worth asking: How quickly can we show impact?

With a commercial platform like L7|ESP®, many customers are up and running in months, not years. That can make the difference between staying ahead and falling behind.

▶ If time-to-value is critical, buying may accelerate your roadmap.

2. How much internal capacity do you have for long-term maintenance?

Custom platforms come with ownership. That’s a good thing… until it’s not.

When teams change, priorities shift, or compliance requirements evolve, that ownership can become a burden. Internal builds require ongoing attention: bug fixes, documentation, user support, security, and audit readiness. If your IT team is stretched thin, that overhead can quickly limit their ability to focus on innovation.

Buying doesn’t eliminate responsibility, but it shares it. Vendors like L7 offer ongoing updates, built-in validation, and expert support, so your team can spend more time on science and less on infrastructure.

▶ If your team is at capacity, buying can ease the load and reduce long-term risk.

3. Will your platform need to scale across functions, geographies, or partners?

What starts as a local lab solution often expands across departments, regions, or external collaborators. That’s where architecture matters.

Building gives you the freedom to tailor every detail, but scaling that architecture adds complexity. New integrations, new user types, new compliance needs, all of it has to be managed and validated.

Commercial platforms like L7|ESP® are built for scale from the start. APIs, data models, and compliance frameworks are already in place. And because they’re modular, you can configure them to your needs without starting over every time you expand.

▶ If scale is on the horizon, make sure your platform can grow with you.

4. Where do you want your internal teams focused?

Your team has deep expertise. The question is: how are they best used?

If your IT team wants to innovate on analytics, AI, or scientific modeling, it needs time and focus. But if it’s consumed with patching systems or troubleshooting data flow, those priorities take a backseat.

That’s where buying can be an enabler. L7|ESP provides a proven, configurable backbone that frees internal teams to build value on top, rather than spending time keeping the lights on.

▶ If innovation is your north star, buying may give your team the headroom to chase it.

5. What happens when priorities shift or key people leave?

Every organization faces turnover and change. When platform knowledge lives with a handful of developers, sustainability becomes a risk. Documentation gaps, tribal knowledge, and bespoke workflows can make continuity difficult, and audits even harder.

With a commercial partner, you gain more than software. You gain stability. At L7, we provide ongoing validation packages, regulatory support, and platform continuity, so you’re never left scrambling when internal change happens.

▶ If continuity and compliance are key, a commercial partner can offer peace of mind.

Still Building? We’re Still With You.

We’re not here to tell you that building is wrong. In many cases, it’s the right move, especially for organizations with very specific needs, strong internal capacity, or a strategic preference for custom infrastructure.

What we want to do is help, wherever we can.

If you’ve already built, L7|ESP can help fill in the gaps. If you’re in the middle of a build, we can support integrations or bring validation structure. And if you’re re-evaluating your approach, we’re here to talk openly about what’s worked (and what hasn’t) for organizations like yours.

We’re not just a vendor. We’re a platform partner obsessed with orchestration. We’re here to make you look good, run smoother, and go faster, on your terms.

Final Word: Build Smart. Buy Smart. But Don’t Go It Alone.

Choosing between building and buying isn’t about ideology. It’s about focus. What do you want your teams working on? What do you want to maintain? What will set you up to scale, adapt, and lead?

Whether you build, buy, or blend both, we’re here to support you. Because success in life sciences isn’t just about infrastructure. It’s about outcomes.

To learn more about L7|ESP, explore L7Informatics.com or contact us to start the conversation.