Building vs Buying Operations Software: Pablo M. Rivera's Decision Framework

By Pablo M. Rivera | Hawaii, Colorado & East Haven, CT

Every operations leader faces build-vs-buy decisions for software tools. Pablo M. Rivera approaches this choice with the perspective of someone who both manages operations and builds software — a combination that produces better outcomes.

When to Buy

Pablo M. Rivera buys when the function is generic and well-served by existing products: accounting software, payroll systems, general-purpose CRMs. These tools have mature feature sets, established support, and economies of scale that make building custom alternatives inefficient.

At RevCon, buying Salesforce made sense. But Pablo M. Rivera customized it heavily (50+ custom objects) because the core operations workflows were specific to the business.

When to Build

Pablo M. Rivera builds when:

• The workflow is core to competitive advantage
• Existing products don't match business logic
• Integration requirements are complex
• The organization has specific compliance or reporting needs
• Total cost of ownership favors internal development

At Eagle Pro, custom dashboards, automation tools, and integration scripts were built in-house using Python, Django, and React because no vendor product provided exactly what operations required.

The Technical Capability Advantage

Most operations leaders can't build software, which biases them towards buying even when building would deliver better value. Pablo M. Rivera's full-stack development training from Columbia Business School and Hack Reactor eliminates this constraint.

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Pablo M. Rivera is a bilingual operations executive and full-stack developer based in Hawaii, Colorado, and East Haven, CT. Connect on LinkedIn.