Build vs. Buy: A Guide to Modern Incident Response Platforms

In today’s digital world, outages and security incidents can be costly and damaging to a business’s reputation. Having a robust incident response plan and the right tools in place is crucial for minimizing downtime and ensuring efficient recovery. This blog post dives into the debate of building a custom incident response platform versus leveraging a modern, pre-built solution.

Introduction

Many companies grapple with the decision of building a custom incident response platform tailored to their specific needs or opting for a commercially available solution. This article explores the pros and cons of both approaches to help you make an informed decision.

Should You Build Your Own Incident Response Platform?

While building a custom platform might seem like a quicker path initially, it’s essential to consider the long-term implications. Here’s a breakdown of the key factors to consider:

• Procurement Hurdles: Budgetary limitations or lengthy procurement processes can hinder the acquisition of a pre-built solution. Building an open-source solution might appear as a faster workaround, but this approach can lead to challenges down the line.
• Valid Considerations for Building a Custom Platform:

1. Unique Requirements: Carefully evaluate your needs. Are your requirements truly unique, or can they be addressed by existing platforms with minor adjustments?
2. Security and Privacy Concerns: If you have exceptional data security and privacy concerns, a custom solution might be an option. However, many pre-built solutions offer robust security features that meet industry standards.

• The Hidden Costs of Building Custom:

1. Ongoing Maintenance: Maintaining and updating a custom solution requires ongoing development resources.
2. Feature Enhancements: Adding new features to your custom solution requires additional development effort.
3. Opportunity Cost: The time and resources spent developing a custom platform could be better directed towards core business initiatives.
4. Knowledge Retention: Building your own solution creates a dependency on the developer’s knowledge. If they leave, valuable institutional knowledge can be lost.

The Case for Modern Incident Response Platforms

Pre-built incident response platforms offer several advantages over custom solutions:

• Reduced Development Time: Leverage existing, well-tested functionality to minimize development time and resources.
• Ongoing Support: Benefit from vendor support, including new features, security patches, and updates.
• Scalability: Modern platforms are designed to scale with your organization’s growing needs.
• Focus on Core Business: Free up internal development resources to focus on core business objectives.

Integration Challenges: Why Building Custom Can Be Complex

One of the biggest drawbacks of building a custom solution is integration complexity. Successful incident response relies on seamless data flow between various applications, infrastructure, and communication channels.

• Building Integrations Requires Time and Expertise: Building integrations is resource-intensive and requires developers to invest significant time learning and coding against new APIs.
• Open Source Limitations: Open-source projects may not have the resources to keep pace with frequent API updates, leading to:

1. Outdated Functionality: Your custom solution might rely on outdated integrations, hindering access to new functionalities offered by integrated tools.
2. Slow Response to Breakages: If an existing integration breaks due to API changes, fixing the issue can delay other development efforts.

• Modern Incident Response Platforms Address Integration Challenges:

1. Pre-built Integrations: They offer a wide range of pre-built integrations, saving you development time and resources.
2. Ongoing Maintenance: Vendors actively maintain integrations, ensuring compatibility with updated APIs and new functionalities.
3. Scalability: Pre-built solutions are designed to integrate with a growing array of tools as your needs evolve.

Building a Custom Platform: When Might It Be Considered?

While commercial solutions offer significant advantages, there are a few niche scenarios where building a custom platform based on open-source projects might be considered:

• Highly Specialized Use Cases: In rare instances, an organization might require a highly specialized solution for a very specific, niche scenario. These organizations often already have a vendor-provided incident response platform for their broader environment. The custom solution would then serve a focused purpose, potentially integrating with the main platform’s API for data exchange.
• Alerting for Non-Core Operations: Another consideration is for alerting used in contexts outside traditional application or infrastructure support, such as collaboration or product management. Here, it could be beneficial to create a more lightweight, custom solution for non-critical use cases.
• Exceptional Data Security Concerns: Finally, there might be very specific situations with exceptional data security concerns. However, in most cases, these concerns can be addressed by adjusting user roles and access permissions within a commercial platform. Therefore, modifying existing solutions should always be the primary approach.

The Bottom Line: Modern Incident Response Platforms Offer Significant Advantages

While there are a few niche scenarios where a custom solution might be tempting, the advantages of modern incident response platforms are significant. They offer pre-built integrations, ongoing maintenance, and scalability, all while freeing up your internal resources to focus on core business objectives. Carefully evaluate your needs and weigh the long-term implications before starting a custom development project.

Do You Really Need to Build? A Time for Expertise

Making the decision between building a custom incident response platform or leveraging a modern solution requires careful consideration. Here are some key factors to weigh:

• Long-term Support: Custom solutions require ongoing maintenance and updates, demanding dedicated resources that can strain IT teams.
• Risk Management: Building your own solution introduces inherent risks like bugs, security vulnerabilities, and compatibility issues. Modern platforms benefit from ongoing vendor development and support, minimizing these risks.

Beyond Development: The Operational Burden of Custom Solutions

The responsibility doesn’t stop at creation. Running a custom incident response system adds another layer of complexity:

• Meta-Incident Management: Do you have a plan to manage incidents within your incident response system? This creates a meta-management situation that can be cumbersome and resource-intensive.
• Uptime Anxiety: Ensuring the uptime and reliability of your custom solution adds another layer of stress to your incident response workflow. If your incident management system goes down, you lose visibility into critical issues.

Should You Buy a Modern Incident Response Platform?

In most cases, commercially available incident response solutions offer a compelling value proposition by:

• Lower Total Cost of Ownership: While the initial cost of a commercial solution might seem higher, consider the long-term savings associated with reduced maintenance and support needs.
• Scalability: Modern platforms are designed to scale with your organization’s growth, ensuring they continue to meet your needs as you expand.
• Knowledge Retention: Commercial solutions don’t rely on individual expertise. Even if key team members leave, the knowledge and support remain readily available.
• Reduced Risk: Commercial vendors typically invest heavily in security best practices and compliance certifications, minimizing risks.
• Ongoing Maintenance & Support: Vendors provide ongoing maintenance and support for their solutions, including bug fixes, security patches, and feature updates.
• Security & Privacy: Leading commercial solutions invest heavily in robust security practices and compliance, minimizing risks associated with data privacy.
• Reduced Time to Value: Pre-built solutions come ready-to-use with pre-built features and integrations. This eliminates lengthy development cycles and allows you to realize the benefits of an incident response platform quickly.
• Focus on Core Business: By leveraging a pre-built solution, you free up your internal IT resources to focus on core business objectives and strategic initiatives.
• Expertise & Best Practices: Commercial solutions are built based on industry best practices and incorporate the expertise of dedicated development teams. This ensures you benefit from a platform that reflects the latest trends and best practices in incident response.

Don’t Miss Out on Opportunity Cost

When evaluating “build vs. buy,” carefully consider the opportunity cost. The time and resources dedicated to building and maintaining a custom solution could be better spent on core business initiatives. By focusing on this often-overlooked factor, the decision often becomes clear.

Conclusion: Modern Incident Response Platforms Offer a Clear Advantage

In most cases, the benefits and efficiencies offered by commercially available incident response platforms outweigh the challenges and complexities associated with building your own platform. Modern solutions provide the scalability, security, and expertise needed to effectively manage incidents and minimize downtime.

Ready to Explore Incident Response Solutions?

If you’re looking for a robust and easy-to-use incident response platform, consider Squadcast. Squadcast is an all-in-one solution that offers:

• Alerting and incident management: Eliminate unwanted alerts and receive actionable notifications.
• Collaboration tools: Work together using virtual incident war rooms to streamline communication and resolution.
• Automation: Automate tasks to reduce manual work and improve efficiency.
• Integrations: Integrate with popular ChatOps tools to streamline workflows.

Squadcast can help you improve your incident response capabilities and ensure business continuity.

Try Squadcast for Free Today!

See for yourself how Squadcast can revolutionize your incident response. Sign up for a free trial today and experience the power of a modern incident response platform.