Every few years, the enterprise pendulum swings — from building everything in-house to buying everything off the shelf. Now, AI is adding weight to both sides.

I’ve been in the digital workplace space long enough to watch the build vs. buy pendulum swing more than once. In the early days, “build” was the only option when vendor solutions were minimal or didn’t exist. Then tools like SharePoint emerged and we swung hard to “buy,” chasing out-of-the-box speed and scalability. It wasn’t long until customization debt, endless upgrades, and unmet business needs pushed the pendulum back to “build.”

The cloud era — and then the pandemic — brought another sharp swing to “buy.” SaaS everything. Flexibility! Speed! Access!

Lately, I’m hearing a rising chorus of frustration from digital workplace leaders:

  • Vendor roadmaps driven by revenue goals, not customer needs
  • Constant disruption from updates and licensing changes
  • Tool overlap and turf wars from duplicate use cases
  • Escalating licensing costs (sometimes predatory)
  • Investments that deliver “meh” on outcomes

The ROI Reality Check

The data backs it up. According to Forrester’s Digital Workplace And Employee Technology Survey, 2025:

  • 43% of IT leaders say that their top priority is improving end-user adoption of technology.
  • 37% want to improve the user experience of key internal business applications.
  • Nearly 70% of employees report facing too many applications and context switching at least monthly (a clear symptom of tool sprawl).

And now, the rise of AI is amplifying both the opportunity and the chaos. The survey shows that 39% of organizations are exploring generative AI use cases to improve productivity. However, adoption is inconsistent, and value realization remains elusive.

All signs point to a new inflection point. The pendulum may be swinging again. Not back to “build” everything — but toward building back control.

Taking Back Digital Workplace Control

The 2025 data indicates that organizations will continue to invest in the digital workplace. Yet IT leaders cannot afford to stay passive passengers on vendor roadmaps or AI hype. IT spend must shift from acquisition to value realization. The goal isn’t more tools; it’s better outcomes.

To reclaim control and deliver measurable value, IT leaders must:

  • Reassess where to build vs. buy. Reexamine your ecosystem and identify where “buy” delivers scale and where selective “build” unlocks advantage.
  • Prioritize flexible platforms. Seek out vendors that offer platform extensibility and modularity instead of lock-in.
  • Reframe AI initiatives. Anchor efforts in real employee needs and workflow improvements, not just a technology rollout.

Keys To Success

Taking back control is only half the equation. The other half is ensuring that every investment — whether built or bought — delivers tangible business value. When evaluating organizations that are successfully navigating build vs. buy challenges, these best practices stood out:

  • Balance the pendulum. Avoid the extremes of all-in build or all-in buy. High-performance digital workplaces thrive on platforms that enable both.
  • Start with adoption, not ROI. Treat adoption as a human-centered change effort. Without trust and usability, new tools won’t be used, and value won’t follow.
  • Measure what matters. Move past vanity metrics like “time savings” and tool usage. Define value-based metrics that measure empowerment, experience, and organizational impact.
  • Don’t overlook governance. Without clear digital workplace accountability and cross-functional alignment across IT and business functions, no mix of build or buy will deliver sustained value.

SaaS gave us speed. AI demands strategy. The organizations that master a balanced build-and-buy approach will turn digital workplace complexity into agility and convert investment into innovation.

Join The Build Vs. Buy Conversation

I’ll be leading a roundtable on this very topic at the upcoming Forrester Technology & Innovation Summit (North America) in Austin next month: Rebuilding Value: Balancing Build Vs. Buy In The AI-Powered Digital Workplace.

We’ll explore:

  • The pain points of SaaS dependence and lock-in.
  • Why AI adoption is stalling and how to fix it.
  • How to blend build + buy strategies for agility and control.
  • What metrics actually prove ROI in the digital workplace.

If you’ve felt the SaaS squeeze, wrestled with AI adoption, or wondered whether “build” will make a comeback — come add your voice to the discussion!

If you’re a Forrester client and you’d like to dive deeper, set up an inquiry or guidance session.