Build vs buy
Build it, or buy it?
Compare three years of building your own AI platform, running general AI tools and SEQUESTO aOS™, on your own figures. Engineers, rebuilds, governance and your team's time are all counted, and the arithmetic is published.
How this is calculated
Every cost, in the open.
All three paths are costed over the same 36 months, and every hour your team spends on a path is counted at your hourly cost. SEQUESTO aOS uses the ROI calculator's figures; every figure for building and for general AI tools is yours to change.
- Build your own
engineers x cost per engineer / 12 x (months to a first version + rebuilds x months per rebuild), then maintenance, cloud and models, and security and compliance for every month after launch - General AI tools
users x licence x 36 months + setup weeks x 40 hours x your hourly cost + upkeep hours x your hourly cost for every month after setup - SEQUESTO aOS
annual subscription x 3 + implementation weeks x 40 hours x your hourly cost + administration hours x your hourly cost for every month after implementation - In use after
building: months to a first version; general AI tools and SEQUESTO aOS: setup or implementation weeks / 4.33 - Hours released
projects x hours per project x the path's share of time saved x the years it is in use within the three - Net position
hours released x your hourly cost, minus three-year cost; additional wins are projects x win rate gain x years in use
We will pressure-test the build case with you.
Bring your figures and your engineering estimate. We will go through them with you, check the assumptions against bid operations like yours, and leave you with a comparison you can take into the decision. The session is complimentary and carries no commitment to go further.
FAQ
Common questions about build vs buy
What does this calculator compare?
Three ways of bringing AI into bid and tender work over the same three years: building your own platform, setting up general AI tools such as Copilot or ChatGPT on top of your document store, and SEQUESTO aOS. For each it adds up what you pay and the time your own team spends, then sets that against the response hours each path releases once it is in use.
Why include general AI tools?
Because it is the option most bid teams actually weigh against buying. The licences are often paid for already, so the cost looks low. What the calculator makes visible is the setup and upkeep time that falls on the bid team, and how much of the response work a general assistant takes on compared with a system built for it.
What does the build path include?
The engineers who build a first version, the major rebuilds as models and their interfaces change, maintenance engineers after launch, cloud and model costs, and the security and compliance work a system holding your bid content needs: penetration tests, security reviews, certification scope and data protection. The last one is often left out of a build estimate.
Where do the figures come from?
SEQUESTO aOS uses the ROI calculator's figures: a 50% reduction in response time and a win rate rising by a quarter of its current level, at most 10 points, with the Scale plan at €30,000 a year as published on our pricing page. The defaults for building and for general AI tools are our estimates for a mid-sized European bid team, and every one of them is an input you can change.
What is the net position?
The worth of the hours each path releases, at your hourly cost, minus its three-year cost. It counts only the months a path is in use, so a platform that takes six months to build releases nothing in those six months. It leaves out the revenue from additional wins; the ROI calculator puts a figure on that with your contract value and gross margin.
Do I have to give my email?
No. Every result is on the page as soon as you change a figure, and you can share the comparison as a link.