Making purchase decisions and choosing between build or buy is a never-ending debate in the IT shops of Hong Kong enterprises. There may not be an ultimate methodology for finding an answer, but learning from other's experiences is a good start towards making the ultimate decision.

Aiming to raise its application performance and customer service, Hong Kong-based Tai Fook Securities is currently implementing a comprehensive IT revamp that includes the replacement of its core applications, as well as its server and networking infrastructure.

The firm's revamp project began in Q4 2003, is still in process and is expected to complete by Q2 of 2006. For each component of its IT system-applications, networking, servers-Tai Fook's IT team made its decision based on different criteria.

Risk management

As in most major IT revamp projects, the firm began the process with an evaluation of its application layer.