To buy or not to buy? That has long been the question senior executives at many investment banks are forced to ponder when confronting the critical issue of developing the information technology infrastructures necessary to support their global trading and transactions management networks.

Until recently, there was but a single answer. It was better, many reckoned, to custom-build their own systems rather than expose their operations to the limitations of off-the-shelf products. Often these lacked either the functionality to meet their needs or the flexibility to be easily adapted to the specifics of their increasingly integrated business models.