When buying costs significantly less than building. To us geeks its inconceivable... "I can build one better" is a common phrase, but our managers keep us in check by saying "That is great, but through distributed cost THEY can build one better and cheaper!" which is true some of the time. It is usually our job to see if in fact we can build one better and cheaper or if that product is in fact superior. Geeks and Managers keep each other in check.