This is a great read for organizations who are going through the decision making process about how to achieve a business goal. Because IT development is somewhat “mysterious” to outsiders, quantitative “rules of thumb” are very useful to the business end user. For instance, the article describes that an off the shelf product that offers an 80% solution may be reasonable, but a product that offers a 60% solution may cost more in lost efficiency: this is a helpful way for a business owner to conceptualize the value of custom solutions.