“Do it yourself or do it together?” seems to be a popular question in my life these days. Whether it’s maintenance around the house, obedience training for our new puppy, or even mowing the yard; the decision to buy or build is often at the center of it all. This choice typically boils down to time and resource availability, making these decisions difficult to act on without knowing your available resources.

As we have been developing our data analytics brand, formalizing our team, and designing solutions I’ve started seeing this DIY/DIT dilemma more and more. This plays a major part in our data visualization strategies and our vision for fraud analytics, as well as our approach to data warehousing. In all honesty, it could probably be argued as being a key function of our CUSO cooperative. Like it or not, this decision is a major part of our industry and we as data analysts and technology leaders are certainly no exception.

As I look forward through my calendar, circling software release dates, the launching of our new data warehousing solution, regulation changes, and the growth of analytics within our industry, all I see are DIY/DIT decisions.

Personally, I would say I am a DIY type of person. I typically start planning each project thinking I will do it myself and only if that YouTube video looks too intimidating, or I lack the tools I would need, would I turn to an outsourced solution. It is this research and self-assessment phase of decision-making I want to comment on. Understanding the scope of the project, your available resources, skills, and strengths are just as important as being aware of your limitations especially as it relates to the DIY decision.

As you navigate your own do-it-yourself or do-it-together decisions, I hope you too perform self-assessments. Whether your factors are financial, speed to market, labor hours, skill sets, liability, or any other countless variables, it is your research and self-assessment which will help you make the right decision for your organization and avoid costly mistakes. No matter the route you decide, know that even when you build it yourself, you are never truly alone, instead surrounded by a cooperative of peers with experience, knowledge, and know-how. Take the opportunity to lean on your credit union network when you need them.

I hope you see our vision to support both approaches to this age-old dilemma as we continue developing our data strategies; happy decision-making!