there may be no options. For example, I (profitably) ran a small cloud. My supervisor kept questioning me "why don't we just use openstack instead of your software"? The answer is even in this article!

> Most enterprise systems require an engineering team to keep them running.

If we wanted a team of 3+ to run the cloud then we could buy openstack, or cloudstack, probably 2+, but that's also without pushing features. And suddenly we wouldn't be profitable anymore. I left, so I guess they will find out.

The people that have to perform the technical integration between two independently developed products (and could warn that the integration work is more involved than starting from scratch) are a different group from who decides the acquisition is happening.

Nowadays you're often buying SaaS so not only do you need to ensure the product is a fit currently but you must predict the fit going into the future.

It's not an easy thing to do. I've found that open source libraries are often more stable, require less ongoing maintenance due to API changes and have better support lifetimes compared to the SaaS equivalent.

Not always a poor job, but sometimes a bet that turns out wrong. I have seen great products and companies disappear in unforeseen mergers or API prices skyrocketing for instance.

Risk is low for commodities, but high for anything "disruptive".