The Real Cost of Integration Development: In-House vs. Leen

It doesn't matter if you're starting a security company today or scaling it, the question isn't if you'll need integrations, but when and how many. Whether you're a CTO evaluating engineering resources, a Head of Product mapping your roadmap, or an engineer tasked with implementation, you're eventually confronted with the build vs. buy decision for your security integration strategy.

Let's cut through the marketing noise and examine the real costs, benefits, and strategic implications of both approaches.

The True Cost of Building Security Integrations In-House

When tech leaders initially assess integration development, they often focus on the surface-level engineering costs while underestimating the ongoing operational burden.

The Visible Costs

The initial engineering estimate often looks manageable:

• Development time: 3-6 weeks per integration
• Engineering resources: 1-2 engineers
• Immediate cost: Roughly $20-40K per integration (depending on the geography)

The Hidden Costs

What's less visible but far more impactful are the long-term costs:

1. Maintenance burden: APIs change without notice, requiring emergency fixes
2. Technical debt accumulation: Quick implementations lead to future refactoring
3. Security and compliance overhead: Each integration becomes another potential vulnerability
4. Documentation and knowledge transfer: When the original engineer leaves, knowledge gaps emerge
5. Opportunity cost: Engineers building integrations aren't building core product features

The reality? From what we've heard, your "simple integration" can easily consume 20-30% of an engineer's time in perpetual maintenance mode, turning a $20-40K project into an even more expensive annual spend when factoring in maintenance, security reviews, and updates.

The Strategic Value Proposition of Leen

Leen approaches integrations not as isolated engineering projects but as a strategic platform capability. Their value proposition addresses both the visible and hidden costs:

Immediate Benefits

• Accelerated time-to-market: Implement in days instead of months
• Resource reallocation: Keep your engineers focused on core product innovation
• Simplified pricing: Predictable costs versus unpredictable in-house maintenance

Long-Term Strategic Advantages

1. Maintenance offloading: API changes and deprecations become Leen's problem, not yours
2. Scalable integration ecosystem: Add new integrations without linear resource scaling
3. Enterprise-grade security compliance: Leverage Leen's specialized security infrastructure
4. Future-proof architecture: Benefit from continuous platform improvements without direct investment

Real-World Engineering Math: The 10X Factor

Consider this practical calculation:

In-house approach:

• Initial build: ~240 hours per integration (6 weeks)
• Ongoing maintenance: ~10 hours/month (120 hours/year)
• Security reviews: ~40 hours/year
• Handling API changes: ~60 hours/year
• Total first-year cost: ~460 engineering hours per integration

With Leen:

• Implementation: ~20 hours of configuration and testing
• Ongoing oversight: ~2 hours/month (24 hours/year)
• Total first-year cost: ~44 engineering hours per integration

That's a 10X efficiency difference in the first year alone. As your integration ecosystem grows, the math becomes even more compelling.

Strategic Questions for Decision Makers

Before deciding your integration strategy, consider:

1. Core competency assessment: Is building and maintaining integrations a strategic differentiator for your product?
2. Resource allocation: Could your engineering talent deliver more value working on your core product?
3. Scaling requirements: How will your integration strategy scale as you target enterprise customers with unique integration needs?
4. Time-to-value: How quickly do you need to deliver integration capabilities to meet market demands?

The Bottom Line for Security Leaders

The integration decision isn't just about development capabilities –– it's about strategic resource allocation. Building in-house might seem like the default choice, but it often represents a significant opportunity cost when evaluated against your product roadmap and engineering capacity.

Leen offers a compelling alternative that allows your team to deliver a robust integration ecosystem while keeping your engineering resources focused on what truly differentiates your product in the market.

Before your team disappears into the integration rabbit hole, it's worth evaluating whether an integration platform like Leen could be the strategic accelerator your product needs.

Ready to explore how Leen can transform your integration strategy? Schedule a technical consultation with one of our founders.