Company Context

Meta's Global Operations organization supports high-volume workflows across Trust & Safety, Ads operations, vendor management, workforce planning, and internal escalations. Many teams currently rely on a mix of Meta-built tools, spreadsheets, and third-party workflow platforms. You are an Operations Manager supporting a cross-functional decision on whether Meta should build an internal case management and workflow orchestration tool for operations teams or buy and customize an external platform.

Strategic Situation

The decision is urgent because three existing workflows are scaling quickly: policy escalation handling, vendor QA review routing, and cross-functional incident intake. Today, these workflows run across separate tools, creating duplicate work, inconsistent reporting, and slower turnaround times. Leadership wants a recommendation within the next quarter because the current operating model is constraining efficiency and creating compliance risk.

The proposed tool would initially serve about 8,000 internal users and vendor users across Operations, Integrity, and Support teams, with potential expansion to 15,000 users over three years. The build option would use internal engineering resources and integrate deeply with Meta systems such as Workplace, internal identity/access controls, and existing data pipelines. The buy option would likely involve a leading enterprise workflow vendor with configurable case management, SLA tracking, and reporting.

Data Points

Additional context:

• Internal engineering capacity is limited: only 25 dedicated engineers could be assigned without delaying other roadmap commitments.
• Leadership expects a recommendation that reaches positive ROI within 24 months.
• Any solution must meet Meta's internal security, auditability, and access-control requirements.

Deliverables

1. Structure the build-vs-buy decision using a clear strategic framework.
2. Compare the economics of each option over a 3-year horizon, including rough ROI and payback logic.
3. Assess strategic fit: integration needs, flexibility, speed, vendor dependence, and long-term scalability.
4. Recommend one option for Meta now, and explain under what conditions you would revisit the decision.
5. Outline a practical implementation approach and key success metrics.

Constraints

• Recommendation must be realistic for a large, matrixed organization with multiple stakeholders.
• Decision must account for both short-term operational relief and long-term platform strategy.
• You cannot assume unlimited engineering capacity or a blank-slate migration.
• A phased rollout is preferred over a big-bang deployment.