Build It Yourself! Homegrown Tools in a Large Software Company

Developers sometimes take the initiative to build toolsto solve problems they face. What motivates developers to buildthese tools? What is the value for a company? Are the tools builtuseful for anyone besides their creator? We conducted a qualitativestudy of tool building, adoption, and impact within Microsoft. Thispaper presents our findings on the extrinsic and intrinsic factorslinked to toolbuilding, the value of building tools, and the factorsassociated with tool spread. We find that the majority of developersbuild tools. While most tools never spread beyond their creator´steam, most have more than one user, and many have more than onecollaborator. Organizational cultures that are receptive towardstoolbuilding produce more tools, and more collaboration on tools.When nurtured and spread, homegrown tools have the potential tocreate significant impact on organizations.