Rippling Asset Mgmt — time over cost; pay full $18k for end-of-June over $15k for December

Situation

The Rippling Asset Management integration project was de-scoped to ~$15k from ~$18k. Peter decided the full-scope original at $18k is acceptable IF Rippling can deliver by end of June. Steve will get the timeline from Kelly Wall to inform the final decision. Explicit framing: time over cost. The principle is conditional — if Rippling slips on the end-of-June timeline, the math changes and $15k-for-December may be the right call.

Reasoning

Same capacity-acquisition problem as D5 (hardware bulk-buy) — when speed-of-capacity-arrival is the binding constraint, do not optimize the dollar, optimize the calendar. A $3k savings to wait 6 months on asset management automation means 6 months of manual asset tracking, which is operational tax (Steve-Moody-time-equivalent x months) > $3k. The Time over cost framing converts a tactical choice into a principle Steve can carry to the next decision — Steve now has a Peter-level lens for vendor scope-vs-timeline trade-offs. Peter preserved a gate (if Rippling can deliver) — the principle is conditional not blank-check. Bigger context: asset management automation is part of the broader Rippling-as-source-of-truth question — Ripplings API gaps are forcing manual work everywhere (Kelly Wall sync 5/20). Getting the asset management integration done removes one more manual surface and increases pressure on Rippling to open the broader API (which Peter explicitly told Kelly is fire-them-if-not).

Additional Context

Same week as D5 hardware bulk-buy and D7 Moody card cutoff — three decisions sharing the move-fast-pay-the-premium shape. Also same week as Peters Kelly Wall sync where Peter named the Rippling-fire-condition (open the API or we replace you within a year).

Observed Evidence

Direct Fathom summary of Peters time-over-cost framing and conditional approval gate.

Matching Patterns

Confidence Breakdown

Reasoning Depth Analysis