[devjab]

This is not what I said at all. I completely agree with the article on how you should present options to product and the customer, and then let them decide. In your example product and the customer comes with the solution on how to build it and what budget is needed to you. If you’re staying out of product and customer, then they should stay out of engineering.

In your case it would be your job to figure out how it could be done, figure out other cheaper options and then present them with clear outlines on what each option would cost. If you get a budget pushed on you from something like sales, then your organisation is dysfunctional similar to what GP was suggesting. (I’m obviously not suggesting that this doesn’t happen.)