This is spot on. Every time you solve a problem without writing code, you avoid possible bugs, future maintenance, and legal issues, and you don't spend time. The second-best code, after code you avoided writing, is code you can delete and as a side effect solve a problem. The less code, the better.
Those are certainly valid points, but I can't help but feel like the OP is going down a slippery slope, and will soon start contracting out coding work to 3rd party, which would then comes back full of bugs and doesn't mesh nicely with existing architecture, thus requiring full-time maintenance from internal staffs anyway.
I can see how you would have come away with that impression.
We produce a lot of code, so much in fact that it didn't even occur to me to state the value in doing so. We definitely do and will continue to keep a talented team busy.
