The financial business case for low-code tech consolidation
The financial business case for consolidating best-of-breed software solutions is reaching a tipping point.
Based on simple math, a bundled tech approach with Microsoft can easily generate more than 60% savings on licenses alone. The financial business case for this approach is compelling and worth consideration for any CFO, CIO, or CEO, particularly for growing companies that are still building out their foundation.
Consider the cost of Microsoft Power Platform for a 100-person organization (current commercial rates; we are NOT Microsoft resellers).
- Microsoft 365 E3: $36 per person per month
- Power Apps Premium: $20 per person per month
- Power BI Premium: $20 per person per month
- Copilot for 365: $30 per person per month
This totals $106 per person per month, $1,272 per year, $127k for the entire organization per year.
With this package you get:
- Email / conferencing / messaging with Outlook and Teams
- File storage with SharePoint and OneDrive
- Productivity apps (Excel, PowerPoint, Word, etc.)
- Reporting and BI with Microsoft Fabric / Power BI
- Low-code app-building and customizable templates with Power Apps and Dataverse for CRM, ERP, Project Planning, and more.
- Workflow / transformation with Power Automate and Power Query
- Hundreds of native data connectors, including natural connections across Microsoft Graph
- Infrastructure with Microsoft Azure
- Integrated AI capabilities
Now consider alternatives, if bought separately (using real representative examples, but with names withheld to not single any solution out):
- Email/file storage: $12 per person per month
- Conferencing: $18 per person per month
- Messaging: $9 per person per month
- Reporting/BI: $115 per person per month
- Low-code apps: $75 per person per month
- Project management: $11 per person per month
- Workflow automation: $20 per person per month
- AI: $20 per person per month
This totals $280 per person per month, $3,360 per year, $336k for the entire organization per year.
The package represents at least 62% savings on licenses alone, even before considering the following:
- Lower administration costs for managing one platform with fewer integrations
- Lower implementation costs without need for highly specialized resources
- Less exposure to premium pricing increases, add-ons, etc.
- More back-end scalability with a tech stack leveraged by Fortune 100 companies as well as small businesses.
- Opportunity to custom build to simplify or replace more expensive software ($1k++ per user annually) like CRM, ERP, and EPM, which is possible with low-code apps.
- Lower fixed costs with monthly per user pricing (no annual/multi-year contracts or bundles of users)
- Lower sourcing, legal, and other back-office costs and reduced third-party risk with fewer vendors
Microsoft (and other integrated platforms) are not perfect and there are of course trade-offs and circumstances where going a ‘best-of-breed’ approach is still appropriate. However, integrated solutions have been quickly closing key product gaps in recent years. There is a stronger case now to always start with an integrated solution as a default and only go to other vendors when truly necessary.
Under tough economic conditions where many companies are digging deep and are being forced to let key personnel go, there is opportunity for both cost savings and value-add with fully integrated technology platforms like Microsoft Power Platform.
We subscribe to this new paradigm at OVG, consolidating 10+ tech providers to one, and are guiding many of our clients down a similar path as well.
