Sage 100 On-Prem vs Cloud Subscription Break-Even Calculator
Many Sage 100 shops are weighing a move off an ageing server. The honest answer depends on how much IT time the server really consumes. This calculator puts both options on an annual basis and tells you how many months of savings repay the migration project, or that there are none.
Your numbers
Hardware, Windows Server and database licences, backup appliance.
Patching, backups, restores, remote access, user support.
Quote for the hosted or SaaS option including hosting and maintenance.
Your results
Excludes intangible factors such as downtime risk, remote-access convenience and compliance obligations. Use your own quotes.
Annual cost by IT hours spent per month
Sweeps IT hours per month on ERP infrastructure from 0 to 80, holding your other inputs fixed.
Customisation check before you move
We can list the reports, jobs and integrations that need attention before a Sage 100 move.
Optional. The tool and every export work without this. No spam.
How to use it
Spread the server and licence refresh over its life, add the maintenance plan, security tooling and the monthly IT hours at a loaded rate. Compare that with the all-in cloud quote. If the saving is positive, the payback output divides the one-time migration cost by the annual saving and converts it to months. The chart shows how the on-prem figure climbs with IT hours while the cloud line stays flat.
Reading the result
A payback under 24 months is usually an easy decision; beyond 48 months you are buying other benefits rather than saving money. Check the IT hours input first, because it is the number people underestimate. Capture real hours from tickets for a quarter. Remember cloud subscription quotes often exclude add-ons, extra companies, or integration tools you run today.
- Include restore tests and patch windows in IT hours.
- Ask whether the cloud quote covers all companies and users.
- Add third-party products that need rewriting for the cloud.
Common mistakes
Do not count the full server cost as annual when the machine also hosts other workloads, and do not ignore customisations, such as Crystal reports or Visual Integrator jobs, that need rework in a hosted environment. Also test the break-even at a conservative IT-hours value, since a lower figure makes the cloud look worse than it may be in a downtime event.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Sage 100 cloud the same as hosting?
Not necessarily. Some options are a hosted copy of the same software on a provider's server, others are different products. Confirm exactly what the quote delivers and what remains your responsibility.
What IT hours should I use?
Count actual tickets and maintenance windows for a quarter, including backups, patches, user access and restores, then average per month. Estimates from memory are usually low.
Does a zero payback mean cloud is bad?
It means the cloud option does not save money on these inputs. It may still be right for resilience, remote access or risk, but you would be paying for those benefits.
Should I include data migration risk?
Put a realistic migration estimate in the one-time field and add contingency. Integrations and custom reports normally cost more than the data load itself.
If a migration assessment would help, Netray can review your customisations and integrations and tell you what moves cleanly.
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