As global macroeconomic conditions tighten and businesses face increased scrutiny on capital expenditure, finance leaders are engaging in a fierce battle for control over their tech budgets. The central conflict? The choice between maintaining the established Sage 100 ERP or migrating to a Cloud Financial model.
slashing IT Overheads
Just as startups are renegotiating storage costs, mature businesses are re-evaluating the “total cost of ownership” for their ERPs.
The Cloud Argument: Many companies moving to the cloud report slashing IT infrastructure expenses by 20% to 30% by eliminating the need for expensive in-house servers and maintenance.
The Sage 100 Hybrid Move: Conversely, some businesses are optimizing their existing Sage 100 investment by hosting it privately, achieving similar savings of up to 50% on hardware refresh cycles while keeping the software they trust.
The Pricing War: License vs. Subscription
This economic pressure has led to a standoff between traditional licensing models and modern SaaS subscriptions.
Market Dynamics: Cloud providers are waging a “pricing war” to lure Sage 100 users away with promises of lower upfront costs and automatic updates.
The Incumbent’s Defense: In response, the ecosystem around Sage 100 has evolved. Several businesses have been approached by cloud competitors, only to realize that sticking with Sage 100—when modernized with connected cloud services—offered a more stable and predictable cost structure during the downturn.
The 5G Talent Crunch
The race to 5G has hit a roadblock—not technology, but talent. India faces a shortage of nearly one million cybersecurity experts just as network vulnerabilities are set to rise. With the demand for cloud security skills skyrocketing, experts warn that hiring alone won’t suffice; the future of telecom security depends on transforming the current workforce through rapid upskilling.
This shift is driven by the very nature of 5G architecture. Unlike previous generations, 5G relies heavily on virtualization and software-defined networking (SDN), which dissolves traditional physical perimeters and moves core network functions to the cloud. Furthermore, the explosion of IoT devices connected to these networks creates millions of new potential entry points for cyberattacks. Without a workforce fluent in next-generation protocols—such as container security, API protection, and automated threat response—telecom operators risk leaving critical national infrastructure exposed to sophisticated, state-sponsored attacks and ransomware campaigns.
"Even if we remove 5G from the equation, our security defense is undermanned. The priority must be aggressive recruitment and training to correct this severe systemic deficit."
While larger corporations often have complex data security systems in place, small businesses can also fall victim to a cyber attack if they do not take steps to protect themselves