Cost model thinking
Cost buckets
- Subscription fees — SaaS seats, modules
- Payment processing — Stripe etc. (usually % + fixed)
- Infrastructure — VPS, storage, email SMTP, domains
- Implementation — partner/consultant time
- Maintenance — hours/month of skilled attention
- Risk — downtime, data loss, lock-in exit cost
Heuristic
If nobody on staff can restore the system, you are renting hope. Either buy a managed product with a support contract or budget training/time for self-host.