South African businesses running sage 100 face an important decision: keep their erp on-premise or move to the cloud. Both options have merit, but the right choice depends on your business.
Here is a practical comparison to help you decide.
On-premise sage 100
How it works: You purchase software licenses, buy your own servers, and host everything in your office or data centre. Your IT team or a partner manages the environment.
Advantages:
Full control over your data and systems
No ongoing subscription fees (after initial purchase)
Works without an internet connection
Disadvantages:
Large upfront capital expense for servers and licenses
You are responsible for backups, security patches, and disaster recovery
Scaling requires purchasing more hardware
Remote access is difficult without additional tools
You need internal IT skills or a managed services partner
Cloud-based sage 100
How it works: Sage hosts the software on their infrastructure, or you run it on a cloud platform like Microsoft azure or amazon web services. You pay a monthly subscription.
Advantages:
No upfront hardware costs
Automatic backups, patches, and security updates
Scale up or down easily
Remote access for staff anywhere
Predictable monthly operating expense
Disadvantages:
Ongoing subscription costs
Requires reliable internet connectivity
Less direct control over the underlying infrastructure
Data sovereignty considerations (ensure your data stays in South Africa)
Which one is right for your business?
Choose on-premise if:
You have reliable internal IT staff
Your business has no need for remote access
You prefer a single upfront capital expense over monthly operating costs
Your industry requires absolute physical control over data
Choose cloud if:
You want predictable monthly costs
Your team works remotely or across multiple sites
You lack internal IT resources to manage servers
You want automatic backups and disaster recovery included
You are planning to grow and need scalability
How solbridge helps with sage 100
At Solbridge, we help South African businesses make the right choice for their specific situation. Our services include:
Sage 100 health check: We assess your current environment and identify risks
Cloud migration: We move your on-premise sage 100 to the cloud with minimal downtime
On-premise optimisation: We help you secure and optimise your existing on-premise deployment
Managed services: We monitor, patch, back up, and support your sage 100 environment whether it is on-premise or in the cloud
Hybrid solutions: Run some parts on-premise and others in the cloud
The verdict
There is no single right answer. The best choice depends on your business size, growth plans, IT capabilities, and budget.
Solbridge is platform-agnostic. We do not push you toward cloud because it generates more recurring revenue for us. We simply help you make the best decision for your business.
Need help deciding?
Contact Solbridge today for a sage 100 assessment. We will help you understand your options and recommend the right path forward.
