Before you renew · before you buy
Know what your next software decision will really cost over five years, before you sign.
Licence fees are one line on the invoice. Implementation, support, staff, hosting and the cost of leaving are the rest. We compare open source, proprietary and hybrid options for your actual decision, including how much foreign currency each option needs, so your board can choose with numbers rather than by default.
Try Bitrada, the free cost calculator Read the worked example
Independent by design. Milestonecraft is vendor-independent: no vendor pays for our assessments. Where a contract requires us to supply software, we may partner with a vendor, and we disclose any such relationship in writing before we advise you. If staying with your current vendor is cheaper, we will say so.
When this matters
Organisations usually look hard at software cost when one of these happens. Start with the one on your desk.
A renewal is due
The per-user price has gone up again and it is payable offshore. Do you know what the alternatives would cost over five years, not just this year?
A new system is coming
ERP, CRM or document management is being chosen. Has open source been costed on equal terms, including implementation, support and staff?
The audit found gaps
Unlicensed or unsupported software has been flagged. Is buying licences the only fix, or the most expensive one?
The board wants savings
Finance has asked IT to cut recurring software cost. Which systems are high-cost and low-disruption enough to move first?
It looks too cheap
Someone has presented an open source case with no support costs. What happens at 2 a.m. when it fails, and who pays for that?
Which product?
Several open source options exist for the same job. Which one will still be supported locally in five years?
Free tools
Two ways to test the idea on your own organisation before talking to anyone. Both run in your browser; nothing is sent unless you choose to send it.
Cost calculator · 10 minutes
Bitrada
The five-year cost of staying proprietary against moving to open source, self-hosted, partner-hosted or as SaaS. Line by line, including how much foreign currency each path needs. Start with our example numbers or enter your own.
Readiness Check · 5 minutes
Could your organisation run open source well?
Fifteen questions on cost visibility, skills, support, security and operations, and governance. You get a score, the areas to fix first, and a suggested first step.
Read the evidence
Two short papers: how to cost the decision, and how to choose a product that will still be supported.
Before you renew: the real five-year cost of your next software decision
A worked example for a 250-person firm, including the extra infrastructure that self-hosting brings: open source costs more in year one, breaks even in about 19 months, saves 20% over five years and cuts the foreign currency requirement from 56% of spend to 17%. Plus the business case you should not believe, and when open source is the wrong answer.
Choosing open source that will still be supported in five years
The full capability map with commentary, plus a selection checklist: maturity, local support, community-edition traps, infrastructure needs, upgrade paths and exit.
How we help
Open Source TCO Assessment
We tell you what your next software decision will really cost over five years, with open source, proprietary and hybrid options side by side, before you sign anything.
One renewal, system or project. About two to three weeks. Fixed fee, quoted after a short scoping call.
You receive:
- Five-year total cost comparison: open source, proprietary and hybrid
- Your foreign currency requirement: how much must be paid offshore, and how much stays local
- Break-even point and sensitivity to vendor price rises
- Risk register: security, skills, support, continuity and exit
- Recommended support model: who fixes what, and what it costs
- One-page recommendation for your board or executive committee
Milestonecraft is vendor-independent: no vendor pays for our assessments. Where a contract requires us to supply software, we may partner with a vendor, and we disclose any such relationship in writing before we advise you. If staying with your current vendor is cheaper, we will say so.
Request a scoping call on WhatsApp Email us
30-minute TCO second opinion
Free. Bring a quote, a renewal notice or your own spreadsheet and we will tell you what is missing.
Procurement support
Vendor-neutral evaluation criteria and a five-year cost schedule for your tender, so open source and proprietary bids are compared fairly.
Solution design
Architecture, integration, hosting and support model, data migration and exit route for the option you choose.
Implementation and programme management
We plan and run the move, or manage the partners delivering it, with milestones, budget control and executive reporting.
Implementation governance
Independent assurance when others deliver: stage-gate reviews, risk tracking, and a check that the promised savings are actually realised.
Open source health check
Already running open source? We review patching, backups, security, documentation and support before they become an incident.
Capability map: where open source is strong, and where it isn’t yet
Business capabilities in layers, with the open source projects that support each one. The rating says how safely a typical Zimbabwean organisation could rely on open source for that capability today.
- Strong Mature, widely deployed, good local skills available. Usually a safe move.
- Workable Mature products, but fit, editions or local support need checking first.
- Gap Open source exists but local requirements are poorly covered. Expect configuration work or keep a local product.
Customers & revenue
Strong where per-seat SaaS pricing grows with headcount. Integration with local payment providers is the usual sticking point.
Customer relationship management
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SuiteCRM
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EspoCRM
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Odoo CRM
Good for sales pipelines. Check reporting and mobile apps before committing.
Customer service & helpdesk
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Zammad
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osTicket
Email, web and chat tickets without per-agent fees.
Website & e-commerce
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WordPress
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WooCommerce
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Magento Open Source
Very mature. Local payment gateway plugins vary in quality.
Marketing automation
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Mautic
Capable, but needs someone who will actually run campaigns.
Finance & operations
The highest-value move and the riskiest. Product editions and local statutory requirements decide whether it works.
Accounting & ERP
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Odoo Community
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ERPNext
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Dolibarr
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Apache OFBiz
Check which features sit only in paid editions, and how local tax and fiscal invoicing requirements are met.
Inventory & procurement
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ERPNext
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Odoo Community
Usually comes with the ERP choice rather than being chosen separately.
HR & payroll
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OrangeHRM
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Frappe HR
HR records are fine. Local statutory payroll deductions and returns need significant configuration; many firms keep a local payroll product.
Point of sale
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Odoo POS
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ERPNext POS
Works offline-first in some setups. Fiscal device integration must be confirmed.
Collaboration & knowledge
Licences are high and products are mature, but this is where users feel change most. Budget for training, or keep the familiar suite and move elsewhere first.
Files & sharing
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Nextcloud
Mature and widely used. Self-hosting shifts storage, backup and power costs to you.
Office documents
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LibreOffice
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Collabora Online
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ONLYOFFICE
Compatibility with complex spreadsheets and templates is the main friction.
Email & calendar
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Mailcow
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Postfix
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Dovecot
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SOGo
Technically mature, but running email well is a specialist job. Often better partner-hosted.
Chat & video meetings
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Mattermost
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Rocket.Chat
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Jitsi Meet
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BigBlueButton
Bandwidth, not software, is usually the constraint.
Document management
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Paperless-ngx
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Mayan EDMS
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Alfresco Community
Good for scanning and archiving. Records-retention rules need designing in.
Data & insight
One of the clearest wins: the leading proprietary tools charge per viewer, and the open source options are excellent.
Databases
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PostgreSQL
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MariaDB
Run banks and governments worldwide. Removes per-core licence costs.
Dashboards & reporting
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Metabase
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Apache Superset
No per-viewer fees, so reports can go to everyone who needs them.
Integration & workflow
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Apache NiFi
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Node-RED
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Apache Airflow
Powerful but needs engineering skill. Watch for tools with non-open "fair-code" licences.
Security & identity
Open source is strong here, and many firms have no monitoring at all because the commercial tools cost too much. The software is free; the people to watch it are not.
Identity & single sign-on
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Keycloak
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FreeIPA
Enterprise-grade. Design it carefully: it becomes critical infrastructure.
Threat detection & SIEM
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Wazuh
Only useful if someone reviews the alerts. Budget for that, or a managed service.
Vulnerability scanning
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Greenbone (OpenVAS)
Regular scanning is cheap insurance.
Firewalls & VPN
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OPNsense
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pfSense CE
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WireGuard
Replaces expensive appliances and subscriptions at branches.
Infrastructure & operations
Usually the best first move: high licence costs, little disruption to users. This is also where self-hosting adds infrastructure cost, so cost hardware, power and backup honestly.
Server operating systems
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Ubuntu Server
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Debian
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Rocky Linux
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AlmaLinux
Commercial support is available if you need it.
Virtualisation
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Proxmox VE
A common replacement after recent price rises on proprietary hypervisors.
Backup & recovery
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Proxmox Backup Server
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Bareos
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restic
Test restores, not just backups. Off-site copies matter.
Monitoring
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Zabbix
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Prometheus
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Grafana
Know about failures before users do.
IT service & asset management
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GLPI
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Snipe-IT
Asset registers support licence audits, whatever you run.
What the map says. Open source is strongest in the layers users rarely see: infrastructure, security and data. Those are also where licence costs are high, so they are usually the best place to start. It is workable for customer and finance systems if editions and local support are checked first. The real gaps are local: statutory payroll, fiscal invoicing and local payment integrations. Those gaps are also an opportunity for Zimbabwean firms to build and support the missing pieces.
Product names, ownership and licences can change over time, and this is outside Milestonecraft’s control.
Public context
Sources and official references
This perspective draws on publicly available strategies, statistics and technical material. Links are provided for context only; Milestonecraft is not affiliated with or endorsed by these organisations.
- Open Source Initiative Definition and approved licences for open source software.
- Linux Foundation — Open Source Guides Practical guidance on running open source in organisations.
- Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZIMSTAT) Official economic statistics.
Download a paper
Tell us what decision you are facing and we will send the paper, plus an offer of a free 30-minute second opinion on your numbers.
Facing a renewal or a new system?
Bring a renewal notice, a vendor quote or your own spreadsheet. In a free 30-minute call we will tell you what is missing from the numbers and whether a full five-year assessment is worth doing. If it isn’t, we’ll say so.
Book a second opinion on WhatsApp Email us
Milestonecraft Investments Pvt Ltd
61 Central Avenue, Harare · 0789355510 (WhatsApp) · info@milestonecraft.co.zw