You're already paying for this. You're just not getting anything for it.
Your software tools don't talk to each other. The spreadsheets, the re-keying, the month-end scramble — that's not free. It's the most expensive line item that never appears on your P&L.
£0K
Avg. annual software spend (mid-market firm)
£0K
Avg. hidden admin cost (never on P&L)
0+
Disconnected tools (typical £40M+ firm)
0 months
To cost-neutrality after Replace
Licence fees are the tip of the iceberg
Your software spend is the number you know. The cost of making those tools work together is the number you don't.
What shows up on your P&L
What doesn't — but costs more
Buried in salaries, overtime, and “just how things work.” Never appears as a line item.
“Most firms discover they're spending £40K–£80K a year in hidden admin costs maintaining spreadsheets between systems — on top of £60K–£200K in software licences. That's 40–60% more than they thought.”
The SaaS Assessment quantifies this precisely for your firm — every tool, every hidden cost, every integration gap. It's the document you wish you'd had years ago.
And it's getting worse
Your SaaS vendors are adding AI features you didn't ask for — and raising your price to pay for them. Every new feature deepens the lock-in. Every year you wait, the switching cost grows. The cost of fragmentation isn't just the subscription — it's the data portability risk, the switching cost, and the upcoming AI-feature price increases.
Designed to pay for itself
Every stage delivers standalone value. Cancelled software subscriptions fund the investment. The complete picture — nothing hidden.
Assessment
Professional audit of your entire software ecosystem. Maps every tool, every cost, every integration gap. You keep this document regardless of what happens next.
- Full software inventory with cost analysis
- Integration map and health assessment
- Hidden cost quantification
- Prioritised roadmap with ROI case
Connect
Custom dashboard sitting on top of your existing tools. Your team keeps using what they know — they just get unified visibility across everything.
- Company-wide project dashboard
- Automated employee provisioning
- Cross-system reporting and KPIs
- Regulatory compliance surfacing
Replace
Progressive replacement of your fragmented stack, domain by domain. You cancel software subscriptions as modules go live — the savings fund the investment.
- Sector-relevant UK regulatory compliance
- AI-native features throughout
- Mobile-first, offline-capable
- Software subscriptions progressively cancelled
Cost-neutrality point
12–18 months from go-live
Cancelled software subscriptions fully offset the Replace build cost. Savings compound every year after.
Typical annual saving
£75K–£95K
net, after all Alden Foundry fees
A £40M manufacturer, 80 employees, 11 software tools
Complete picture — investment, ongoing costs, and savings share all included.
| What you're spending now | Annual cost |
|---|---|
| Software licences (11 tools — ERP, QMS, CMMS, HR, finance, etc.) | £120,000 |
| Hidden admin costs (spreadsheets, re-keying, month-end) | £55,000 |
| True annual cost | £175,000 |
| One-time investment | Cost |
|---|---|
| SaaS Assessment | £10,000 |
| Connect (unified dashboard) | £45,000 |
| Replace (custom platform) | £150,000 |
| Connect credit (applied to Replace) | −£45,000 |
| Net investment | £160,000 |
Paid in milestones — 20% kickoff, 30% mid-build, 30% beta delivery, 20% go-live. You never pay ahead of value received.
| After Replace | Annual cost |
|---|---|
| Remaining software licences (tools not replaced) | £40,000 |
| Alden Foundry evolution retainer | £42,000 |
| Savings share (20% of cancelled subscriptions, years 1–3 only) | £16,000 |
| Hidden admin costs | £0 |
| New annual cost (years 1–3) | £98,000 |
Annual saving (years 1–3)
£77K/yr
while savings share is active
Annual saving (year 4+)
£93K/yr
after savings share ends
Replace build recovered
~16 months
from go-live
Assessment and Connect each deliver standalone value — usable whether or not you progress further. Connect fee credits toward Replace, so nothing invested is wasted. Savings share is capped at 1.5× the build fee.
We only earn when you save
Nobody else ties their compensation to your actual software cost reduction. We do.
Savings share — incentive alignment
We tie part of our fee to your actual savings.
After Replace is delivered, we track every software subscription you cancel against the baseline documented in your assessment. If you don't save, we don't earn.
15–25%
of cancelled subscription savings
24–36
month agreement term
1.5×
build fee cap on total payments
Payments begin only after the first software subscription is actually cancelled. No cancellations, no payment. Nobody else ties their fee to your actual cost reduction.
The economics have changed
Five years ago, custom-building an operational management platform took 18+ months and cost £500K+. Three things have shifted.
Faster, smarter delivery
Modern tools accelerate every phase — requirements, architecture, development, testing. Expert teams amplified by the latest technologies deliver enterprise-grade output at a fraction of the traditional timeline and cost.
Result: months, not years
Proven compliance foundations
UK regulatory frameworks across multiple sectors have been rigorously researched, architectured, and tested. Your platform benefits from compliance logic that's already been validated — not built from scratch. This is how we deliver enterprise-grade compliance at mid-market pricing.
Battle-tested compliance, not prototypes
Modern infrastructure
Cloud hosting eliminates capex — no servers to buy. Per-client database isolation without per-client infrastructure cost. PWA eliminates app store dependency. Open-source UI frameworks eliminate licensing costs.
UK data residency, zero hardware
The technology has caught up with the ambition. What was previously only possible for firms with £1M+ IT budgets is now accessible to mid-market businesses — because proven foundations, modern infrastructure, and smarter delivery have fundamentally changed the economics.
Additional benefits your assessment identifies
R&D tax relief
Novel technical work — AI engines, compliance automation, cross-system architecture — may qualify for UK R&D tax relief under the RDEC scheme. Indicative benefit: £10K–£35K depending on build scope.
Government funding
Innovation grants and match-funded programmes across manufacturing, FM, logistics, and other sectors can materially reduce your net investment. Most firms don't know these exist.
Your SaaS Assessment identifies which programmes apply to your firm and estimates potential benefit. Alden Foundry is not a tax advisor — your accountant makes the final call.
The assessment gives you the precise numbers. Everything else is your decision.
30 minutes, free, no commitment. Or go straight to the full assessment — the document you wish you'd had years ago.