What is cloud repatriation?

Cloud repatriation means moving workloads, applications, or data from public cloud infrastructure back to on-premise servers or private cloud environments. The main drivers: cost optimization, data sovereignty requirements, and the need for greater control over infrastructure and security.

How much can companies save by moving workloads back on-premise?

Savings vary by workload type and scale, but reported figures are significant. 37signals projects over $10 million in savings over five years after leaving AWS. Broadcom saved over $10 million by moving critical database workloads off public cloud. GEICO, facing over $300 million in annual cloud spend, has cut compute costs by 50% per core through its repatriation to Open Compute Project hardware.

Is cloud repatriation the same as abandoning the cloud?

No. Cloud repatriation is about strategic workload placement, not abandoning cloud entirely. Most organizations pursuing repatriation are moving to a hybrid cloud model where steady-state, data-intensive, and regulated workloads run on-premise while burst, elastic, and globally distributed workloads remain in the cloud.

How does cloud repatriation affect AI deployment?

AI is accelerating cloud repatriation because many organizations want to run AI models over proprietary data without that data leaving their security perimeter. On-premise AI delivers both better data governance and, according to Deloitte, 50% or more cost savings over three years once token volume reaches a certain threshold.

What development platforms give you deployment flexibility?

Most modern low-code platforms are cloud-only SaaS products, which means every application you build on them is locked to the vendor's cloud. m-Power, built by mrc, runs on-premise, in your cloud, or both, directly over your existing databases. You own it outright with a perpetual license and no per-user fees, so the deployment decision stays with you as requirements change.

What is the difference between SaaS and a perpetual license?

SaaS is a recurring subscription for access to software the vendor hosts. You pay monthly or annually. A perpetual license is a one-time purchase. You own it. With SaaS, you lose access when you stop paying. With a perpetual license, the software stays yours.

Why are SaaS prices increasing so fast?

SaaS pricing rose 11.4% in 2025, roughly four times the rate of general inflation. 73% of SaaS companies raised prices that year. Vendors push these increases through because switching costs are high, especially for platforms where customers have built workflows, integrations, and business processes. Many vendors also bundle AI features to justify premium pricing.

Is a perpetual license cheaper than SaaS long-term?

For development platforms and tools you plan to use for years, a perpetual license is significantly cheaper.

m-Power is a low-code development platform built by mrc. It installs on your infrastructure, connects to your existing databases, and lets your team build web applications, AI tools, reports, dashboards, and portals. mrc has been helping businesses build custom applications since 1981, with over 1,500 customers.

How does low-code platform pricing typically work?

Most low-code platforms charge per-user, per-month, with costs that scale as your team grows. Some add per-app or per-workflow charges. m-Power uses a one-time perpetual license with no user, app, or data limits, making total cost predictable from day one.

Can you avoid vendor lock-in with a low-code platform?

Yes, but it depends on the platform. Look for: code you own and can run independently, deployment on your own infrastructure, direct connection to your existing databases without migration, and no per-user pricing that penalizes growth. m-Power is built so your applications and data remain yours regardless of your relationship with the vendor.

How much does PowerApps cost per user in 2026?

PowerApps Premium costs $20 per user per month ($240/year). Organizations with 2,000+ users can negotiate volume pricing at $12 per user per month. The pay-as-you-go option runs $10 per active user per app per month through Azure. That doesn't include Power Automate flows, premium connectors, AI Builder credits, or Dataverse storage, all of which cost extra.

Is the PowerApps per-app plan retired?

For new customers, yes. Microsoft ended new sales of the PowerApps per-app plan on January 2, 2026, removing the $5 per user per app per month SKU from the licensing guide with no prior announcement. Existing Enterprise Agreement (EA) and Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) customers can still renew their per-app licenses. Microsoft Products and Services Agreement (MPSA) customers can use it until their agreement expires, then have 60 days to migrate. New customers must choose PowerApps Premium ($20/user/month) or pay-as-you-go ($10/active user/app/month), which represents a 100-300% higher starting cost compared to the per-app plan.

What is the cheapest PowerApps alternative?

Most PowerApps alternatives use per-user SaaS pricing, ranging from $8 to $50+ per user per month. The cheapest long-term alternative is a perpetual license platform like m-Power, a low-code development platform built by mrc, which charges a one-time fee with no per-user costs and unlimited users. At scale, m-Power costs significantly less than any per-user platform over a 3-5 year period.

Is there a low-code platform with no per-user fees?

Yes. m-Power by mrc offers a one-time perpetual license with unlimited users, unlimited applications, and no recurring per-user costs. m-Power runs directly over existing databases (DB2, SQL Server, MySQL, Oracle, PostgreSQL) and can be deployed on-premise or in the cloud. mrc has served over 1,500 customers since 1981.

Can I replace PowerApps with an on-premise solution?

Yes. While PowerApps is primarily cloud-based with limited on-premise options, platforms like m-Power let you deploy fully on-premise within your own infrastructure. This gives IT complete control over data, security, and compliance. m-Power connects directly to your existing on-premise databases without requiring data migration to a cloud service like Dataverse.

Shadow AI refers to the use of AI tools by employees without IT approval or oversight. This includes consumer AI platforms like ChatGPT, unsanctioned AI coding assistants, and AI-built applications that were never reviewed, secured, or documented by IT.

How is shadow AI different from shadow IT?

Shadow IT was typically one unauthorized tool or subscription. Shadow AI produces output: AI-generated code, applications, automations, and workflows. IT teams don't just inherit an unauthorized tool — they inherit artifacts that are running somewhere, touching company data, with no documentation or defined owner.

Why won't stricter policies stop shadow AI?

According to Gartner, shadow AI is the number one indicator of unmet business needs. Employees aren't using unauthorized tools because they're careless — they're using them because the approved path is too slow. If IT takes six weeks to deliver what an AI tool can produce in an afternoon, policy alone won't change the math. Block one tool and employees find another.

What risks does shadow AI create for IT teams?

Shadow AI creates two main categories of risk. First, data exposure: 60% of organizations have already experienced a data exposure event from employees using public AI tools, according to Cisco. Second, maintenance burden: AI-generated applications often have no security model, no documentation, and no defined IT owner. When something breaks or an audit asks questions, IT inherits the problem.

How can IT teams get ahead of shadow AI?

The most effective approach is making the governed path faster than the workaround. When IT can deliver AI tools connected to your existing data — running inside your environment, under your security model — fast enough to satisfy business demand, shadow AI stops being the default option.

What is an AI workflow?

An AI workflow is a business process that includes AI at one or more steps. The AI analyzes data, makes decisions, or triggers actions as part of the larger process.

What is a data-driven AI workflow?

A data-driven AI workflow runs over your existing business data. The AI reads from your systems and reacts to what it finds. The workflow writes results back to your systems.

How is AI changing workflow automation?

Traditional automation follows pre-defined rules. AI brings intelligence to workflows by interpreting text, detecting tone, classifying content, making judgment calls, and providing suggestions based on policies.

What types of workflows are good candidates for AI?

Workflows involving analysis, content generation, interpretation, and decision making. Examples include support ticket routing, document classification, lead scoring, invoice processing, and anomaly detection.

How can I create an AI workflow over my data?

You need a platform that works over your data and lets you design workflows visually. With m-Power, you connect to your existing data, create AI Assistants and Agents over select parts of your data, and add them to your workflows.

Education – mrc's Cup of Joe Blog

What software should NOT be SaaS?

By Sal Stangarone / software licenses

What types of business software should NOT be used on a SaaS model?

That’s something I’ve been thinking about lately as I read more and more cases of rising SaaS costs. The fact is, most businesses are paying more for their SaaS tools than they were last year. Same tools and users, just a bigger bill.

73% of SaaS companies raised prices in 2025, averaging 14.2% increases. SaaS inflation is running at roughly five times the general rate. CIOs now spend about 9% of their IT budget just absorbing price hikes on software they already have. According to Zylo’s 2025 SaaS Management Index, SaaS spending per employee hit $4,830 last year, up 21.9% from the year before.

For mid-market companies, per-employee spend jumped 40%. Gartner estimates 25% of all SaaS spend is wasted or underutilized. And 78% of CFOs say they’ve been blindsided by hidden fees or price hikes baked into their contracts.

The vendors aren’t subtle about this anymore. A few examples from the last two years:

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What software should NOT be SaaS?Read More »

A PowerApps Alternative That Lets You Own the Platform (No Per-User Fees)

By Sal Stangarone / Low-code

If you’re evaluating PowerApps for the first time in 2026, the pricing just changed.

I know…SaaS pricing changes all the time. So what? The business world has gotten used to it.

But here’s the thing. When you’re dealing with a low-code platform that creates and runs your business applications, it’s different. Your business often relies on the applications that it’s created. A pricing change can have major implications for everything you’ve built and everyone who depends on it.

I want to dig into this idea, using PowerApps’ recent change as an example. Is SaaS really the best approach for low-code?

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A PowerApps Alternative That Lets You Own the Platform (No Per-User Fees)Read More »

Shadow AI Is the New Shadow IT (and Better Policies Won’t Stop It)

By Sal Stangarone / Artificial Intelligence

Something is happening in your organization right now that you probably don’t have full visibility into.

It’s happening in organizations across the globe.

Business analysts are building reporting dashboards with AI tools, connected to live company data, with no IT involvement.

Finance staff are pasting budget projections into consumer AI platforms to run analysis faster than waiting on a request.

HR employees are running sensitive policy documents through a chatbot to get quick summaries.

Staff in operations are building workflow automations using free AI builders they found online.

None of it went through IT.

That’s shadow AI. And the reason it matters isn’t just that data is leaving your environment…though it is. It’s that this behavior is accelerating faster than any governance policy can catch up with.

Eventually, everything these people built becomes your problem to secure, maintain, and explain to auditors.

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Shadow AI Is the New Shadow IT (and Better Policies Won’t Stop It)Read More »

How to Build AI Workflows Over Your Data

By Sal Stangarone / Artificial Intelligence, Workflow

Some things don’t really “click” until you see them in action. You hear people talking about some new technology, trend, or tool. But you don’t really “get it” until you see it.

That’s how data-driven AI workflows were for me.

I’d heard the AI hype. Then I saw an AI assistant working over live business data. My wheels started spinning. It opened up so many possibilities.

Then I saw that AI assistant added to a workflow. Data was passed to the assistant, which then made a decision…and led to another workflow step, which could then lead to another assistant and so on.

That’s when it really clicked. You can do anything with this.

In this article, I’ll explain more about AI workflows and why they’re so important to businesses. What are they? How do they work? Why should you care?

Also, we’ve included a video that walks through the whole process of creating an AI workflow from start to finish. After all, some things don’t really “click” until you see them in action.

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How to Build AI Workflows Over Your DataRead More »

MS Access Modernization: Why (and How) to Move to the Web

By Sal Stangarone / Access

Key takeaways from this article

What’s wrong with MS Access?
There’s nothing inherently wrong when it’s used as intended. The real issue is that simple Access apps can quietly balloon into complex, mission-critical systems that Access wasn’t built to support.
When should you not use Access?
MS Access falters in multi-user environments, in projects that require integration, apps that require mobile access, or once your database grows past its 2 GB limit.
Can we just build web apps directly over our Access database?
Not reliably. Access has no native web deployment and its file-based engine isn’t designed for web concurrency. While you can connect a web server to an Access file for very light scenarios, it’s fragile and doesn’t scale. For web apps, you need to move the data to a server database (e.g., SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MySQL).
How can you migrate Access to the web?
As demonstrated in the below video, moving Access data to a relational database and building web applications over it is pretty straightforward with the right tools.

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MS Access Modernization: Why (and How) to Move to the WebRead More »

Choosing a Web Query Alternative: One Consultant’s Methodical Approach

By Sal Stangarone / Web Query, web reporting

When IBM announced the end of Db2 Web Query for i, it caught many businesses off guard. Web Query was the go-to reporting tool for IBM i shops. Suddenly, those companies were left asking the same question: Now what?

Rick Flagler, an experienced IBM i consultant, heard that question from his clients almost immediately. They depended on Web Query for reporting and needed a reliable replacement that wouldn’t compromise functionality.

Rick approached the challenge with the precision you’d expect from a seasoned consultant. First, he created a “shopping list” of features that a Web Query replacement should include. He then dove into the landscape of BI tools built for IBM i, narrowing the field to those that ran natively and aligned with his clients’ needs.

From there, Rick didn’t rely on vendor claims or promises…he put each option to the test. He reviewed report designs, requested proof-of-concept demos, and evaluated each product’s ability to meet his criteria.

While I’m happy to say that his search led to m-Power, I’m just scratching the surface here. Rick wrote an article on the whole process, and goes into more details on his approach and criteria. You can read it here: “Life After IBM Db2 Web Query for i: Finding an Alternative.”

If you’re looking for a Web Query replacement, this article is well worth the read. It provides great insight into a thoughtful software evaluation process, what to look for in a BI replacement, and how an experienced consultant approaches this task.

To learn more about m-Power and how it can replace Db2 Web Query, check out this page: IBM Db2 Web Query Replacement

How to Build a Web-Based Dashboard (+ Video Guide)

By Sal Stangarone / Business Dashboards, Dashboards

Dashboards should make your life easier. Many don’t.

What happens? Some try to show everything at once…without really showing anything useful. Others take months to build and still don’t have the right data. Yet, making a change might take weeks. I could go on.

The good news? Dashboards have come a long way. They’re accessible from anywhere. They update in real time. And with the right tools, you can build one in a day—not a quarter.

In this article, you’ll learn how to build web-based dashboards in minutes that actually help people do their jobs. We’ll cover different types—like KPI dashboards, executive dashboards, and other business dashboards your different teams might use. You’ll learn some best practices, mistakes to avoid, and the best approach to development.

Sounds good? Let’s get started.

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How to Build a Web-Based Dashboard (+ Video Guide)Read More »

What is a CRUD Application (And How Do You Build One)?

By Sal Stangarone / Application Development, CRUD, Web Development

Let’s talk about the unsung hero of business web applications: The CRUD application. They’re everywhere, whether you realize it or not. Your customer database? It’s a CRUD app. Your company’s inventory system? Also a CRUD app. Even when you’re posting updates on LinkedIn – you guessed it – you’re using CRUD apps.

But what exactly makes these applications “CRUD,” and why should you care? In this article, we’ll cut through the technical jargon and explore:

What makes an application “CRUD”
Real-world examples
Important tips for building them (the right way)
How to build CRUD apps quickly

Whether you aim to replace that aging system or build new applications, mastering CRUD apps allows you to understand your development project better and ultimately make more informed decisions about them.

Sounds good? Let’s dive in.

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What is a CRUD Application (And How Do You Build One)?Read More »

How to turn a spreadsheet into a web app in 6 minutes

By Sal Stangarone / Spreadsheets

I’ve mentioned the dangers of spreadsheet misuse on many occasions, and explained why it’s so important to put that spreadsheet data into your database. However, I realized that I’ve never showed you how to turn your spreadsheets into database-driven web apps.

So, we created a video to do just that. The following video explains why you should convert your spreadsheets into web apps, and even shows you how it’s done. You might be surprised to learn just how simple this process is.

Note: This video is best viewed in 720p(HD) resolution at full screen. Click the “gear” icon below the video to change the resolution.

To learn more, please visit this page: https://www.mrc-productivity.com/solutions/spreadsheets.html