Build On-Premise Software You Own and Control
Deliver the custom apps your business keeps asking for, on your own servers. Your team builds them in m-Power over the databases you already run, or our team builds them for you. You buy the license once, add as many users as you need, and keep everything you build.
What Is On-Premise Software?
It's software that runs on your own servers instead of a vendor's.
What on-premise software means
On-premise software runs on servers your company owns or controls, in your own data center or a private cloud account, instead of on a vendor's hosted servers. The application and its data stay in your environment, behind your security and your sign-on. You decide who can use it, where the data is stored, and when it gets updated.
For years, cloud was the default and on-premise looked like the old way of doing things. That's changing. In Barclays' 2024 CIO survey, 83% of CIOs said they plan to move at least some workloads back from the public cloud (source). Companies want control of their data back, they're tired of per-user fees that go up at every renewal, and they want to depend less on one vendor's plans.
So why doesn't everyone build on-premise? Because custom software used to take a big development team and a long timeline. m-Power is a low-code development platform that installs on your servers and builds web applications over the databases you already run. A two- or three-person IT team can use it to deliver the apps the business keeps asking for.
On-Premise Software vs. Cloud (SaaS) Software
The big differences are who runs the software, where your data is stored, and how you pay for it.
| Cloud / SaaS Software | On-Premise Software | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it runs | The vendor's servers | Your own servers, data center, or private cloud |
| Where your data is stored | In the vendor's environment | On your network |
| Security and access | The vendor's controls | Your security rules and your sign-on |
| How you pay | A subscription, usually per user | Often a one-time license, plus optional maintenance |
| Cost over time | Goes up as you add users and features | The license doesn't grow with users, but you run your own servers |
| Customization | Whatever the vendor allows | Full, down to the code with a platform like m-Power |
| If you stop paying | You lose the software, and you have to export your data first | You keep the software you built |
| Best fit | Teams that want someone else to run it | Teams that need to control where data is stored and own what they build |
Get Custom On-Premise Apps Without Hiring a Bigger Team
Your team builds the apps with m-Power, or ours builds them for you. Either way, they run on your servers, over your databases.
Your data stays on your network
Apps run over your own databases and use your sign-on and security rules. Your data doesn't have to move to anyone else's cloud.
Buy it once
m-Power is a one-time license with unlimited users and apps. Adding people doesn't add fees, and the apps you build are yours.
Use the databases you already run
There's no data to migrate and no new data model to learn. m-Power builds right on top of SQL Server, Oracle, Db2, MySQL, PostgreSQL and other databases you already use.
A small team can build it
Templates handle the standard parts of each app, so a small team can deliver finished web apps. Your developers can add as much custom code as they want.
Keep your apps if you leave
m-Power generates standard HTML, JavaScript and Java that runs on a standard application server, so your apps keep running without it.
Your data center or a private cloud
Install m-Power on Windows, Linux or IBM i in your own data center, or in a private cloud account you control.
What You Gain by Keeping It On-Premise
Control, cost and fit are the usual reasons. Here's how each one works with m-Power.
Keep control of your data
When a vendor hosts your app, your data sits in their environment, and your security depends on their controls. That's hard to explain when an auditor or your legal team asks where sensitive data is stored.
With on-premise software, the answer is easy: It's on your servers, under the same security you use everywhere else. In m-Power, you decide what each app can see and who can use it, down to the row.
Stop paying more every year
Per-user pricing looks fine when you sign. Then you add people, turn on a premium feature or two, and the bill goes up at every renewal. And if you leave, you leave behind everything you built.
m-Power is a perpetual license with unlimited users and apps, so rolling an app out to more people doesn't raise the cost. Sunstar replaced off-the-shelf software with a custom m-Power CRM and saved about $120,000 a year.
Build over the systems you already run
Off-the-shelf software covers most of what you need. The rest ends up in spreadsheets and on your team's request list.
m-Power builds directly over your existing databases and ERP without changing the underlying system. It's also a practical way to modernize legacy systems without replacing them. You add the reports, portals, dashboards and workflows the business is missing, and they run on-premise next to everything else.
- Reports and dashboards over live data
- Portals for customers, partners, and staff
- Workflows and approvals with a full audit trail
Real People Behind Every App You Build
mrc has made application development software since 1981. More than 1,500 companies use m-Power, many of them on their own servers. When you have a question, you talk to an m-Power consultant who uses it every day.
On-premise software: Common questions
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Last updated: October 2026
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