For small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) that have relied on productivity SaaS solutions for years, now is the time to reassess long-term needs and explore alternatives that offer greater stability, flexibility, and control. As cloud adoption accelerates, major SaaS providers continue to evolve their offerings, often in ways that increase costs and limit flexibility. For example, Microsoft recently made significant changes to its 365 plans, including a reported 45% price increase for some subscriptions, according to The Register. Additionally, storage limitations and licensing restrictions force SMBs to reevaluate their reliance on third-party cloud services.
How do these plans impact SMBs?
Recent SaaS policy updates from major providers are reshaping the way SMBs access and manage their productivity tools. Businesses that rely on Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace may face significant challenges, including:
1. Cost pressures
Transitioning to higher-cost licenses to meet original storage and functionality represents a significant financial burden for many SMBs. With little control over future changes to offerings, ongoing unpredictability adds to financial instability, which is likely paired with additional costs for downtime, migration, and retraining staff.
2. Limited control over data
SaaS solutions store data on external servers, leaving businesses with less oversight over data security, backup, and retrieval.
3. Compliance challenges:
Businesses in regulated industries must adhere to strict data protection policies such as GDPR, HIPAA, or SOC 2. SMBs must ensure their systems are secure, private, and auditable; standards that public productivity solutions may struggle to meet.
How Synology Office Suite is tailored for SMBs
In response to these SaaS changes, SMBs seeking long-term stability can turn to locally hosted productivity suites such as Synology Office Suite. On-premises solutions provide greater storage flexibility, data control, privacy, and cost stability, helping businesses remain compliant with industry regulations. Synology Office Suite offers an all-in-one, user-friendly platform with tools like Drive, Office, MailPlus, Chat, Calendar, Contacts, and Note Station, making it easy for teams to collaborate efficiently.
Employees can access work materials and applications from anywhere on laptops, tablets, or smartphones using Synology Drive. Managers and teams can easily share files, organize projects, and streamline workflows. Furthermore, employees can collaborate in real-time with Synology Document, Spreadsheet, and Slides, and share files via Synology Chat for smoother communication.