Stop Paying Monthly
for Software You'll Never Own.
You already know the subscriptions are too expensive. What most business owners do not know is that there is a practical alternative that costs less per month than what you are already paying, with no software licenses, no per-seat fees, and no price increases you cannot control. This page explains what it is and whether it makes sense for your business.
Your software bills are not going to get smaller on their own.
Most businesses started using cloud software because it was convenient. Pay a monthly fee, get access to a tool, no fuss. That made sense when teams were small and the bills were manageable.
But something happens over time. You add tools. Your team grows. Each new hire means another round of per-seat charges across every platform. Prices go up at renewal and there is nothing you can do about it. And through all of it, you own nothing. The moment you stop paying, access disappears.
Add it all up and most small businesses are spending far more than they realise, with no equity to show for it and no control over where costs go next.
So what is a private cloud, exactly?
Think of it as a server that belongs to you, running your software, accessible from anywhere. A managed private cloud gives you the access and convenience of SaaS with the ownership and control of running your own infrastructure. We set it up, keep it running, and handle everything technical. You just use it. We offer two ways to deliver this depending on your situation.
Managed Private Cloud (VPS)
Your software runs on a virtual private server in a data centre. You own the server contract, the data, and everything on it. We manage the technical side. Accessible from anywhere, no physical hardware to house, and straightforward to scale. The right fit for most small and mid-sized businesses.
Learn more about Managed Private CloudOn-Premise Infrastructure
Physical hardware installed at your location, running the same software stack. Maximum control, no third-party data centre, and often the right choice for businesses with strict data residency requirements or those who want their infrastructure entirely under their own roof.
Learn more about On-Premise SolutionsEmail and Calendar
Full email hosting on your own domain. Shared calendars across your team. No Microsoft or Google in the loop.
File Storage and Sharing
A shared drive accessible from any device. Version history, permissions, and desktop sync included.
CRM and Business Management
Track customers, manage your pipeline, and run operations. A full business platform with no per-seat fees.
Video Conferencing
Host your own video calls. No time limits, no per-host charges, no data leaving your infrastructure.
Automated Backups
Daily snapshots with an off-site copy. Restore any file from any point in time, automatically.
Security and Monitoring
Firewall, SSL, access controls, and 24/7 uptime monitoring. Patches and updates handled automatically.
Hold on. Don't I just end up paying for software licenses instead?
This is exactly the right question, and it deserves a straight answer. The short version: no, you do not. The software stack we deploy is built almost entirely on open source tools. That means the software itself is free to use, run, and modify. There are no per-seat license fees, no annual renewal invoices from a software vendor, and no paywalled feature tiers. Here is the difference between the two models.
You pay for the right to use the software
Every month, you rent access to a vendor's platform. Stop paying and you lose access immediately. Pricing is set by the vendor, changes at their discretion, and typically increases every year. Adding users means adding cost, permanently. You are not buying anything. You are renting, forever.
The software is free. You pay for expertise.
The tools we deploy, Nextcloud, Mailcow, Odoo Community, Jitsi, Vaultwarden, are all free to download, deploy, and run. The license costs nothing. What you pay Viridian Guard for is the skill to configure it correctly, secure it properly, keep it running, and support your team. That is a service fee, not a software rental. Add ten new staff and your infrastructure cost does not move.
You are not replacing one set of licenses with another. You are replacing rental fees with a service fee for expertise and ongoing management. The software itself is free. That distinction is the whole reason the economics work.
Lower monthly costs from day one. Compounding savings every year after.
Unlike traditional managed service providers who charge a management fee on top of your existing SaaS subscriptions, we replace them. Your monthly operational cost after setup will be less than what you are paying right now. For a standard 10-user business on a typical SaaS stack, that means under $1,000 per month versus the $1,200 or more you are paying today.
There is an upfront investment to build and configure your infrastructure. Think of it as roughly five to eight months of your current SaaS spend, paid once, for infrastructure you own outright. After that, your monthly cost stays flat while your old SaaS bills would have kept climbing at nearly 9 percent per year. Most clients see the infrastructure pay for itself within the first twelve months.
We have done the full analysis across multiple business sizes, comparing SaaS alone, traditional MSPs, and Viridian Guard over five years. The numbers are detailed and based on real published vendor pricing.
See the Full Three-Way Cost Comparison
SaaS alone versus traditional MSP versus Viridian Guard, side by side across 10, 25, and 100-user businesses. Five-year totals, real vendor pricing, and honest figures. The analysis that makes the case better than any sales pitch.
Is this going to be complicated for my team?
No. The tools your team uses look and feel like the ones they already know. The difference is that they run on a server you own instead of one you are renting forever. Here is what that actually means in practice.
Your team uses a browser or an app. That is it.
File sharing, email, calendar, video calls. All accessed the same way your team accesses them today. No command line, no technical knowledge required, and no real learning curve beyond a new login screen. We train your team before go-live so nobody is surprised on day one.
We handle everything technical. You handle your business.
Updates, security patches, backups, monitoring. We take care of all of it. If something needs attention, we deal with it before it becomes your problem. You do not need to think about the infrastructure any more than you think about who maintains the electricity supply to your building.
You can access everything from anywhere.
Home, office, client site, or the other side of the world. Your team connects securely from any device. It works the same whether someone is at their desk or working remotely. No files locked on a specific machine, no VPN complexity for everyday staff.
If you ever want to leave, you take everything with you.
Your data lives on infrastructure you own, documented in a way that belongs to you. If you decide to move on, bring someone else in, or change direction, you have everything you need to do that cleanly. Nothing is locked inside our platform and we document everything with that assumption built in.
The subscriptions that go away.
A managed private cloud typically replaces five to eight separate SaaS tools in one deployment. Here are the most common replacements and the open source tools that take their place.
Full email hosting, shared calendars, and a built-in office suite. Compatible with Microsoft Office file formats. No per-seat fee.
Shared file storage with desktop sync, mobile apps, version history, and granular permissions. Unlimited storage on your own hardware.
Full CRM with pipeline tracking, email integration, and reporting. Scales to any number of users with no additional cost per seat.
Video conferencing and team messaging on your own server. No meeting time limits, no participant caps, no data sent to a third party.
Self-hosted password manager. Your team's credentials stay on your server. Full browser extensions and mobile apps included.
Daily snapshots, automated off-site replication, and tested restore procedures. No per-gigabyte fees, ever.
A private cloud is not a step backward. It is a step into ownership. The tools are familiar. The difference is that the server belongs to you, the data belongs to you, and the monthly bill stops climbing.
Is a private cloud right for your business?
It is not the right answer for every business at every stage. Here is a plain read on where it tends to work well and where it may not be the right fit yet.
You are ready to own your tools
- Your SaaS bills feel out of control and keep growing
- You have five or more people using the same set of tools
- You handle client data or sensitive records you want kept private
- You are frustrated by price increases you had no say in
- You want IT costs to be predictable, not a moving target
- You think in years, not months, about business decisions
You may want to wait
- Your business is pre-revenue or just getting started
- You have fewer than three or four regular users of business software
- Your current SaaS costs are modest and not causing real pain
- Leadership has no interest in IT as a strategic business tool
Want to know what your
actual number looks like?
The free audit maps your current software spend, identifies what can be replaced, and gives you a clear cost comparison before you commit to anything. No sales pressure, no obligation.