What your software vendors really cost youhttps://www.opex.works/enhttps://www.opex.works/en/trade-off/build-outsource-or-do-nothing/https://www.opex.works/en/trade-off/build-outsource-or-do-nothing/An internal working day costs 360 euros, a contractor day 575. The gap seems to settle the question, until you cost the third branch, the one where nothing is done and the need is absorbed by people already doing something else.Thu, 20 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.opex.works/en/trade-off/the-fiftieth-employee/https://www.opex.works/en/trade-off/the-fiftieth-employee/Crossing 50 employees adds 1.05 % of payroll in contributions and social budget, that is €26,250 a year on a €2.5 million payroll. The bill only arrives after five years, and that lag is what traps companies.Thu, 20 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.opex.works/en/trade-off/the-monthly-cost-of-not-deciding/https://www.opex.works/en/trade-off/the-monthly-cost-of-not-deciding/A vacant position and a contract left unrenegotiated together cost 5,254 euros a month, without a single budget line moving. Six months of hesitation is 31,524 euros no one ever weighed up.Thu, 20 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.opex.works/en/trade-off/two-dependencies-one-risk/https://www.opex.works/en/trade-off/two-dependencies-one-risk/Depending on a single vendor and depending on a single person produce the same exposure. One is tracked by legal, the other by HR, and no one adds them up.Thu, 20 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.opex.works/en/trade-off/what-a-signature-commits/https://www.opex.works/en/trade-off/what-a-signature-commits/The quote shows 40,000 euros a year. Over three years, that same signature commits 378,563 euros spread across four departments, only one of which ever saw the quote.Wed, 19 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.opex.works/en/contract/the-clause-that-bans-you-from-publishing-a-comparison/https://www.opex.works/en/contract/the-clause-that-bans-you-from-publishing-a-comparison/The terms of service of one of the leading hosting providers require, before any publication of a comparative performance test, that it be disclosed to the vendor along with enough detail to replicate it. It is written in clause 1.8.Tue, 18 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.opex.works/en/trade-off/the-five-exit-doors-brussels-just-opened-at-sap/https://www.opex.works/en/trade-off/the-five-exit-doors-brussels-just-opened-at-sap/Product at end of maintenance, failed implementation attributable to the vendor, insolvency, workforce reduction, divestment. Five situations now allow SAP licences and the maintenance that comes with them to be terminated, and reactivation fees have been scrapped.Mon, 17 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.opex.works/en/trade-off/your-headcount-falls-10-your-sap-invoice-doesnt-move/https://www.opex.works/en/trade-off/your-headcount-falls-10-your-sap-invoice-doesnt-move/Since 9 July 2026, a headcount reduction of 10 % or more over two years opens the right to remove 10 % of your SAP licences and the corresponding maintenance. On a 40,000 euro contract, that is worth 4,000 euros a year, and the cap stays at 10 % even if you have lost a third of your workforce.Thu, 13 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.opex.works/en/exit/the-person-a-system-depends-on-and-the-price-of-their-notice/https://www.opex.works/en/exit/the-person-a-system-depends-on-and-the-price-of-their-notice/Temporarily replacing a position paid at the median with an external service costs 4,954 euros more a month than the salary it frees up. That is the monthly price of depending on a single person, and it's a floor.Tue, 11 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.opex.works/en/payroll/the-median-your-candidate-knows-better-than-you/https://www.opex.works/en/payroll/the-median-your-candidate-knows-better-than-you/The median compensation for the IT and information systems function stands at 55,000 euros gross. The candidate knows this figure before the interview. What they don't know is that it represents 78,546 euros of real spend.Tue, 04 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.opex.works/en/invoice/what-3-to-6-of-your-revenue-really-pays-for/https://www.opex.works/en/invoice/what-3-to-6-of-your-revenue-really-pays-for/A company with fewer than 500 employees spends between 3 and 6 % of its revenue on technology, internal salaries included. On revenue of 10 million euros, the gap between the two bounds reaches 300,000 euros.Tue, 28 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.opex.works/en/trade-off/fifteen-years-of-framework-contract-prices-redacted/https://www.opex.works/en/trade-off/fifteen-years-of-framework-contract-prices-redacted/The software framework contract of a ministry, awarded through the State's central purchasing body, was disclosed with prices and expiry date redacted. Fifteen years of contractual relationship, and not one readable price.Tue, 21 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.opex.works/en/contract/what-brussels-obtained-from-sap-and-what-it-means-for-you/https://www.opex.works/en/contract/what-brussels-obtained-from-sap-and-what-it-means-for-you/The European Commission made eight of SAP's commitments on maintenance for its on-premise software legally binding for ten years, worldwide. If you pay for SAP on-premise maintenance, your rights changed that day, and nobody told you.Thu, 16 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.opex.works/en/exit/how-many-months-to-replace-someone-job-by-job/https://www.opex.works/en/exit/how-many-months-to-replace-someone-job-by-job/Every quarter, the public labour statistics agency publishes, under an open licence, a tightness ratio per occupation that compares the flow of job postings to the flow of job seekers. It is the only free indicator that tells you whether your position can be replaced.Tue, 14 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.opex.works/en/contract/where-the-rules-of-your-subscription-are-written/https://www.opex.works/en/contract/where-the-rules-of-your-subscription-are-written/An enterprise software subscription is governed by a reference contractual document, revised on an ongoing basis, that prevails over any sales presentation. Knowing which one, and where to find it, changes the outcome of a renewal.Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.opex.works/en/payroll/575-euros-a-day-reading-a-contractor-rate-as-an-annual-cost/https://www.opex.works/en/payroll/575-euros-a-day-reading-a-contractor-rate-as-an-annual-cost/At the median daily rate recorded on a freelance platform, a contractor exceeds the cost of an employee paid at the market median beyond 137 days billed in the year. Below that, the engagement is cheaper and commits you to nothing.Tue, 16 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.opex.works/en/invoice/the-fees-that-dont-appear-on-the-pricing-page/https://www.opex.works/en/invoice/the-fees-that-dont-appear-on-the-pricing-page/A pricing tracking database documents 19,699 additional fees across 3,305 software products. Six fees per product, on average, that appear on no public pricing page.Tue, 02 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.opex.works/en/exit/the-european-tech-workforce-grew-by-59-and-you-are-told/https://www.opex.works/en/exit/the-european-tech-workforce-grew-by-59-and-you-are-told/Between 2015 and 2025, the number of technology specialists in the Union grew by 59,4 %, to exceed ten million people. France accounts for 1,4 million, or 13,7 % of the European total.Tue, 12 May 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.opex.works/en/contract/the-vendor-audit-what-it-costs-when-it-settles/https://www.opex.works/en/contract/the-vendor-audit-what-it-costs-when-it-settles/A licence audit defense firm reports that nine cases out of ten close below the initial claim, for a settlement between 10 and 30 cents per dollar claimed. A 500,000 euro claim settles between 50,000 and 150,000.Tue, 21 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.opex.works/en/trade-off/what-the-price-paid-by-others-wont-tell-you/https://www.opex.works/en/trade-off/what-the-price-paid-by-others-wont-tell-you/French public procurement publishes a global amount for the full duration of the contract, either a fixed fee or a maximum estimate. It publishes no unit licence price. Looking for a price reference in this data is a documented dead end.Tue, 31 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT