Brightstream Technology · ERP maintenance cost check
Your maintenance bill runs to hundreds of thousands a year —
normal?
A company of a few dozen people, running on a per-seat system, came to us paying NT$400,000–500,000 a year.Where the money goes, what is real cost, and which line is sales talk — we count it with you, in front of you.
If your contract is expiring and you are undecided, do not sign yet.
Seven years of implementations · 34 in-depth engagements · we choose people, not industries · with Johnny Yang, owner to owner
Put your numbers in
Two minutes, and you get our call on whether it can be cut and how.
Where NT$400,000–500,000 a year comes from
A per-seat bill looks like this: a dozen or so US dollars per person per month × a few dozen people × 12 months — over NT$400,000 a year.
This is rent, not an asset
Pay for ten years and the system still is not yours. The day you stop paying, you are left with nothing.
More people, automatically bigger bill
You hire people to earn more, and every extra hire is taxed by the system first. Growing gets you penalised.
You bought forms, not a process
The tool is generic, your way of working is not. You pay a lot and still need a person to fill the gap in the middle.
One company, three years laid out
Keep renting
About NT$1,300,000
Over NT$400,000 a year × 3 years, and it keeps climbing as headcount grows.
Rebuild to your process
About NT$840,000
Year one NT$480,000 (NT$300,000 to implement + NT$180,000 maintenance), then NT$180,000 a year.
From year three, over NT$200,000 a year better off — and the system is yours.
The figures above are a range worked from a real case; the actual number is quoted against system size and scope.
Here is what our maintenance looks like
During the maintenance period, UI/UX changes and detail adjustments within the existing feature set
All free
Six figures to change one field, and a three-month wait — we do not work that way.
That is a system that grows with you.
(Scope is the feature list as delivered; new features and new modules are quoted separately — we write that line clearly from the start rather than play word games.)
There are more than two roads — renew, or start over
After the diagnostic it usually lands on one of these three. Most people start with the first or the second.
01
Downgrade + bolt-on
Keep the existing system, drop to the cheapest tier, and patch automation into the steps that jam using APIs. The smallest possible move, saving money first.
02
Freeze the version and take it over
The system version is frozen and the whole thing comes to us; data and process are untouched. Invoicing keeps going through the value-added centre, payroll and tax stay exactly as they are.
03
Replace and rebuild
Only once the old system is genuinely beyond saving do we rebuild it to your process. From NT$300,000 to implement, then NT$180,000 a year to maintain.
The five things owners ask most
If I stop paying for maintenance, what happens with regulatory updates? Is the original vendor really the only one who can handle e-invoice changes and insurance rate adjustments?＋
This is the most common line in this market. E-invoicing connects through a value-added service centre, several providers offer it, and any system can integrate with it — nobody has an exclusive. Labour and health insurance rates are published by the regulator, and every system vendor updates against the same published notice. Regulatory updates are public information, not a reason to keep you locked in.
Does changing systems always mean starting from scratch? Will the company stop?＋
Not necessarily. The thing we do most is take the system over with the version frozen — data and process untouched, with automation wired in by API only where it genuinely jams. Whether it ever goes as far as a rebuild is your call, after the diagnostic.
How do you charge for maintenance?＋
Taking over maintenance starts at NT$15,000 a month, quoted against the size and scope of the system. If the assessment says rebuild, implementation starts at NT$300,000, priced against your spec. During the maintenance period, UI/UX changes and detail adjustments within the existing feature set are free — no extra charge.
Does the price go up as headcount grows?＋
No headcount surcharge up to 200 people. The worst part of per-seat pricing is that the more you grow, the bigger the bill. We do not charge that way.
Will the 30-minute diagnostic turn into a sales pitch?＋
No. The diagnostic lays out your invoices and your current state and tells you what is real cost, what can be cut, and whether it is worth touching. If the answer is "leave it alone", that is what we say — we earn nothing that time, but you remember us when you really do need to move.
Send us the invoice and count it properly before deciding
We mask company names and amounts and look only at the structure of the line items. Once it is counted you decide whether to move — no hard feelings if not.
If the answer is leave it alone, that is what we will tell you. We will not keep calling.