Eliminating high, recurring software vendor support costs

Johannesburg, South Africa – 9 April 2026 - Most enterprises have recognised the importance of ERP, database and virtualisation platforms, with these transforming from mere organisational building blocks, into the critical operational backbone of modern businesses. As this evolution has happened, so the cost of maintaining these platforms has quietly escalated.

More to the point, these are the platforms that run finance, supply chains, billing, HR and regulatory reporting for the organisation, so any decisions made about their support models will inevitably impact on the board.

Most enterprises, partnered with vendors to implement these platforms, choose to pay rising support fees tied to these vendor models, which assume continuous upgrade cycles and ongoing enhancement consumption. This places them at the whims of a vendor-driven upgrade cycle, leaves them impacted by licensing shifts, and pressured by end-of-support deadlines that convert technology roadmaps into forced capital events.

They find themselves facing high recurring costs for systems that are not changing materially; dollar-denominated contracts that place pressure on rand-based businesses; and ongoing – and constantly increasing - maintenance spend, costs that compete directly with their innovation budgets. In other words, their support costs can end up crowding out investment in those areas that genuinely drive business growth.

“Traditional vendor support models typically sit in the region of 19% to 25% of the original license cost annually, often with built-in year-on-year increases. What was once a predictable maintenance fee has evolved into significant and increasing financial commitment – and this cost is simply to keep the existing software applications running, it’s not adding any new innovations or enhancements,” says Teko Mojaki, Managing Director of Spinnaker Support South Africa.

“Companies tend to accept vendor support as being a kind of institutional safety net. This is support that provides ongoing patching, escalation pathways and a structured upgrade cycle. While this does offer benefits, at the same time, it lacks flexibility and control over timing. Companies that choose to move to a third-party support provider regain these advantages, but must ensure that they replace the structure offered by vendor support with strong governance and clear accountability internally.”

He explains that this is where a business like, Johannesburg based, Spinnaker Support comes in, as it delivers third-party support and expert services for Oracle, SAP and VMware environments. Spinnaker, he notes, allows customer organisations to maintain secure and stable core systems, without being forced into immediate upgrades.

This limits vendor-driven timing pressure and affords these businesses the chance to reallocate portions of their support budget towards higher-return digital transformation initiatives. For boards that are also being asked to fund AI, cyber resilience and productivity initiatives, this is a major boon.

“By moving selected, stable environments away from vendor support models, enterprises are able to reduce annual support costs by 50% or more, relative to vendor maintenance fees. This translates into meaningful, recurring savings at scale that can help companies accelerate their digital transformations with these savings.”

“Vendors today are pushing clients to migrate to a subscription-based cloud model, however, customers should not feel pressured to stay with Oracle, SAP or VMware simply to do this. Businesses must do their research and ensure that such a move is undertaken for all the right reasons and business benefits,” he states, “frequently there are more cost-effective options, with less risk that are aligned to business goals, than migrating to a cloud-based offering.”

Essentially, points out Teko, this type of modernisation process should only occur when the business is ready and the value case is clear. It should not be driven by vendor coercion or contract milestones.

What is unique about Spinnaker’s model is that it enables businesses to stabilise core environments securely while deciding what to modernise, when to modernise it, and how to sequence change without increasing operational disruption risk.

Teko indicates that stability and transformation are separate business goals, adding that support should focus on keeping the business running safely and securely, while modernisation programmes should be driven by clear business value, not contract milestones.

“A combination of having access to both credible support alternatives and strong internal governance will enable enterprises to regain control over timing, thereby ensuring that any modernisation efforts are only undertaken because the business is ready and the value case is clear.”

Having the ability to decide when and how to modernise provides clear economic value to an organisation, as it means they will implement such programmes based on factors like capacity and risk, avoid overlaps with similar programmes, and be in a position to both protect operational stability and continue investing in business growth.

At a time when boards are under pressure to do more with less, the ability to release 19%–25% annual cost exposure, and redeploy it into growth, is not just attractive. It is strategic.

“Third-party support ensures that modernisation happens for the right reasons, at the right time, and with the right financial backing. In essence, it is less about reducing IT spend and more about rebalancing it, shifting resources away from low-return maintenance and toward high-impact business outcomes,” concludes Teko. Ends

Co-owned by African Rainbow Capital, Spinnaker Support (PTY) Ltd delivers, independent third-party software support, and expert services, for Oracle, SAP, and VMware into the South African and Sub-Saharan Africa markets. It is a subsidiary of Denver Colorado, USA-based Spinnaker Support LLC.

Trusted by companies worldwide, including those in highly regulated industries, Spinnaker Support empowers organisations to take control of their IT strategy. By breaking free from vendor-imposed roadmaps, aligning software management with business objectives, reducing costs, and maximising ROI, Spinnaker provides customers with the power of choice. With a strategic approach to security, performance, resource allocation, and managed services, Spinnaker Support ensures long-term IT efficiency and success.

Samantha Hogg-Brandjes | GinjaNinja  | +27844584857 | samantha@ginjaninja.co.za