You got an incredible price from one vendor – orders of magnitude lower than other providers and the ROI of the system. They say value and quality of the system, service, and security are the same as WorkBoard. If it sounds too good to be true, you’re right.
Behind that low-cost offer is very real risk. When small vendors sell products below their cost to make, secure and deliver them, it’s a Go for Broke Strategy. Their going broke is bad for your business.
Reliable software, service, and security are not cheap
It costs about $141,700 (130,000€) per year to support a 600-person strategy execution and OKR implementation in Germany. If a vendor is charging you less, they have a sustainability gap. The annual cost to serve you must be covered by other customers or by debt the vendor takes.
The Go for Broke strategy assumes costs will be averaged over more customers to solve the sustainability gap. But more customers require more servers, service, support, and security – so losses can compound with additional customers.
Microsoft decided it couldn’t afford to sell OKRs below cost
Only the largest companies with near-infinite cash can afford to run a Go for Broke strategy, yet even Microsoft saw it as unsustainable.
Sustainability is a risk factor
As startups run low on cash, their survival requires difficult Maslowian choices.
These have profound implications for your information security and continuity:
- No enhancements, more bugs: As they
reduce costs, they will be less responsive to
your evolving needs and less able to address
issues.
- Data security: Will they reduce what they
spend on Information Security and
Compliance to cut costs without cutting
features? What risks to you and your
employees will this create?
- Architecture shortcuts: Will they tack
features on top without adequate
architecture because they’ve reduced staff,
creating technical debt that doesn’t scale and
increases security risks?
- Layoffs: Will they layoff the support team
you’ve educated and built a relationship
with?
- Harm by former employees: Will laid
off employees create information security
and privacy risks?
- Wasted time and goodwill: Will you have to
find another system to replace this when it’s
shut down?
- Shutdown:Will it be an orderly business
closure or sudden and chaotic? Will you be
able to get your data back and where will it
go after the business closes? Who will ensure
it’s safely destroyed?
Fair Prices Protect You
The cheapest price is often a false victory – especially where reliability and security come into play. There is real cost to deliver great software, reliable security, and timely support you rely on year after year.
Ensuring your vendor can deliver and has a sustained commitment to deliver are essential in your selection criteria.
Choosing for the long term is choosing to succeed
Your needs will evolve with your strategy and as your implementation matures. You will want more depth in areas like dependencies and long-term strategy, more sophistication and ease of use in reporting, AI that drives the operating cadence, agents that do the work for team leads, and more. Choose a partner that understands your maturing enterprise needs, has the wherewithal to meet them now and in the coming years, and runs a financially sound business.
Typical costs to enhance, secure and support German implementations
Long-Time Leader, Long-Term Partner
WorkBoard is mission-driven and dedicated entirely to strategy execution since its launch over ten years ago by seasoned entrepreneurs building successful companies and leading business in large enterprises like IBM. It is trusted by Ford, Renault, Jaguar Land Rover, Unilever, Astrazeneca, Merck, and more; companies like Workday have used it enterprise-wide for over 6 years.
WorkBoard raised $150 million in venture capital to build great products ahead of achieving
profitability and added $15 million more in growth financing in 2025 to deliver the best global solution and support in the world. The company will be profitable in under twelve months with hundreds of enterprises as its customers.
