For the last 15 to 20 years, what we’ve called innovation has largely been a period of consolidation. A handful of Big Tech giants have dominated the landscape, offering dirt-cheap services that, while limited, were deemed perfectly serviceable for the price. During this era, true innovation was happening elsewhere, but it often came with a price tag that made the giants’ convenience hard to resist.
However, this convenience came with a hidden cost: total dependency. Many businesses have been operating without fully realising that every critical tool they rely on is owned by a few US-based corporations—led by CEOs who are increasingly preoccupied with building apocalypse bunkers.
The world has recently taken a series of concerning turns, and for many in the industry, the ‘perfectly serviceable’ model is starting to feel like a liability. I am hearing from more and more clients who are expressing deep-seated concerns about their reliance on MS365, GSuite, and similar ecosystems. Their worries are practical and urgent:
• Loss of Access: Many are concerned they will suddenly lose access to vital services.
• Financial Volatility: There is a growing fear of unpredictable price increases.
• Data Sovereignty: Many feel a growing unease about the access and permissions these companies have to their data, should our international alliances shift.The alternatives that were once out of reach are now well within the price point for all SMEs. Unlike the stagnation seen in Big Tech, these independent solutions have become real growth drivers.
Whether it is using Proton for domestic and micro-business needs, or our own solutions designed for SMEs, there are now clear paths to independence. We need to return to a situation where you can trust a company to provide expertise without fearing they will rip you off or that you’ll be subject to geopolitical whims well outside of your control.
I don’t believe I’m overstating the situation: this isn’t a reason to fear the future, but a reason to get ahead of the crowd and embrace change. We must look after ourselves by bringing what we need more directly under our own control.
I want the success of my business to rest on my own shoulders, not the shoulders of capricious billionaires. While the world remains unpredictable, our IT doesn’t have to be. By choosing independence, I have final authority over its reliability, uptime, and costs.
