Replacing the vendor stack: office, HR, chat and cost

The short answer: most small companies did not choose a software stack; it accumulated, one reasonable subscription at a time. Before replacing anything, build a single table of what you pay and who uses it, because trimming unused seats and overlaps usually comes first. Then judge each tool on three things: what it costs as you hire, where it keeps your data, and whether you could leave. Replace one function at a time, keep your files in standard formats throughout, and test the exit from the new tool before you depend on it.

This page sets out that sequence and lists every article we have written on costs, comparisons, lock-in and the individual tools.

What is "the vendor stack", and why does it grow?

It is the set of rented tools a company runs on: mail and documents, a PDF editor, HR and payroll, team chat and meetings, device management, a password manager, an AI assistant, accounting, backup. Each arrived to solve one problem. Together they produce four effects that nobody decided on:

• A bill that rises with headcount. Per-user pricing scales with people, not revenue.
• Many logins. Each tool is an account to create when someone joins and to close when they leave.
• Data in many places. Every tool is another location for company and personal data.
• Many renewals. Staggered through the year, so price rises pass unexamined.

How much does a small company really pay?

Build your own table. One row per tool, with the price, whether it is per user or flat, the number of licences and the name of the person who asked for it. Bank and card statements are the reliable source.

In our worked example of a 25-person services company, with prices chosen only to illustrate the arithmetic, the usual set came to ₹66,000 a month before GST, or about ₹2,640 per employee per month. Your figures will differ in both directions. The point of the exercise is the total, which is rarely seen because no one person sees all the invoices.

Two developments since 2025 make the table more urgent. Microsoft raised the list prices of its commercial Microsoft 365 suites from 1 July 2026, effective at each customer's next renewal. And AI moved inside the bundles: it is now part of what an office suite costs, as an inclusion or as a paid add-on, whether or not every employee uses it.

What should you trim before you replace anything?

• Remove licences for people who have left or have not signed in for ninety days.
• Remove overlaps: two meeting tools, storage in three places, a PDF tool the suite already covers.
• Match plans to jobs. Not everyone needs the top tier.
• Buy AI licences by task and by name, and review quarterly.
• Bring renewals to one month, so increases are seen together.

These steps change no tool and annoy nobody. Do them first. What remains after trimming is the stack you actually need, and that is the one worth comparing.

How do the main bundles compare?

In one line each: Microsoft 365 is the safe choice when Word and Excel files travel between you and your clients; Google Workspace is the easiest to run for a team that works in the browser; Zoho One is the widest, with HR, CRM and accounts in the same bundle as mail and documents. All three are rented per user, and all three keep your data on the vendor's servers.

That last sentence is why the comparison is narrower than it looks. You are choosing which landlord, not whether to rent. The six alternatives pages take each product in turn, with facts from the vendors' own pages.

What is vendor lock-in, and how do you avoid it?

Vendor lock-in is when leaving would cost so much, in lost data, retraining or broken processes, that you stay even when the price rises. It is avoided when buying, not when leaving. Check three things before you commit:

1. Your data comes out, complete, in a standard format.
2. Your files open elsewhere. This is where open document formats matter.
3. The contract lets you go, with a notice period you can live with.

Then test the exit once, while you do not need it: export everything from the tool and open it somewhere else. Some lock-in is worth accepting for a tool that is clearly the best at its job. Accept it knowingly.

Owning the system does not remove lock-in by itself. A system you host can still trap you if it keeps data in a format nothing else reads. The same three checks apply to an owned stack, including ours.

Which functions can a small company bring in-house?

More than was practical a few years ago. Roughly in order of how easy the move is:

Each row is a real limit somewhere. The app articles below state the limits of the DNX tools one by one, so that you can check them against this table.

How do you switch without stopping work?

1. Pick one function, the one with the clearest cost or risk.
2. Run a pilot with five people for two to four weeks, on real work.
3. Keep file formats unchanged. Clients should notice nothing.
4. Run old and new in parallel for one cycle: a month for HR, two weeks for chat.
5. Export from the old tool before the subscription ends, and check the export opens.
6. Cancel at the renewal date, not before the parallel run has ended cleanly.
7. Then choose the next function.

A company that moves one function a quarter has changed its whole stack in two years without a bad week.

Where does DNX OS fit?

DNX OS is what we are building in answer to this problem, so treat this as a vendor's description. It is a standalone operating system that includes the office suite, PDF editing, HR, team chat, meetings, device management and an on-device AI assistant, with one login and one bill, on machines you own. In terms of the table you built, it is designed to replace most of the rows with one.

What we cannot tell you yet is the price. We have not published one, so we claim no saving figure. DNX OS is free for companies in the beta programme, which opens in December 2026, and launch is in January 2027. Nor does it cover everything: there is no simultaneous editing in a browser, payroll does not compute TDS or ESI, and a desk tied to Windows-only software should stay where it is. If the fit looks right, apply for the beta.

Which articles go deeper?

Cost and comparison

• What software really costs a 25-person company in India: the worked example, hidden costs and seven ways to cut the bill.
• Office and AI subscriptions cost more: what changed: the 2026 price changes and AI bundling, with sources, and a renewal checklist.
• Microsoft 365 vs Google Workspace vs Zoho One in India: what each covers, which suits whom, and what all three share.

Keeping the exit open

• Vendor lock-in: how to choose software you can leave: five ways software traps a company and a test to run before you buy.
• Open document formats: files you can leave with: ODF and OOXML, what governments are doing, and a modest rule for companies.

Function by function

• HRMS for small companies in India: what to look for: the nine areas that matter, the statutory list, and questions for every vendor.
• DNX People: HR and leave software for small companies: leave, attendance, payslips and expenses in eight screens, and where payroll stops.
• DNX Office: open and save Word, Excel, PowerPoint: the four apps, file compatibility and what to test.
• DNX PDF Editor: edit PDFs without a subscription: editing text, signing and permanent black-out.
• DNX Projects: a simple project and task tracker: projects, tasks and deadlines, and what it leaves out.

Related, from other guides

• DNX Team Chat: team chat that keeps data in India and DNX Mail: a business email app with private AI: chat and mail.
• Same data typed into ERP, CRM and Excel: how to stop: connecting the systems you keep.

The glossary defines HRMS, vendor lock-in, open document format and the other terms used here.