How Long Does UnSaaSing Take?

The timeline question is the one that decides whether a company starts. Raphael Bennett, Co-Founder and Principal at REV Global, answers it without theater. Typically about 60 days to replace a product, with open source that covers the need, or something specific to the business.

That is the mid-market average, not a promise. Size, age, and how much history you drag over decide the window. This is part five of UnSaaSing in practice.

About 60 days for a product

Sixty days is not a full rewrite of the company. It is one product: the workflow you picked, running on rails you own, in parallel with the old system until it proves itself. That sequencing is the point of own, don't rent. You are not boiling the ocean. You are replacing a layer.

What is faster, what is slower

Comms, Slack and Teams class, move faster. Keeping those conversations inside your four walls is important, and those moves are easier to replicate.

ERP is slower: finance, inventory, accounting, customers. 60 to 90 days, up to 6 to 12 months. The range is honest because the variables are honest. A three-year-old company with clean books is not a 20-year-old company with five charts of accounts.

Illustrative practitioner ranges based on REV Global engagements. Results vary.

The cleanest cut

You do not have to migrate every ghost record to get a system you own. The cleanest cut we see: lock a fiscal-year start. Export. Warehouse the history. Start fresh. The old data is still there if you need it. The new system is not haunted by it.

That is also why a Stack Audit comes first. The timeline is only useful once you know which product you are actually replacing. Next: the mistake companies make when they try this on their own.

UnSaaSing in practice, part 5 of 8. Previous: What SaaS Sprawl Actually Costs · Next: The Biggest Mistake Companies Make When They UnSaaS