TCO
Count hosting, engineering, monitoring, upgrades and optimization time in addition to license fees.
TCO →Technology choice
SaaS search or open source: compare the entire management load.
Open source offers a lot of technical freedom. SaaS shifts a larger part of infrastructure and product development to the supplier. Which shape fits depends on team, requirements, risk appetite and desired control.
PartSaaS searchOpen source
ImplementationProduct + integrationMore own configuration and infrastructure
Technical controlWithin product and API limitsLots of direct technical freedom
OperationsPartly at supplierMore internal ownership
ExpertiseMore product-based decreasedNeed more internally
RoadmapSupplier product + own integrationOwn technical roadmap
Beyond license
Take operations, expertise and exit opportunities with you.
Operations
Decide who is responsible for availability, latency, index freshness and incidents.
Operations →Expertise
Assess whether relevance tuning and search engineering are structurally available internally.
Search Quality →Exit & portability
Determine which data, configuration and integration contracts should remain transferable.
Selection centre →Compare SaaS and open source over the same management period.
This makes licensing, infrastructure, team capacity and operational risk more fair comparable.