The SaaS "Seat Tax"
High per-user monthly SaaS fees drain agency budgets permanently. Scaling services to all citizens becomes financially unsustainable, locking data inside expensive proprietary cloud ecosystems.
Platform
RAPID2 Platform
Sovereign Digital Backbone
Break Free from the Proprietary Software Trap
RAPID2 (Reusable Application Platform for Integration and Development) is Voyatek's containerized, open-source framework, built on the success of RAPID, designed to modernize agency infrastructure with zero recurring license fees†, ultimate sovereignty, and AI-accelerated delivery.
† Recurring license fees: Zero recurring software license fees apply when your agency utilizes OnCore to build and implement the RAPID2 solution. Agencies that obtain the RAPID2 platform independently pay a one-time upfront fee, negotiated with OnCore, which remains a fraction of typical SaaS platform subscription costs. Implementation, hosting, and support are quoted separately.
Modernization Obstacles Faced by Government CIOs
Why traditional off-the-shelf software models and pure custom rewrites inevitably fail to scale.
Proprietary Vendor Lock-In
Once locked in, implementing simple adjustments requires expensive custom change orders. Your IT team hears: "That feature is impossible," or "Buy this added suite to run that report."
The Legacy "Franken-Code"
Traditional custom re-builds lack unified structure. Updating one functional area risks breaking another completely. Maintenance is costly, requiring highly niche talent.
Interactive ROI Tool
Calculate Your SaaS Platform Modernization Savings
Many SaaS platforms price internal staff and external portal users differently. Model both recurring license lines, then add realistic RAPID2 cloud hosting and maintenance staffing to compare total annual cost of ownership, not license fees alone.
Internal users (agency staff)
Full SaaS / CRM platform licenses for employees and case workers.
Typical enterprise SaaS tier: ~$275/user/month ($3,300/year). Premium and gov-cloud tiers cost more.
External users (portals & self-service)
SaaS portal modules for constituents, providers, partners, and organizations. Choose member-based (named accounts) or login-based (peak monthly sessions), registered population does not equal licensed members.
SaaS platforms typically size login licenses to peak-month volume, not total eligible population.
Typical login-based portal tier: ~$4/login/month.
Named portal accounts billed whether or not they log in.
Typical member-based portal tier: ~$10/member/month. Premium tiers: ~$35/member/month.
RAPID2 operating costs (estimated)
RAPID2 has no per-user license fees†, but agencies still pay for cloud infrastructure and staff to operate the platform. Defaults reflect a typical mid-size California deployment; your costs will vary.
Typical range: ~$10K/month for smaller agencies to $200K+/month for high-volume enterprise workloads. Default $50K/month ≈ $600K/year.
Staff to monitor, patch, release, and support the platform in production.
Example: 3 FTE × $150K loaded = $450K/year. Shared-service or vendor-managed models may differ.
System operational life
SaaS platform license fees recur every year. Multiply annual costs by the number of years you expect the system to remain in production.
Enterprise public-sector systems often remain operational 10–20 years or longer.
Internal license cost (annual)
$3,960,000
External license cost (annual)
$1,920,000
Combined annual SaaS platform license cost
$5,880,000
Combined license cost over 10 years
$58,800,000
Annual recurring subscription “seat tax” multiplied by years of operation (excludes implementation, integration, gov-cloud surcharges, and support).
RAPID2 cloud hosting (annual)
$600,000
RAPID2 maintenance staff (annual)
$450,000
RAPID2 recurring license cost†
$0
RAPID2 total annual operating cost
$1,050,000
Estimated annual savings (SaaS licenses vs. RAPID2 TCO)
$4,830,000
SaaS platform license cost minus RAPID2 hosting, staffing, and $0 license fees. Does not include one-time implementation for either path.
Estimated savings over 10 years
$48,300,000
Cumulative cost over time
Total spend accumulated each year: recurring SaaS platform license fees (red) versus RAPID2 operating costs (green). The widening gap is your estimated savings.
SaaS platform licenses (cumulative)
RAPID2 operating cost (cumulative)
‡ All RAPID2 and SaaS platform figures are planning estimates only. Cloud hosting, staffing, user counts, and contract terms vary widely by agency size, architecture, and negotiated rates. Adjust the inputs above to model your scenario.
* Figures are rough order-of-magnitude estimates for planning purposes only. They illustrate recurring SaaS platform licensing using publicly available list pricing and California public-sector disclosures as of June of 2026, not a quote for your agency. Internal and external users are licensed separately; external login pricing reflects peak monthly sessions, not total registered users. Actual costs vary by edition, add-ons, negotiated SLP/CMAS discounts, and gov-cloud surcharges (typically 15% of net spend on hosted products). ‡ RAPID2 hosting and staffing defaults are illustrative; small agencies may spend ~$10K/month on cloud while large high-volume programs can exceed $200K/month. Refer to publicly available data provided by California for SaaS and COTS costs.
Our Advantage
“We aren’t just selling you software; we are giving you a modern digital infrastructure that you own. You get the speed of AI-driven development and the flexibility of open source, with zero recurring license fees† to drain your budget. You can build, edit, and scale on your terms, no barriers, no ‘seat taxes,’ and no proprietary handcuffs.”
Agentic AI & Proven Delivery
Our Agentic AI development flow reduces the staff required to develop, maintain, and document the solution. OnCore has never failed a project, we know how to deliver for California agencies. Your team can use AI tools like Cursor AI and Claude for development, or choose to update code manually. You have complete freedom to decide how RAPID2 best integrates into your organization.
The Technical Engine Under the Hood
Engineered with modern, containerized architectures that standard state developers and administrators run with ease.
Cloud-Agnostic & Sovereign
Deploys directly into California State CDT AWS, Azure, or GCP tenants. You maintain full oversight of networking, perimeter parameters, and absolute data control. No 3rd party cloud lock-in.
AI-Powered Development
Uses Cursor AI environments with customized prompts to quickly build Online Forms from PDF templates, auto-generate standard documentation, or conduct routine audits in minutes instead of days.
Microservice Architecture
Decoupled .NET Core & React services run inside Docker containers. Easily moves from local developer instances to high-availability state clusters (Kubernetes/OpenShift) without code rewrites.
Visual BPMN & DMN Engines
Utilizes modern Camunda Designer core engines. Visual workflows and advanced logical decision tables (DMN) enable rapid design changes without modifying foundational software modules.
Pre-Integrated Utilities
Features prebuilt Master Data Management, PostgreSQL data warehousing, native secure Okta Single-Sign On integration, configurable batch ETL, and extensive auditing out of the box.
High-Compliance Blueprint
Tailored to California standards, with native compliance alignment for CJIS, SIMM 5300, and StateRAMP controls leveraging NIST 800-53 standards.
SaaS / COTS Platform vs. RAPID2
Evaluating system constraints to determine your true total cost of ownership.
| Capability / Attribute | Proprietary COTS / SaaS | The RAPID2 Edge |
|---|---|---|
| Per-User Seat Costs | High ongoing costs ("Seat Tax") | $0 recurring licenses†; total budget sovereignty |
| Customizability | Restrictive; vendor releases determine features | 100% Customizable React/API stack |
| UI Development Engine | Proprietary page designers / lock-in templates | AI-assisted forms generation using ADA framework |
| Rules & Workflows | Proprietary logic, custom licensing | Visual BPMN & DMN industry standard services |
| Infrastructure Deployment | Hosted in private vendor cloud | Sovereign State cloud tenants (AWS/Azure/GCP) |
| Migration & ETL Tools | Complex proprietary migration packages | Iterative, integrated batch/workflow ETL engines |
Enterprise Platform Architecture
RAPID2 utilizes microservices deployed on Kubernetes and Docker by default, and adapts to your agency’s preferred container and orchestration technologies. Orchestration lets the platform scale up or down to match demand, from pilot workloads to statewide volume.
The platform is built on open-source technologies with a modern stack your teams can operate in sovereign, state-managed cloud tenants. Key capabilities include:
Modern application stack
React frontend
Responsive, accessible user experiences built with React.
.NET business services
RESTful APIs on current .NET for reliable enterprise integration.
PostgreSQL databases
Relational storage with separate databases per service for clean boundaries.
Redis caching
High-performance caching for faster response times at scale.
Microservice architecture
Loosely coupled services you can deploy, upgrade, and scale independently.
Open source foundation
Built on open technologies your team can inspect, extend, and own.
Workflow, rules & automation
Workflow engine
BPMN 2.0 process design, execution, and background job processing.
Rules engine
DMN decision tables with dependencies and full hit-policy support.
Embedded modelers
Visual BPMN and DMN editors in the admin UI for workflow and decision design.
Online form engine
Digital forms with navigation rules and admin-configurable business logic.
Batch processing
ETL, data migration, and file processing with checkpoint and resume.
Integration services
Scheduled jobs and connectors for email, files, and agency system integration.
Documents, reporting & data
Document management
Flexible storage routing with database, filesystem, or cloud options and OCR search.
PDF generation
Template-based permits and documents with configurable stationary overlays.
Reporting & data warehouse
Tiered warehouse exports, ad hoc read-only reports, previews, and scheduled reporting.
Master data management
Entity matching, survivorship rules, and steward review for golden records.
Financial management
Agency accounts receivable with invoicing, payments, ledger, and KPI overview.
Portal billing
Self-service invoices and payment history with optional Stripe checkout integration.
Security, identity & operations
Enterprise authentication
Local JWT security or Okta OIDC single sign-on for full-stack identity integration.
Data encryption
Field-level and structured data protection for sensitive PII and PHI.
Centralized audit logging
Platform-wide audit trail for accountability and California security alignment.
Alerts & notifications
In-app notifications to keep staff informed in real time.
Multi-language support
Admin-managed translations and language switching for public and support flows.
Observability & telemetry
OpenTelemetry export, metrics, and optional monitoring dashboards for operations teams.
AI & constituent experience
AI chat & assistant
Optional AI assistant with semantic search over agency documentation to help staff and users find answers faster.
Containerized deployment
Docker packaging by default with Kubernetes orchestration for elastic scale in your cloud tenant.
Ready to modernize on your terms?
Engage the OnCore team today. Request a sovereign sandbox deployment configuration tailored to your agency workloads.