[Spooky23]

Perpetual is just licensed software.

If you sell it for $100/user, you charge $20-30 per year for maintenance annually.

The OP is making no margin on his SaaS already and the client probably knows it. This is an opportunity to actually generate a return.

[DoreenMichele]

A quick skim of articles comparing perpetual and SAAS licensing suggest SAAS is more lucrative. If he's barely making a profit now, this sounds like it only gets worse.

I based my assessment of the scenario in part on this being his largest client. Large companies routinely screw over small ones. It is par for the course. You can basically assume that if a big company wants it, you are likely to lose your shirt if you are overly cooperative with their agenda. They are looking out for number one. They are not looking out for you.

[Spooky23]

YMMV.

It sounds like he didn’t price it right. SaaS is more profitable in general because you own the customers data, guaranteeing renewals, and it’s cheaper to support an app than support a customer on Amazon.

I made a lot of money selling a little application to an enterprise that did some data transformation. That enterprises policies would have prevented them from buying a SaaS from me.

[DoreenMichele]

It is always humbling to learn the limits of one's own knowledge. You've been very kind about it.

Best.