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Perpetual license in document management: more freedom, fewer constraints

Written by Gaspar Palmer on 1st December 2025

When an organization considers implementing a document management system, it is increasingly clear that the key question is not only “what does the software do?”, but also “under which licensing model am I going to live with it over the coming years?”.

In a context where the trend is to “rent” technology, OpenKM offers something different: the possibility of acquiring a perpetual license for its document management platform.

This means that, with a single license payment, your organization obtains the right to use OpenKM indefinitely, within its own infrastructure, with no expiry dates and no direct dependency on changing licensing models.

What does a perpetual license in OpenKM really offer?

In simple terms, a perpetual license means:

• One-time license payment: the organization acquires the right to use the software with no time limit.
• Full control over the environment: OpenKM runs in your infrastructure (or that of a provider of your choice), integrated with your security, identity and compliance policies.

In line with OpenKM’s philosophy, the perpetual license is complemented by additional value-added services:

“It is possible to acquire a perpetual license and, in addition, provide hosting, maintenance and backup services on a monthly basis,” emphasizes Gaspar Palmer, CEO of OpenKM.

In other words:

• You can purchase the license once.
• And, if you wish, separately contract additional services, such as:
  • Managed hosting.
  • Maintenance and updates.
  • Backup and monitoring.

In this way, the document management system can operate as a true strategic asset, without being tied to any specific provider.

Freedom to walk away if you choose

One of the strongest points of this approach is the real portability of your environment:

• If at some point you decide to change hosting provider…
• Or bring everything back to your own servers…
• Or move the solution to another provider’s infrastructure…

…you can migrate the entire OpenKM environment, including:

• The application.
• The database and the document repository.
• Metadata, histories, permissions and auditing.
• Workflows, templates and automation rules.

All this without losing documents, access rights or services along the way.

This approach significantly reduces the dreaded vendor lock-in: even if you rely on monthly hosting or maintenance services, the ownership and continuity of the system are not tied to the infrastructure where it runs. With OpenKM you can change hosting provider as many times as you wish, while always keeping your document management platform intact.

Data sovereignty, GDPR and AI within your perimeter

Document management systems have become a key element for GDPR compliance, by centralizing storage, traceability and access control to information.

With an OpenKM perpetual license deployed in your own infrastructure or in a controlled private environment, your organization can:

• Decide exactly where data resides and under which jurisdiction.
• Define retention and deletion policies aligned with regulations.
• Accurately document who accesses, modifies or shares each document.
• Provide full traceability in audits: from document creation to archiving or destruction.

On top of this comes the impact of Artificial Intelligence applied to document management. OpenKM allows AI engines to be integrated in on-premise environments, so that:

• Automatic classification, metadata extraction, semantic search and process automation run within the organization’s security perimeter.
• There is no need to send sensitive documents to opaque external services.
• Risks derived from international data transfers are minimized and regulatory compliance is facilitated.

The combination of perpetual license + local AI + data sovereignty in OpenKM fits especially well in organizations where documentation is critical: banking, healthcare, legal, industry, public administration, and more.

A practical example: business continuity and competitive advantage

Imagine an organization that acquires a perpetual OpenKM license and decides to host the solution with an external hosting provider – any provider could be an option – which offers infrastructure services, backups and platform maintenance.

Over time, several situations may arise:

• The provider decides to discontinue the service.
• Infrastructure costs increase significantly.
• Contractual terms are no longer competitive.
• Regulatory or tax requirements force a change.
• Or simply, the organization decides to change provider out of its own will and interest. Having the freedom does not mean you must exercise it, but it is always in your hands.

In many software models, these kinds of changes can become a serious problem: difficult renegotiations, technological dependency or, in the worst case, the need to almost start from scratch with another solution.

With OpenKM under a perpetual license, the scenario is different:

• The organization remains the owner of its document management platform, its data and all configuration.
• When changing provider, it only needs a new hosting environment (with another provider or in its own datacenter) and a short timeframe to redeploy the solution, thanks to the perpetual license it already holds.
• It can immediately continue operating without losing documents, permissions, workflows or services, securing its operations and business continuity without major issues. And it can repeat this process as many times as necessary, safeguarding its data sovereignty, independence and autonomy, without being at the mercy of whatever a strategic provider decides at any given moment.

This ability to move the solution quickly and safely delivers a clear competitive advantage:

• Business continuity is preserved, even in the face of unilateral decisions by the hosting provider.
• The organization can always choose the most efficient and cost-effective option, without being tied to price increases or changing conditions.
• The document management platform is consolidated as a stable and portable asset, fully aligned with the company’s long-term strategy.

Perpetual licensing in OpenKM: a commitment to strategic control

Choosing a perpetual license for your document management system is not just a financial decision; it is a strategic decision:

• Long-term ownership of the organization’s documentary core.
• The possibility of combining it with monthly services for hosting, maintenance and backups, without giving up control of the system.
• Freedom to change infrastructure provider as many times as necessary, without losing documents, access or services.
• The ability to integrate AI and regulatory compliance within your own perimeter, reinforcing data sovereignty and alignment with GDPR.

If you are rethinking how to manage contracts, records, business documentation or other critical information, the combination of OpenKM + perpetual license allows you to build a stable, portable system, ready to grow alongside your organization.

The logical next step? Request a demonstration and assess how this perpetual licensing model fits with your strategy for data sovereignty, regulatory compliance and the incorporation of artificial intelligence into your document management processes.