Risks of business software as a cloud solution
Firebird White Paper
Holger Klemt, January 2026
What should you do if your Porsche won't start or your cloud ERP is no longer usable?
Some readers will no doubt have already read the recent articles about dissatisfied Porsche customers in Russia whose vehicles no longer start, because a globally implemented anti-theft device in the vehicle permanently blocks the vehicle as a precautionary measure due to a lack of cloud access and shuts off the fuel supply in such a way that it cannot be circumvented with simple tricks, even though some providers have already offered workarounds. Porsche has sanctioned all support for Russia for good reasons, so no solution should be expected from that side.
What does this story have to do with a cloud ERP solution?
Well, sooner or later, a number of customers will surely notice this as well.
The idea for this White Paper was triggered by the decision of a medium-sized German company that had been using a self-written Delphi/Firebird application at numerous locations and had expanded it over the course of the last 30 years, implementing processes specific to their needs. Not everything was perfect, but in the area of logistics in particular, constantly changing standards were implemented in such a way that they precisely met their requirements.