Global Mobility Platform for Relocating Employees: Build Cost in 2026

The verdict in three sentences

A Paris-based group managing 260 expatriates across 34 countries commits between 39 and 78 million euros a year to assignment costs, often tracked with spreadsheets and shared inboxes. A custom global mobility platform centralises assignee files, immigration deadlines and relocation vendor work, where off-the-shelf tools charge 30,000 to 70,000 EUR a year. At Kolonell, this kind of platform costs between 3,810 and 22,870+ EUR (2,500,000 to 15,000,000+ FCFA) depending on complexity, with the rest set in the quote.

The real cost of poorly managed mobility

An international assignment costs on average 150,000 to 300,000 EUR a year per employee once salary, allowances, housing, schooling, social security and tax are added up. At that scale, an expired residence permit or an unplanned double-taxation issue weighs far more than the cost of a tool. The same holds for HR teams in London, Frankfurt or New York running long-term assignments.

The mobility team at such a group is often 3 to 5 people. Every hour recovered from admin is an hour spent negotiating packages or supporting families.

Buy software or build custom

Specialist vendors cover the standard cases well: package calculation, assignment management, cost tables. They become less relevant when your mobility policy has many exceptions, when your vendors are not those the software already integrates, or when you want to connect the platform to your HRIS and payroll without another subscription.

Custom makes most sense from around 100 to 150 active files, or when your workflows do not fit standard software. Below that, a well-configured market tool may be enough, and we say so plainly during scoping.

Typical functional scope

The core includes an assignee file (assignment letter, family, country, key dates), a deadline engine for visas, residence permits, A1 social security certificates and assignment end dates, a vendor workspace where relocation firms, movers and tax advisers receive tasks and upload documents, and a cost dashboard by country.

The simple level (3,810 to 6,100 EUR) covers files, deadlines and alerts. The medium level (6,100 to 10,670 EUR) adds the vendor workspace, the employee portal and approval workflows. The complex level (10,670 to 22,870+ EUR) integrates the HRIS, multi-currency financial consolidation and executive dashboards. Interface languages, hosting and specific connectors are set in the quote.

On compliance, a platform storing passports, family situations and tax data clearly falls under GDPR: EU hosting, encryption, access logs and documented retention periods are part of the specification from day one.

Mini case study

Claire, head of global mobility at an engineering group in Paris, tracks 260 assignees with a team of 4. By cutting tracking time from 8 h to 3 h per file per month, she frees 5 h x 260 = 1,300 hours a month, the equivalent of several roles redirected to employee support. On the financial side, avoiding a single expired-permit incident, whose cost (repatriation, penalties, interrupted assignment) easily exceeds 40,000 EUR, covers a complex-level project on its own. Against a 50,000 EUR annual licence, a custom platform at 20,000 EUR plus 183 EUR monthly maintenance comes to about 22,200 EUR in year one. These figures are an estimate to validate against her own data.

FAQ

How long does it take to launch the platform?

Allow 3 to 5 months depending on scope, including 3 to 4 weeks of scoping with the mobility team. A first release with files and alerts can be live in month 2.

Is the platform GDPR compliant?

Yes, it is built with EU hosting, document encryption and an access log. Retention periods, for example 5 years after assignment end, are configured to your policy.

Can we connect our HRIS and payroll?

Yes, via API or scheduled file exchanges. This integration belongs to the complex level and its exact cost depends on your vendor, so it is set in the quote.

Do relocation vendors have to pay for access?

No, they get a guest account with no licence. Across 34 countries it is common to work with 15 to 25 different vendors, each restricted to their own files.

What should we budget for maintenance?

Three plans are available at 53, 114 or 183 EUR a month (35,000, 75,000 or 120,000 FCFA). For a platform used by 260 employees, the standard or premium plan is the best fit.

Let's scope your project. Share your number of assignees, host countries and vendors, and we will define the scope and a phased go-live plan. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.