The Problem with Everbridge (and How to Solve It for Good)

August 11, 2025

For the past year, I’ve been busy building applications in Node.js, React, and other modern frameworks. But my first love has always been Power Apps.

The ease of building, the ability to tie multiple apps together, and the power to integrate directly with the tools an organization already uses means you’re no longer stuck doing things the way a company like Everbridge thinks resilience should be done.

Instead, you can build the program you actually want and need — one that works more efficiently, fits your organization perfectly, and costs a fraction of what you’re probably spending now.

For years, Everbridge has been the brand name people throw around when they talk about mass notification. It’s been the “safe” choice, the one that looks good on a board slide and makes executives feel like they’ve bought peace of mind.

But in 2025, that old model doesn’t just feel outdated. It’s overpriced, overly complex, and tied to a vendor you’ll never truly own.

The reality? Most organizations can build 90% or more of what Everbridge offers inside Microsoft Power Apps, using the tools they already have — without paying a six-figure annual bill.

And with the right approach, you can go beyond just notifications, creating a fully integrated resilience platform that actually improves how you respond when things go wrong.

The Cost Problem

Everbridge isn’t cheap. There’s the licensing fee, which is high enough on its own. Then there’s the setup. Then the customization. Then the training.

And heaven help you if you want the system to work the way your organization works — because that’s when the real costs kick in. I’ve seen organizations hire Everbridge’s own developers just to make the product usable for their needs.

With Power Apps, you already have the foundation if your organization runs Microsoft 365. There are no per-alert or per-user charges. The free connectors tie into Outlook, Teams, SharePoint, and more — without forcing you into premium licensing.

And the best part? You own it. You’re not renting access to someone else’s platform. You’re building something that belongs to you.

The Complexity Problem

Everbridge was designed to do a lot. That’s both its strength and its weakness.

Most organizations don’t need a platform that can send alerts to 500,000 people across 17 communication channels. They need something that can send a message to the right people at the right time and track who responded.

Power Apps does this with a fraction of the complexity. You can build a notification app that sends alerts via email, Teams, or SMS, tracks responses, and logs everything in SharePoint — all in a weekend.

No vendor training required. No implementation team. No six-month rollout. Just a tool that works the way you need it to.

The Ownership Problem

Here’s the part that should bother you most: when you pay for Everbridge, you don’t own anything. You’re renting access.

If you stop paying, you lose everything. The data, the workflows, the integrations — all of it disappears.

With Power Apps, you own the app. You own the data. You own the workflows. If you decide to move on, you can export everything and take it with you.

That’s not just a cost advantage. It’s a strategic one.

The Integration Problem

Everbridge tries to integrate with other systems, but it’s always on their terms. You’re working inside their ecosystem, using their APIs, following their rules.

Power Apps flips that. It integrates natively with Microsoft 365, which means Outlook, Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, and Dynamics 365 all work together without custom connectors or premium add-ons.

And if you need to connect to something outside the Microsoft ecosystem? Power Automate handles that too. You can tie Power Apps into Slack, ServiceNow, Salesforce, or any system with an API.

The difference is that you’re in control. You’re not waiting for Everbridge to build a connector or approve a feature request. You’re building what you need, when you need it.

What You Can Build with Power Apps

Here’s what a resilience platform built in Power Apps can look like:

Mass Notification App: Send alerts via email, Teams, or SMS. Track who responded and when. Log everything in SharePoint for audit purposes.

Incident Management App: Log incidents, assign response teams, track status updates, and generate after-action reports.

Business Impact Analysis (BIA) App: Collect data from departments, calculate RTOs and RPOs, and generate reports for leadership.

Crisis Management Dashboard: Real-time view of active incidents, response team status, and communication logs.

Recovery Plan Repository: Store and manage recovery plans with version control, approval workflows, and automated reminders for updates.

All of these apps can talk to each other. They can share data. They can trigger workflows. And they can do it all inside the Microsoft ecosystem you’re already paying for.

The Real Question

The question isn’t whether Power Apps can replace Everbridge. It can.

The question is whether you’re ready to stop renting someone else’s platform and start building your own.

If you’re tired of paying six figures for a tool that doesn’t quite fit your needs, if you’re frustrated by vendor lock-in and implementation delays, and if you want a resilience platform that actually works the way your organization works, Power Apps is the answer.

You don’t need Everbridge. You need ownership. And Power Apps gives you that.

Beyond Notifications: Building Your Entire Resilience Program

This is where Power Apps becomes a game-changer. Your notification system doesn’t have to be a standalone tool. It can be part of an entire resilience ecosystem built inside Power Apps.

Imagine this:

• A mass notification app tied directly into your crisis management dashboard.
• Your BIA and risk assessment tools connected so you know exactly what functions are impacted and how to prioritize.
• Resource and vendor management apps ready to mobilize support instantly.
• Coordination tools that keep executives, crisis teams, and operational staff on the same page, in real time.

When those apps talk to each other, you’re not just sending alerts — you’re managing the entire disruption from one environment your people already use every day.

That’s something no standalone notification vendor can deliver without expensive integrations and ongoing fees.

How PAI Consulting Can Help

At PAI Consulting, we build mass notification systems in Power Apps that your organization will actually own. You deal with us once (we design, build, and deploy the system) and then it’s yours forever.

No annual vendor ransom. No surprise costs. No per-user licensing fees.

And if you want to go beyond alerts, we can help you design your entire resilience program in Power Apps.

That means every app in your response toolkit can be tied together, so you’re not just reacting — you’re responding faster, smarter, and more effectively than you ever could with an off-the-shelf vendor product.

Everbridge might still work for a handful of organizations. But for everyone else, 2025 is the year to start owning your tools, control your processes, and stop paying for complexity you don’t need.