SaaS tools are a part of modern business. As your SaaS stack grows, so does the risk of overspending on unused licenses, duplicate tools, and unmanaged renewals. If your team still uses spreadsheets or manual tracking, you’re missing out on valuable insights and a big chunk of your SaaS budget. But there’s a solution.
An all-in-one SaaS management software, such as CloudFuze Manage, provides visibility, control, and automation to optimize usage and minimize SaaS sprawl. It assists you in discovering potential cost-saving opportunities quickly and saving up to 30% on your SaaS expenses. In this blog post, we will see how a strong SaaS management solution can make long-term savings.
The Hidden Costs of SaaS Sprawl
Modern businesses are using more than 130 SaaS tools on average, ranging from collaboration platforms and CRMs to HR tools and security software. Without a streamlined SaaS operations strategy, this distributed environment tends to create:
- Unused or dormant licenses
- Duplicate tools with redundant capabilities
- Shadow IT and unauthorized app usage
- Ineffective employee onboarding/offboarding procedures
- Unorganized vendor and contract administration
These problems not only result in overspending but also amplify the risk of security threats and non-compliance with the data protection law.
What is a SaaS Management Platform?
A SaaS Management Platform (SMP) is a unified solution that provides visibility and control of all SaaS applications utilized in the organization. It enables IT, procurement, and finance departments to:
- Identify and track active and inactive SaaS tools
- Monitor real-time app usage and license utilization
- Streamline user onboarding and offboarding
- Identify and remove shadow IT
- Streamline vendor management and contract renewals
- Enforce governance policies
Governing the entire SaaS operation[PR1] with a single SaaS management platform, such as CloudFuze, can lower costs, enhance security, and increase operational efficiency.
Why Your Business Requires an All-in-One SaaS Management Platform
It is complicated to manage an expanding set of SaaS tools. An all-in-one SaaS management platform is an imperative business strategy for SMBs and large enterprises today. Here’s why:
1. Centralized Visibility Across the SaaS Ecosystem
Without a single, unified picture of all software tools in use, companies are working in silos. An integrated SaaS management platform like CloudFuze provides centralized visibility into your entire SaaS ecosystem, including real-time information on application usage, user access, license assignment, and renewal timelines.
Its easy-to-use dashboard provides a top-level view, enabling IT and finance groups to easily navigate high-level metrics such as
- Total applications
- Active users
- Total SaaS expense
- Potential areas for cost savings
The platform also classifies SaaS apps and offers detailed spend analysis for every integrated app. With such visibility and control, enterprise teams are able to make informed decisions, streamline processes, and get complete control over their SaaS ecosystem.
2. Automation for Operational Efficiency
Manual processes such as onboarding, offboarding, license provisioning, and access management are time-consuming and bring in human error. SaaS management platforms do these workflows for you so that you can be more precise and leave IT resources for strategic initiatives.
3. Cost Savings and Spend Visibility
A SaaS management platform guarantees that every dollar spent on SaaS brings value by uncovering hidden costs, eliminating unused software tools, and streamlining license usage. This helps teams track expenses in real-time and hold departments responsible for software expenses.
4. Improved Security and Compliance
With features like shadow IT discovery, access controls, and audit trails, organizations can actively govern risks and store data securely. This can also help ensure compliance with regulatory standards such as GDPR and SOC 2 Type 2.
5. Scalability for Growing SaaS Portfolios
As your business grows, so does the number of SaaS applications it deploys. A scalable SaaS management platform anticipates this growth and delivers consistent control and visibility across departments, regions, and business units irrespective of the size and intricacy of the enterprise.
Implementing an all-in-one SaaS management platform is a strategic investment that aligns financial discipline, operational effectiveness, and risk mitigation across the enterprise.
How SaaS Management Platforms Save 30% on Costs
Let us look closer at how implementing a SaaS management platform can save your SaaS costs up to 30%:
1. Optimize and Reclaim Licenses
Idle users, lapsed subscriptions, and over-allocated license assignments are some of the most common causes of SaaS waste. A SaaS management platform provides IT organizations with real-time insight into what licenses are not being used, so they are aware of what can be resized, repurposed, or canceled.
For example, let’s say if a company spends $150,000 annually on a productivity suite, but 25% of the licenses are not in use. Licensing optimization alone could save $37,500 annually.
2. Automate Offboarding to Prevent Waste Spend
Offboarding manually often leaves former employees with access to paid SaaS tools, wasting licenses and adding data security risk. An SMP automates offboarding, so access and license reassignment are instantly terminated when an employee departs.
Not only is this cost-saving, but it also enhances your organization’s security.
3. Identify and Eliminate Shadow IT
Shadow IT refers to applications employees use without the IT department’s knowledge or approval. While generally with a positive motive, shadow IT is a security and compliance risk and an unmanaged cost factor.
For example, a set of employees may start using Trello without IT’s approval even though the organization has an Asana subscription. This leads to duplicate expenses and exposes sensitive data to risk through unmanaged access and a lack of visibility.
SaaS management platforms detect unauthorized apps running across your network and allow IT to block or consolidate them so that only approved tools are used company-wide.
4. Simplify Applications and Consolidate Vendors
Most organizations do not realize that they are paying for multiple duplicate apps for the same purposes, such as more than one project management, messaging, or video conferencing app. An SMP provides insights into app redundancy and usage organization-wide so that companies can consolidate duplicative services.
This rationale not only saves hard dollars but also increases efficiency by placing organization-wide standardization.
5. Improve Contract and Renewal Management
Without a centralized approach, businesses get lost in track of renewal dates or automatically renew subscriptions without verifying actual usage. SaaS management software provides automated renewal notifications and contract tracking, allowing finance and procurement teams to negotiate better terms on the basis of fact-based data.
With usage insights, businesses can avoid overpaying and subscribe only to what they use.
Why Now Is the Time to Act
SaaS growth is increasing exponentially. With digital and AI transformation accelerating in all industries, the average enterprise SaaS footprint will only become even more complex. Without proper management, this can mean out-of-control expenses, inefficient processes, and critical security threats.
Therefore, it is important that companies invest in an all-in-one SaaS management platform. By doing so, organizations will have control of their SaaS environment, avoid unnecessary expenses, enhance operational agility, and enable teams to innovate strategic priorities instead of looking for unused or redundant subscriptions.
Final Thoughts
With a complete SaaS management platform, your business has the visibility and control it requires to reduce SaaS expenses by as much as 30%. So, invest in a specialized SaaS management solution like CloudFuze Manage today!