Cloud apps dominate the tech portfolios of most companies today, but as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) stacks grow, leaders need to get a handle on spending and usage to minimize waste, rationalize new purchases, and wisely invest in more innovation and growth. While most IT leaders believe they have less than 100 apps, that number can easily reach well into the thousands, which explains why 30-40% of your IT budget can be dominated by cloud software, according to Gartner. Effective SaaS management can solve this problem. Here’s a look at how it saves you money.
Managing Cloud Software and Expenditures Gets Complex
SaaS managers face many challenges in getting a tighter grip on their growing list of assets and costs, leading to the need for SaaS optimization.
Cloud-Flation: Market conditions may be improving, but SaaS vendors continue to increase their pricing to ensure positive ROI. Between Q1 2023 and Q1 2024, 74% of SaaS companies hiked their prices with an average increase of 13%.
SaaS Sprawl and Shadow IT: Companies admit they have 10x more SaaS apps than they expect, leaving 40% concerned about cloud spending and usage and 50% worried about SaaS cost-per-user. This also stokes the flames of Shadow IT – the proliferation of unmanaged cloud apps across an organization.
Data Dilemmas: SaaS vendors are required to provide usage data, but most put the burden on the client to fuel improvements in license, expense, and risk management. That heavy lifting falls on you to identify underutilized or unused apps, reallocate licenses, and locate application purchases that might fall outside of the formal corporate contract – plus, app usage data and financial data are often scattered and disconnected.
Dark Billing: Contract auto-renewals and continuous app subscriptions often go unnoticed, keeping companies in a loop of unintended SaaS overspending.
How SaaS Management Solves It All and Saves You a Bundle
Cloud Expense Management (CEM) solutions, also known as FinOps tools, are purpose-built software and services for easily managing all SaaS apps, licenses, and costs across the enterprise. Here are five ways Tangoe’s clients save an average 30% on their applications using Tangoe One Cloud for SaaS management:
1. Avoid Unnecessary Spending with Unparalleled User Analytics for Microsoft 365
Microsoft 365 is a leader in market share, but to keep license costs low, companies using the Office toolset must understand which types of licenses are assigned to each user and which sub-products or features and functionality are used and by whom – something only the deepest visibility can grant.
Tangoe One Cloud is integrated at the deepest layer that Microsoft will allow, allowing companies to delve deep into usage patterns so they can see how to maximize utilization. For example, user analytics help SaaS managers give E5 licenses only to those that actually need them and reduce subscription levels without negatively impacting user productivity. See why no one does Microsoft 365 management and cost optimization better than Tangoe.
2. Reduce SaaS Waste as Employees Come and Go with Automated License Management
With employees coming and going, promotions triggering changes in information access, and evolving business strategies and projects, SaaS licenses are always on the move. Assets constantly in transition are more likely to go to waste, as they often get lost in the shuffle. This is a key factor in SaaS overspending.
Tangoe One Cloud negates these problems through hyper-automation. For example, customizable no-code playbooks offer 1,000 automated actions helping SaaS managers automatically assign or de-provision apps with shifts in staffing. Administrators can get employees set up quickly and easily even getting feedback on the best apps for role based on title and department. Customers can also create custom playbooks with ease based on their business rules and triggers.
3. One Unified Inventory for Cloud Software Empowers Tighter Financial Management
Dark billing thrives in a complex web of cloud services that Tangoe One Cloud unravels with centralized IT inventory management. Tangoe’s clients get one platform with a single view into everything:
- SaaS providers, apps, and the number of licenses
- Owners, users, and their usage habits
- Invoices and costs per month/year with billing details on corporate and even personal credit cards
- Contracts, terms, and auto-renew status
- Associated chargebacks and cost centers
Uniting SaaS management and financial management under one roof aids in strategic IT budgeting decisions that drive innovation and growth.
Tangoe One Cloud takes SaaS savings even further with the ability to automate bill pay. Clients can optimize payment distribution to all vendor accounts with a single payment, avoiding costly late fees and gaining efficiencies with better control and visibility into SaaS bills.
4. Wide SaaS Visibility Means No Assets Go Unmanaged
Tangoe has more than five ways to find out which cloud apps are running inside your corporate network and how each employee, team, and department is using each tool. Our CEM platform has direct integrations with 775+ SaaS apps and support for another +225K apps, plus our unrivaled Microsoft 365 user analytics. We offer the widest SaaS visibility to uncover current usage and cost with the ability to zoom in and out as needed to pinpoint waste, build security, and mitigate risk. This collection of usage and cost data is also crucial for negotiating better pricing with SaaS vendors to save even more.
5. Accelerate Savings with AI-Enabled SaaS Expense Management
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the not-so-secret weapon that puts Tangoe One Cloud for SaaS above competing solutions. From Shadow IT discovery and licensing insight to payments and contract renewals to provisioning and deprovisioning users, Tangoe One Cloud makes SaaS management easy across the enterprise with AI-powered automation and analytics that help identify unused resources, reduce duplicate apps, and maximize value.
Our platform automatically connects each app to its associated contract and financial transaction so you can see not just which apps are in use but what they are costing you – delivering crucial insights for budgeting, forecasting future needs, and optimizing SaaS spend.
Start doing SaaS management smarter with Tangoe One Cloud for SaaS.