Identifying redundant SaaS subscriptions (Image by Octobits)
Octobits Blog – As your organization turns to SaaS solutions to meet diverse needs, identifying redundant SaaS subscriptions becomes an increasingly important activity.
Commonly known, the convenience and scalability of SaaS models have led to a rapid uptick in their adoption across industries.
However, this trend can inadvertently generate the costly issue of paying for multiple subscriptions offering similar or overlapping features.
This impacts a company’s bottom line and creates operational inefficiencies within organizations.
So, it is our time to look into more details and address these redundancies for greater efficiency.
What are SaaS Subscriptions?
SaaS subscriptions are a software licensing and delivery model where software is centrally hosted by a provider and made available to customers over the Internet on a pay-as-you-go basis.
This makes it easier and faster for companies to roll out new tools, adapt as their needs change, and let their employees work from anywhere.
You usually pay for them on a regular schedule – and this makes it easy for businesses to get the software they need quickly, scale up or down depending on what’s going on, and let employees work from anywhere.
It’s no surprise this approach is booming across all kinds of industries. Just check out data from the 2023 Software as a Service (SaaS) Market research report by Fortune Business Insights.
They’re predicting a massive jump in the global SaaS market, from around $273.55 billion in 2023 all the way up to a crazy $908.21 billion by 2030! That’s a seriously impressive growth rate.
It’s also interesting to see that both big companies and small to medium-sized businesses are really getting on board with SaaS. Large organizations like it because it lets them scale easily and generally saves them money.
They often use SaaS as part of their larger cloud-based setups to handle complicated systems across different locations.
Smaller companies appreciate that SaaS doesn’t usually cost them much upfront. This gives them access to powerful tools to help them stay competitive and grow their businesses.
Of course, even with all its benefits, managing all those SaaS subscriptions can get tricky. The challenge is making sure you’re only subscribed to what you actually need and that none of those subscriptions are going to waste.
Kindly check “Tracking and Organizing SaaS Subscriptions Made Easy: A Starter Guide,” for detailed guideline managing SaaS subscriptions.
The Importance of SaaS Management
Getting the most out of your SaaS subscriptions means having effective SaaS management in place.
This means carefully tracking how all your software is used, handling renewals, keeping costs under control, and making sure security across all your applications is strong.
As businesses rely more and more on different SaaS solutions, managing all those subscriptions gets more complicated.
A clear process becomes necessary to avoid wasted spending and inefficient workflows.
In the BetterCloud 2023 State of SaaSOps, we can see that the average organization today is using about 110 SaaS applications.
That’s a lot to keep track of! A big issue is that many companies don’t have good visibility into how much value they’re getting out of each application.
It’s easy to end up paying for features you don’t fully use, leading to unnecessary spending.
This is where SaaS Management Platforms (SMPs) come in. These give IT admins the tools to discover, manage, and secure all those SaaS applications.
This is crucial for maintaining a handle on your technology and making sure things are running smoothly and within security guidelines.
Platforms like Octobits offer a range of features, from automatically finding all the SaaS applications your company uses to helping you optimize SaaS costs and even advanced security measures.
Speaking of security, its importance in the SaaS world can’t be overstated.
Did you know that according to the BetterCloud report, 81% of IT professionals are now responsible for protecting sensitive data within SaaS applications?
This highlights why a good SaaS management plan must include strong security to prevent data breaches and ensure your business functions properly.
Signs of Redundancy in SaaS Subscriptions
Figuring out where you have redundant SaaS subscriptions is key to controlling those costs and making your operations run more smoothly.
Often, it comes down to several tools having overlapping features. This happens when different departments each pick out software that does similar things, maybe because they have slight preferences or someone on the team is already familiar with a particular tool.
It’s especially common regarding stuff like file sharing, project management tools, or even communication platforms.
Another clear warning sign is when specific subscriptions barely get used. Usage statistics can tell you this – you’ll see a bunch of licenses sitting idle or platforms getting very little attention.
Data like that points to areas where you could likely combine some subscriptions or get rid of them entirely to save some money.
Also, watch out for decentralized purchasing – that’s when different departments each buy subscriptions without a central plan. That often leads to a mess of overlapping tools and wasted money.
Also, if you notice your SaaS-related expenses creeping up unexpectedly, that can be a sign of redundancy.
Sometimes those costs increase as teams buy overlapping tools without IT or procurement teams really seeing what’s going on.
Using individual or department-level payment methods can make tracking down what subscriptions exist and who’s paying for them even harder.
Tools and Techniques for Tracking SaaS Use
Getting a handle on your organization’s software subscriptions means having the right tools and methods to track how everything’s being used. Let’s look at practical ways to get a good view of your SaaS landscape.
Manual Audits
The first step is often building an extensive list of all the SaaS subscriptions your company uses.
Gather info from procurement records, invoices, credit card statements – anywhere you can find it.
This will give you a solid overview of your software usage and help you start spotting any apparent overlaps.
You can also read “Guide to the Importance of Managing SaaS Expenses to Avoid Money Pit“ for guidance on risk assessment.
SaaS Management Platforms
Platforms like Zylo, BetterCloud, and Octobits are purpose-built for SaaS management.
These automate the whole tracking and management process, and the analytics they offer on usage patterns can be super helpful for identifying what’s underused or duplicated.
Think centralized tracking and powerful usage analytics; these are invaluable for controlling renewals and reducing unnecessary spending.
Browser Extensions
Tools like Ghostery, or features built into your browsers, can pick up on which SaaS tools are being used on websites.
This is a handy way to uncover shadow IT – those applications used within your company that IT may not know about. These could be causing overlap with your approved tools.
Performance Monitoring Tools
Want to get a bit more technical? SaaS performance monitoring tools like Datadog, New Relic, or Obkio can give you even deeper insights.
These tracks how well your SaaS applications are performing, with real-time visibility features that can help troubleshoot issues and make everything run more smoothly.
How do I Manage All My SaaS Subscriptions?
When you have a bunch of SaaS subscriptions to tackle, a platform like Octobits can make everything a whole lot smoother.
It’s designed to help IT managers and finance teams keep things organized. With Octobits, you can monitor usage, manage renewals, and get costs under control.
This becomes seriously important as companies grow – that’s when SaaS can start to get messy and those expenses add up, especially if there’s unnecessary overlap.
Octobits gives you one central dashboard to see all your subscriptions at once. This makes it way easier to spot tools that don’t get used much and pinpoint where you can potentially cut back to avoid redundancy.
The platform also helps automate those repetitive subscription tasks, like handling billing. That saves a ton of time and reduces the potential for mistakes.
Another good news is that Octobits is free for you in the next few months. Then it’s time to check how good Octobits are for your company.
And remember, we’re here 24/7 if you want a discussion session. You can easily schedule a time to talk with us on the Octobits contact page.
Conclusion
Specialized tools and knowledge of SaaS management best practices are instrumental in helping you reduce costs and streamline the way your teams work.
Optimizing your SaaS management requires ongoing effort, but IT professionals equipped with the right tools and insights are well-positioned for success.
By adopting these strategies, you’ll not only protect your organization’s bottom line.
You will ensure your entire technology stack is contributing to those larger strategic goals – and that includes identifying redundant SaaS subscriptions.
