Managing SaaS spend hasn’t been easy but has quickly become business critical. According to Gartner, as much as 30% of software licences are wasted through insufficient licence management, and with the average organisation using around 13 cloud-based apps, the cost of that wastage is spiralling.

Spreadsheets, calendars and single sign on are no match for the constant influx of new cloud apps, of which many can be unsanctioned.

Adding SaaS apps to the IT ecosystem may be smart, but managing them demands 3 requirements in order to manage and control that spending:

1. Greater visibility

Cloud apps are easy to hid from IT, and what you can’t see, you can’t measure or protect it.  SaaS mismanagement is always tied to increased cost and risk.

1. Accurate historical tracking

Spreadsheets are static and often riddled with errors. SSO governs only sanctioned apps.  So what do we need to take control of SaaS management once and for all? Put simply, accurate data, real-time reporting and strict governance.

1. Predicting future costs

SaaS apps are designed to scale, but without proper management they can blow any IT budget.  If companies want to contain future costs for cloud apps they need – well defined governance, modern monitoring technology, SaaS budgeting, utilization data, enterprise-wide visibility.  Businesses need to be able to estimate likely employee growth to determine how many licences they will need.  Only with an understanding of which apps are currently being utlised and how, can they predict what to budget for the future.

Businesses of every size need to get back control of their SaaS spend, before that SaaS spend takes control of them.