How to break free from the SaaS cost trap
USU Solutions International
We deliver Smart Solutions for a better Service World
In the last ten years, we've seen an explosion of SaaS applications and features hit the market. The current excitement about AI has only fueled this SaaS boom, as organizations rush to adopt the latest offerings from emerging vendors. Market research proves this trend with respective data:
Yet, it's astonishing that 53% of these SaaS licenses go unused—this is not just a minor oversight, it's a major drain on financial resources!
What challenges do companies face?
Navigating the vast array of SaaS applications used in an organization can be overwhelming for IT teams and business units: They have to master the complexity in the IT stack and achieve transparency in the SaaS and cloud environments while keeping rising costs under control.
Making matters even worse is the increasing amount of so called departmental or "democratized IT" – formerly known as “shadow IT”. For instance, the HR team might be more adept at choosing employee management software like SAP Success Factors than the IT department. Thus, IT transparency deteriorates amid decentralization and the traditional role of IT departments as the gatekeepers of technology is diminishing as tech becomes essential to every aspect of business. This often leads to a proliferation of solutions, each essentially duplicating functionality. At the end, this proves to be very inefficient from a financial, productivity, and governance standpoint.
IT teams and business units find themselves at the nexus of converging pressures, emanating from CTOs, CFOs, and other senior leaders, compelling them to enhance IT visibility and curtail costs amidst a backdrop of global challenges.
How can organizations break free from the SaaS cost trap?
Trimming SaaS costs isn't a one-time fix – it’s a journey of continuous improvement that should be accompanied by a Software Asset Management tool. This is indispensable for ensuring transparency and making the best possible use of the software budget.
A SAM solution enables you to effectively monitor and control your software investments and license obligations. It automatically determines which applications are in use and how many users are using them. This applies not only to applications in the company's own data center ("on premises"), but to software that a company obtains through the cloud aka Software-as-a-Service (SaaS).
Regain command over your SaaS budget utilizing a SAM tool:
Stay ahead of the game by regularly assessing your SaaS landscape, implementing savvy money-saving tactics, and fine-tuning your budget. By doing so, you'll ensure that your SaaS investment delivers maximum value at the best possible price.
Just do it in the USU way
For many years, USU’s enterprise customers with large IT infrastructures benefit from cost savings by 30% and more while mitigating technology risks. Our Software Asset Management solution is not limited to determining the status quo. It also allows the reallocation and transfer of licenses to be initiated. This allows customers to adapt the type and number of licenses to actual requirements. Over-licensing and under-licensing are avoided.
You may wonder if USU is worth the investment and what’s in for you. That’s why USU commissioned Forrester Consulting to evaluate the ROI of USU Software Asset Management. See how a large global life sciences organization found benefits of over $10.2M using our SAM for Saas solution.
Let us know if you have further questions, or if you’re interested in a meeting where we can analyze your potential savings in a live demo!