Did you know that companies with less than 50 employees have about 60 applications in total, while those with 1000+ employees typically have over 850?
More importantly, if we asked you today how many SaaS applications you currently have in your organization, could you give us an accurate estimate?
If you answer no to that question, you probably need a SaaS management platform. If you can provide a rough estimate, consider this: Corporate IT security professionals estimate they have 30 to 40 apps in the cloud when the reality is a staggering 928 apps.
Not only that, but you likely have a large number of new apps being introduced to your organization every month, some even unknown to you in the form of Shadow IT.
Most companies don’t know they need to manage their SaaS applications until it’s too late, and there’s a security or compliance issue.
Instead, get ahead of any potential problems. If you’re still on the fence, answer these five questions.
1. Do You Know How Much You Spend on Software?
In most modern companies, people have embraced SaaS subscriptions. This is because more and more employees use an extensive range of software for work. It can be a communication tool, text editor, or a video editor.
When you couple the increased reliance on SaaS with how easy it is to buy, you can quickly develop a problem where your software costs are nowhere near relative to the return.
If you don’t know how much you spend on SaaS, then it’s probably time to find out with a SaaS management platform.
2. Have You Optimized Your SaaS Spend?
Closely related to the first question is whether or not your SaaS spend is optimized. We’ve written an article on how to cut your SaaS costs that details all the different ways software expenses can get out of control.Â
Here’s the quick overview:
- Extra licenses (shelfware)
- Inactive users (including former employees)Â
- Duplicate apps or multiple instances
- Unoptimized licenses and off-the-shelf pricing
If you have no idea whether these are a problem in your organization, they probably are.
3. Is Your Data Compliant?
Almost every SaaS application, whether it be a mobile CRM app or a project management tool, stores, or manipulates data somehow.
If you aren’t aware of the SaaS apps you’re employees use, you risk fines as high as $22 million.Â
4. Are Your SaaS Applications Secure?
The security worry comes from the fact that SaaS applications are often procured without the knowledge and control of IT teams. (This is also known as Shadow IT.)
Some of these services don’t have the necessary security controls in place, or existing controls are not being used correctly by employees. This hidden use is confounded by the fact that with SaaS security, overall security is as strong as its weakest link.
The result of Shadow IT is that there are more potential security gaps and endpoint vulnerabilities that hackers and cybercriminals can potentially seek to exploit than ever.
If you don’t know if your SaaS applications are secure, then you need to invest in making them visible and putting in place the necessary security measures.
5. Do You Have a Process for Offboarding Employees?
Many businesses invest more in onboarding than offboarding, and understandably: the start of a relationship feels like an essential place to focus than the end of one.
The benefits in terms of employee productivity, organizational efficiency, and reduced risk are well worth the effort to build a streamlined employee lifecycle.
The problem is that too many employees leave and retain access to critical information and software. If you’re not sure if that’s the case or don’t even have a process for employee offboarding, you need a single dashboard for all SaaS apps and usage.
Conclusion
If you answered no to one or more of the questions above, it’s probably time for you to invest in a SaaS management platform.
If you want to take back control of your software, get in touch with us today.
