In the 1990s and 2000s, enterprise software was massive, implemented over several years, pushing time-to-value by that much. This meant that the IT and procurement teams made the decisions about what employees use, irrespective of the business needs.

Come cloud and Software as a Service (SaaS), tables have turned. The Spendflo State of SaaS Buying study shows that IT is involved in only 42% of decisions, procurement even less at 15%. Most individuals and teams today buy their own software and reimburse their companies for it.

On the other end, organizations have come to depend heavily on software. Unlike the days of Oracle and SAP, today, there are hundreds of great tools for every need. The project management category alone has over 1,000 products. 

Use cases as niche as time-tracking and proof-reading have dozens of products. Add to it the generative AI prowess, it would be surprising not to be overwhelmed with choices.

In essence, IT buying has changed irrevocably—as we find out from finance, procurement, and business leaders across the globe.

Snapshot of findings from the State of SaaS Buying Survey 2024

Decentralized buying: SaaS buying is decentralized (department heads are approving 70% of tool requests).

Large tool stacks: Tool stacks are 100+ on average; larger teams use much more. Engineering leads the pack in number of tools used. However, SaaS is also automating and streamlining finance, marketing and niche cases like compliance and grantmaking.

Expenses are growing: SaaS budgets have easily reached $500,000. In fact, 7% of respondents spend over $5 million, 10% over $2 million. A good 77% of respondents say their SaaS expenses increased over the last year.

As a result of scale and complexity, SaaS procurement is often inefficient. 

• Buying and implementing a tool can take over 60 days
• As many as 5-6 stakeholders are involved in the process
• SaaS management is either non-existent or scattered
• Data around SaaS buying, usage and sentiment is hard to find

The good news is that business leaders acknowledge these challenges and are actively looking for solutions.

Priorities: The top three priorities for finance and procurement leaders are cost savings, reducing wastage, and employee experience

Wishlist: Leaders are looking for a consolidated way to manage SaaS spending with visibility and dynamic recommendations for optimization.

AI: Embracing the flavor of the season, leaders are also looking for AI to help with their SaaS buying, management, and optimization.

Read about how finance, procurement, business, and marketing leaders worldwide are buying SaaS today. Benchmark yourself against your peers. Learn from the experiences of the collective.

Download the State of SaaS Buying Report 2024