But the lesser-known fact is that the SaaS buying process is broken. Companies don't have the bandwidth to evaluate, negotiate and track renewals for over a hundred apps they use. 

Let us put this in a simple question. Do you think you have full visibility of your company’s SaaS spending? You do have access to the financial reports, but does it drill deeper into SaaS usage or miscellaneous/hidden costs? The answer most probably is a no. 

Companies pay exorbitant prices for software they use and extend that to tools that are sitting idle. How do you fix this? We have got you answers right in this blog. 

The growth of SaaS spending 

The SaaS industry has been growing significantly in the past few years. Companies are boosting digital services and are opting for cloud technology for better system stability, to promote hybrid work set-up and other infrastructure updates brought in by the pandemic. Leaders and decision-makers are now embracing SaaS business models to drive better results. 

Rewind to the 2010s; every SaaS company had an average of 3 competitors. Fast forward to the 2020s, there is an average of 10 competitors between companies competing in the same SaaS market segment. SaaS spend is growing at +25% YOY. But what is more astonishing is that companies waste 30% of their SaaS spends. This is due to various reasons, including 

• Duplicate apps
• Forgotten license cancellations 
• Unused licenses and more. 

But how do you keep track of your SaaS spends? How to oversee your licenses? How do you track SaaS usage? Simple, adopt a SaaS spend management solution. Read further to find out why you need it. 

Why do you need a SaaS spend management solution? 

The pace at which companies spend on SaaS will not decrease in the coming years. While these SaaS tools are easy to procure, install, use and update, these same features can cause downfall. With multiple applications, tracking their usage and spend can become a nightmare for the IT and Finance teams. Here are a few ways in which SaaS spend management solutions can help. 

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1. Identify Shadow IT: Companies with multiple departments working out of different locations don’t have a centralized platform to view all their SaaS licenses. Moreover, well-meaning employees sometimes buy SaaS that bypasses the IT department’s watch. This can have potential security issues. 

2. Evaluate unused licenses: Keep track of the licenses mapped to each employee, so you can revoke or cancel the license when they leave your company or shift teams. 

3. Automate approvals:  Convoluted and long SaaS approval timelines add a lot of friction in the SaaS buying process. These long-winding processes either reduce productivity or push end users to bypass IT department’s scrutiny while purchasing SaaS.  A spend management software can accelerate approval cycles by automating these workflows and sending regular reminders. 

4. Monitor SaaS spends: You can’t fix what you can’t see. And without a centralized view of all your SaaS spends you can’t identify and fix leaks.  

5. Track SaaS usage: Understanding how employees use SaaS tools is essential to find out which tool is worth spending on. A SaaS spend management tool, helps you track how your employees.

6. Fast-track Vendor Security Reviews: Vendor security reviews are crucial. Doing them guards you from potential future security risks and penalties. But they happen in multiple email threads between vendors and stakeholders, making the process tedious. A spend management can do fast track your vendor security reviews.

Who benefits from a SaaS spend management solution? 

Different SaaS tools benefit different teams in an organization. But who gets the full benefits out of a SaaS spend management solution? Here’s the list. 

Finance teams: SaaS buying constitute the majority of a company’s budget. With complete visibility of the SaaS spending, the finance teams can forecast future budget effectively. They can also identify and fix spend leaks. 

IT security team: IT security team is responsible for data leaks and shadow IT. They can easily track and trace all crucial information with better visibility of the SaaS apps and licenses. 

Infosec team: A centralized repository of SaaS contracts enables infosec team to accelerate security compliance. They can also fast-track vendor security reviews.

What are the features to look out for in a SaaS spend management solution? 

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Here are a few must-have features you should look for before investing in one. 

1. Real-time spend tracking

No company wants to find out that they had overspent at the end of the quarter or month. Get a spend management software that tracks expenses instantaneously. It should provide you better visibility on what each department or employee is spending on SaaS procurements. This won't restrict employees but will help you oversee your expenses. 

2. Asset management 

Here you can get an overview of all things SaaS within your organization. You get a centralized view of all the SaaS apps you’ve subscribed to. You can track the usage of each app. Get an overview of the spends on SaaS and get granular insights for each app. It helps you identify spend and security leaks. Insights you get from here can be utilized by all your teams to optimize their SaaS stack. 

3. Automate workflow 

SaaS spend software reduce approval cycles on renewals and new purchases. If done manually, the approval emails to all the stakeholders might slip through the cracks, delaying employees’ access to the tools. A good SaaS spend management software automates these processes and route them to the right department or teams. 

4. Seamless integration 

Companies now use multiple tools for accounting. Your SaaS management tool should be able to integrate with other accounting tools and remain a single source of truth for all company’s accounts. This also includes importing data from spreadsheets without any data miss or leakage. 

5. Reporting 

No software is good without reporting capabilities. It should give you insights on purchase history and tracking down purchases to the individual/department level. Reporting is a must-have feature to limit spending and plan your budget effectively. 

Why should you choose Spendflo as your SaaS spend management solution?

The answer is quite simple. Spendflo is your ultimate solution for all things related to SaaS. Spendflo, a modern SaaS spend management platform helps companies centrally procure, manage, track and save on their SaaS. While the above-mentioned features are a must-have for a SaaS spend management software, Spendflo takes these basic features for a modern spin and provides more. Why should it be your next SaaS investment? Here’s why. 

1. Assist in SaaS buying decisions

Get insights on the latest SaaS tools and product information right from Spendflo. Evaluate how your existing and new tools work together and get smart ratings on the ease of integration. This will help you avoid friction in your workflow. Get deep insights on key SaaS vendors’ pricing, implementation time, and support and take an informed decision. Learn how to customize your contracts to suit your needs. 

2. All your vendors in a unified platform 

Spendflo lets you manage all your SaaS vendors in one single platform. Shift to thoughtful procurement and evaluate multiple tools and competitors before choosing the right software for your business needs. 

3. Fast-track approval workflows

You can now easily manage renewals and streamline your approval workflows. Get clear visibility on renewals, ownership, and cost savings and move swiftly from request to purchase status. Furthermore, you can get timely reminders on your renewals. You can also enjoy hassle-free purchases by routing approvals directly via Slack.

4. Manage your contracts 

With Spendflo, you can manage all your contracts under one roof. Use the intuitive category-based search to locate the software without getting lost in infinite scrolls. This gives you adequate bandwidth to plan renewals ahead of time. 

5. Drill down to track employee SaaS usage

You can track the usage of each saas tool for each department and user. You can also track them based on their roles as an administrator or user. Get insights on your team’s usage patterns and cut down on extra licenses, and pay for what you actually need. 

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6. Deep dive into visual insights 

Get insights on usage trends with intuitive visualizations. Derive data-driven insights in visual formats, including charts, to make smarter purchase decisions. 

7. Simplified vendor security reviews 

Bid goodbye to never-ending email threads and bring all your stakeholders and sales executives together for seamless collaboration on vendor security. Also, bring together IT, legal, infosec, and finance to request and review essential security documents from the vendor. Flag security concerns and track each progress to know where it's struck to help things move faster and get faster resolutions. 

Spendflo guarantees up to 30% on your SaaS stack. Not just cost savings, but Spendlfo also saves you time by doing all the heavy lifting right from competitor analysis to negotiating the best deal for your saas procurement. If you don't believe it, hear what our customer says. 

Does all this sound so good to be true? Then try it for yourself. Also, you can get your money back if you don't save with Spendflo. No strings attached. 

Wrapping up 

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Keeping track of all your SaaS usage and spends will offer a better understanding of your SaaS ecosystem. A good SaaS spend management software should bring down human intervention and help you optimize your SaaS spending. 

Spendflo makes your entire SaaS buying cycle faster, cheaper, and more efficient. And the best part is you can get started with us in 5 simple steps. 

• Step 1: Spendflo analyzes your SaaS stack and shows you what you could be saving.
• Step 2: You can directly request and approve new tools using the slack app or the dashboard. 
• Step 3: We get the best deals and terms based on your needs and software preferences. 
• Step 4: We handle end-to-end IT clearance, legal approval, and compliance processes.
• Step 5: You can get started with your new tool. 

Hop on to the Spendflo SaaS spend management platform and start saving. 

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