What Is SaaS Management?

Today’s business environment is highly digital and highly connected, with new software-as-a-service (SaaS) platforms emerging every day, promising sleek new solutions to age-old problems. Businesses find plenty of value in these services, yet they can also find it frustrating to keep track of multiple platforms and contracts—not to mention getting these tools to work well together. Enter SaaS management—a unique type of tool that solves exactly those issues.

It all started with the creation of Salesforce—widely considered to be the first SaaS platform to hit the business world. Since then, the SaaS market has fueled a sort of “new normal” of sorts. It’s a marketplace where new software solutions are spun up quickly and delivered efficiently, with new solutions constantly entering (even disrupting) the scene.

To say that SaaS is everywhere would be a dramatic understatement. From customer relationship management to sales and marketing tools, SaaS has thoroughly permeated the modern business world.

In fact, if we fast-forward to the tail-end of 2023, many companies find themselves with plenty of SaaS solutions at their disposal—in some cases, too many. In 2022, for example, the average organization was using 130(!) different SaaS applications. Well, it might be more accurate to say that the average company is paying for that number of applications—not necessarily using them. Needless to say, shadow IT is a growing, and expensive, risk.

Redundant applications, cumbersome workflows, and skyrocketing tech costs are among the results, as tech stack proliferation becomes a reality for these companies.

What’s needed is a SaaS management solution—one tool to rule them all. Rather, one tool to help optimize and streamline business technologies. But what is SaaS management, exactly? And what are SaaS management solutions? How can they help your business? And how do you find the best SaaS management platforms on the market? These answers and more are just ahead.

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What Is SaaS Management and How Does It Work?

SaaS management refers to a set of tools and techniques for getting the most out of your various software programs. Doing this includes things like managing subscriptions, user access controls, security protocols, and more.

As the average organization continues adding to their list of SaaS applications in use, the need for SaaS management only increases. Some of the most common objectives of SaaS management include:

• Creating a “system of record” to help identify inefficiencies, optimize redundant or unnecessary costs, and mitigate various forms of risk—in other words, getting tech stack proliferation under control. After all, you can’t optimize what you don’t realize.

• Enabling communication and alignment between business units and their SaaS needs, in order to make sure every team is well-served by the applications at their disposal—without causing undue strain on the budget. All too often, redundant applications become the norm, as individual departments independently adopt new technologies.

• Controlling costs, by identifying opportunities to consolidate vendors, streamline workflows, and reduce costs.

• Maintaining the security of business applications and systems through managing access and license management, taking a vigilant cybersecurity posture, and identifying (and then addressing) elements of shadow IT.

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How Do You Manage Software in SaaS?

The best way to manage SaaS software is often through the use of specialized SaaS software. No, we’re not kidding or being ironic. A very specific type of SaaS application, SaaS management platforms—which we’ll cover shortly—are designed to help address shadow IT that can undermine organizational budgeting, efficiency, and security. These game-changing SaaS applications are designed to help with initiatives like SaaS spend management, vendor management, and data management.

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What Is SaaS Spend Management?

SaaS spend management involves taking an inventory of all SaaS applications in use—including their functionality, value, cost, and how many employees use them. By identifying inefficiencies (like redundant tools, or solutions that are no longer providing compelling value), companies can optimize their tech stack, consolidate vendors, and ultimately save money.

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What Is SaaS Vendor Management?

SaaS vendor management helps organize different vendors and suppliers an organization relies on for the functionalities they need. Vendor management also creates strategies for developing more productive relationships with their business partners, which can not only help support the best solutions but reduce costs.

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What Is SaaS Data Management?

SaaS data management is the monitoring of SaaS applications, including purchase history, onboarding status, licensing, and so on. Keeping track of this information helps ensure that shadow IT remains at bay while the business focuses on getting the most from the applications that best serve them.

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What Is a SaaS Management Platform (SMP)?

As we noted earlier, a SaaS management platform is the proverbial “one tool to rule them all.” A SaaS management platform, Gartner notes, provides “central admin console capabilities to discover, manage, automate, optimize, govern and enable SaaS used by employees” while enhancing “protection of identities and data while using SaaS.”

We get it: the last thing most IT pros are asking for is one more application to manage or one more vendor to work with. In that sense, a SaaS management platform is better thought of as a new toolbox rather than just another tool.

A platform like Lumos makes it easy for organizations to slash their software costs, discover elements of shadow IT, and optimize every SaaS contract they sign. Sure, these things are possible without a SaaS management platform, but it’s going to cause major headaches. It’s also going to cost plenty of additional time and money—time and money you simply can’t get back! Visit our website to learn more about the Lumos platform and the benefits SaaS management can have for your business.

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What Is an Example of a SaaS Company Using SaaS Management Effectively?

Look to Lumos for SaaS management excellence. Our website is home to a collection of impactful case studies that illustrate how Lumos has helped streamline and optimize SaaS management for a wide range of companies. You can read the detailed stories of companies—perhaps companies quite a lot like yours—that have made their IT teams’ lives easier by leveraging Lumos for things like helpdesk automation, identity governance, and so much more.

Visit our website to learn more about our platform or request a demo today!