SaaS sprawl has long been a problem, but it’s reaching epidemic proportions. According to a new report from Nintex, 41 percent of midsize organizations are adding new SaaS tools every one to three weeks. In the U.S., 54 percent of these organizations have 51 to 200 SaaS tools. More than half (55 percent) of IT leaders say that solving SaaS sprawl is a core component of their job description.
SaaS sprawl is the uncontrolled proliferation of Software-as-a-Service applications. The primary cause is shadow IT, exacerbated by remote work and Bring-Your-Own-Device policies. Employees often install cloud apps on their personal devices, and the IT team may have limited visibility into all applications in use.
A lack of clear policies can also contribute to SaaS sprawl. Individual departments may acquire SaaS applications to address a specific issue, often without the IT department’s knowledge. Multiple departments may purchase the same tools independently. The result is a fragmented, overly complex tech stack without a centralized management strategy.
SaaS tools have been a boon to businesses. Given the time and cost to develop new applications to meet business needs, SaaS provides an easy way for departments to solve their own problems.
However, SaaS sprawl comes with a new set of problems. One is financial: Although SaaS tools are easy to acquire and implement, in the aggregate they can have a significant financial impact. Decentralized purchasing makes it difficult to take advantage of bulk discounts, while redundant and unused applications lead to wasted expenses.
SaaS sprawl also reduces employee productivity. Employees can become confused and frustrated switching among multiple interfaces, hindering their focus. Additionally, SaaS applications are typically designed according to common but generic workflows. They may not mesh with an organization’s operations, forcing employees to develop workarounds.
SaaS applications are seldom integrated, forcing employees to enter data manually. Duplicated data that contains inconsistent information can cause confusion and unreliable reporting. Unintegrated SaaS applications also create data silos, making it difficult to get a unified view of business operations.
Security threats are perhaps the greatest concern with SaaS sprawl. Unmanaged SaaS apps create a large and complex attack surface with unmanaged, unvetted applications that can introduce vulnerabilities. They also expose the organization to compliance gaps, as their security settings and data handling are unknown.
Together, these issues can degrade the customer experience. When different departments use disconnected tools, customer information becomes fragmented, preventing employees from delivering timely, personalized, accurate and consistent support. SaaS sprawl also increases the administrative burden and makes it difficult to scale operations.
Conquering Saas sprawl starts by using discovery tools to identify all SaaS applications in use across the organization. This will help determine if there are any redundancies or overlaps, or unused apps that can be eliminated. For those that are retained, organizations should establish a cross-departmental team to manage licenses, access control and security.
To keep SaaS applications under control, organizations need policies that are implemented consistently across the organization. Whether the organization decides to strictly limit SaaS purchases or to allow a level of experimentation, it is essential to ensure that executives and managers give consistent directives.
Organizations should also develop clear principles to guide the selection and deployment of new tools. Employees should be educated on approved tools and procedures, and encouraged to discuss potential purchases with managers or the IT department. If the SaaS application is meant to solve a major problem, it may be better to develop a custom application. If the problem is trivial, it might best be solved with existing processes and tools.
Technologent has a dedicated team of as-a-Service specialists who can help you get a handle on SaaS sprawl. We have the tools and experience to help you inventory all SaaS applications in use in your organization. We can then help you rationalize and consolidate those tools and provide ongoing monitoring and operational management.