In an age of ever-advancing technology, manual IT recordkeeping and information monitoring processes are increasingly being replaced by SaaS Management (Software as a Solution). SaaS is now an integral component of the IT infrastructure. Many IT departments now have a SaaS administration team dedicated to the overseeing of the SaaS management system.
SaaS is easy to purchase, install, and use, but difficult to track and maintain. There are many challenges associated with SaaS products. To tackle these challenges and make the most of SaaS, investing in a dynamic SaaS Management solution is the way to go.
In this article, we’ll take a look at what SaaS Management is, some common SaaS Management challenges companies face, and how you can extract the most benefit from your SaaS strategy.
SaaS Definition
To fully understand SaaS Management, first, we need to understand what SaaS is.
SaaS is an acronym for Software as a Service and is part of the IT service model known as: Cloud Computing. Cloud computing consists of three basic services:
- Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
- Platform as a Service (PaaS)
- Software as a Service (SaaS)
SaaS is a fully remote, internet-based application hosting platform that provides businesses with more flexibility, near limitless scalability, and ease of access from anywhere with a secure internet connection.
SaaS Providers
SaaS Providers host and sell licenses for web-based software. A SaaS provider is a type of cloud service provider that sells licenses for web-based applications. These software programs or applications may be services developed and hosted by the cloud provider or independent services from a third-party cloud vendor, such as Salesforce or Hubspot.
On-premise to the Cloud
SaaS also allows companies to establish or migrate pre-existing software applications, communication platforms, and file storage from on-premise servers to cloud servers. While on-premise hosting servers have typically been seen as more secure than an internet-based server, cloud providers maintain 24/7 security monitoring and the most advanced security measures.
Saas Assets
As in other areas of IT, SaaS systems also have assets that require tracking and maintenance. These assets aren’t physical (a.k.a. fixed) assets. They are known as “intangible assets” and include licenses, subscription plans, contracts, and other similar assets. The variety of SaaS assets may be less than those associated with on-premise servers; however, due to the pay-for-what-you-need payment model of SaaS, tracking and maintaining cloud licenses, including their individual renewals, compliance terms, access rights, assignees, etc. can be much more complicated and difficult to maintain.
Integrating a Software Asset Management (SAM) tool into your SaaS system that has the right features and reporting capabilities for your IT department is the best way to tackle this challenge and improve both the accuracy and efficiency of managing your SaaS assets.
Role of SaaS in IT
IT is an organization’s technology hub. Any assets or information either directly or indirectly associated with technology fall under the management of this department. SaaS (Software as a Service) is a completely remote, subscription-based software hosted in a public cloud environment. SaaS programs are web-based applications that provide companies with an efficient, flexible, and scalable solution. Over the past two decades, SaaS has steadily improved in both its development and popularity. As a result, it has now more or less replaced on-premise software as the industry standard.
The IT department is responsible for providing both the physical and virtual tech tools necessary to operate each area of the business. To do so, all information associated with those assets, including purchase dates, renewal dates, device maintenance records, vendors, etc., must be routinely recorded and updated to ensure accurate reporting. However, without an efficient management system to track, monitor, and maintain these assets, it can become a very labor-intensive and time-consuming process. Furthermore, on-premise servers used to compile and store this information can be difficult to maintain and even more difficult to scale as the business grows.
On the other hand, XaaS (Anything as a Service) (i.e., SaaS, IaaS, or PaaS) has near limitless scalability. Cloud servers are provided through third-party vendors like AWS (Amazon Web Servers), Oracle, Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud Platform (GCP). Cloud providers sell their cloud-computing services through cloud-licensing subscriptions. Therefore, businesses can easily scale their cloud servers by purchasing more licensing subscriptions.
Cloud servers are also centralized and allow for improved accessibility, security, and disaster recovery. These platforms are generally more flexible, easier to configure, and utilize AI and machine learning capabilities to automate processes and generate real-time reports. SaaS Management is key to streamlining IT workflows, increasing capacity, and improving data accuracy.
SaaS Management System
A SaaS Management system consists of a series of specific areas of SaaS Management. To achieve an optimized and efficient SaaS Management system, monitoring and maintaining each of these areas individually is critical for the success of SaaS Management as a whole. The exact breakdown of a SaaS Management system varies per the company and their individual requirements; however, there are some standard areas of SaaS Management.
Common areas of SaaS Management:
- SaaS Subscription Management: SaaS Subscription Management covers the procurement, maintenance, and right-sizing of SaaS subscriptions. This includes processes such as upgrading or downgrading subscriptions plans, ensuring subscription renewals are paid on time to avoid non-compliance or fees, and proactively monitoring SaaS subscription usage and performance to optimize costs.
- SaaS Spend Management: SaaS Spend Management is the process of maintaining and optimizing SaaS-related expenses. This includes negotiating prices with vendors, maintaining license and subscription renewals, and performing license right-sizing procedures to optimize usage and eliminate unnecessary costs.
- SaaS Project Management: SaaS Project Management, also known as SaaS Implementation, refers to the process of onboarding and customizing SaaS products or tools. Furthermore, SaaS Project Management includes the maintenance and optimization of SaaS products throughout their lifecycle.
- SaaS Contract Management: SaaS Contract Management involves carrying out business-vendor negotiations, including pricing and terms/conditions agreements, maintaining compliance, and making data-driven decisions that require contract adjustments or amendments.
- SaaS Asset Management: SaaS Asset Management tracks and analyzes SaaS assets in a centralized environment to present fully visibility into the entire SaaS stack. This process enables the discovery of unauthorized or unsanctioned SaaS usage. It also includes processes to identify license duplication, perform usage-to-cost comparisons, and subsequently optimize these SaaS assets.
- SaaS Inventory Management: SaaS Inventory Management is an aspect of SaaS Asset Management which covers the tracking and reporting of SaaS inventory. SaaS inventory includes cloud software licenses and subscriptions plans, contracts, and SaaS tools.
Each area of SaaS Management contributes to the success of another. Due to its general complexity, forming a SaaS administration to manage the inner-workings of a SaaS Management system and oversee it as a whole is a great way to establish clear roles and responsibilities. On the contrary, unclear roles and responsibilities can result in dysfunctional SaaS platforms, inaccurate reporting, overspending, and an increased risk of security breaches or non-compliance. By simply pairing a SaaS administration with a strong and versatile SaaS Management Platform (SMP), you can effectively manage your system while simultaneously converting time-consuming, labor-intensive tasks into automated and streamlined SaaS system functions.
SaaS Security
The security of SaaS has often been questioned due to the risk of cyberattacks, phishing, and other forms of security breaching. However, due to the significant advancement of cybersecurity technology and 24/7 security monitoring by SaaS providers, cloud solutions are now considered by many to be more secure than on-premise solutions.
Here are some SaaS security best practices:
- Data Encryption: Data encryption involves the conversion of data into a code that can only be accessed through a decryption key. Encrypting data ensures that in the case of a security breach or data transmission interception, stolen data cannot be accessed by the hacker.
- API Security: APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) connect SaaS applications to other software platforms to allow communication and information sharing. Ensuring the security of APIs is essential for SaaS security.
- Compliance Management: Compliance management is a critical component for both data security and the maintenance of a strong business-vendor relationship. Using SaaS tools designed for compliance management can help automate processes and ensure compliance with policies and legal regulations to avoid fines and penalties. Compliance management should include auditing procedures, automated notification systems, and real-time reporting.
- Data Accessibility: Data accessibility involves the establishment of access and usage rights policies. These policies govern the assignment of access rights and usage limitations to relevant individuals or teams. A SaaS data access policy should outline user roles, specify permissions, and authentication processes. Furthermore, it should establish the processes necessary to grant, modify, or revoke access rights.
The risk of a security breach should always be taken into consideration. Some common risk factors include: improper Cloud configuration, rushed code, Zero-day exploitation, or an unclear distribution of responsibilities.
5 Common Challenges of SaaS
SaaS is a multifaceted cloud service that requires a significant amount of labor as well as clear-cut roles and responsibilities. It involves a great deal of data and expense tracking and maintenance which can easily get out of hand without well-defined SaaS Management policies or SaaS Management tools to automate and streamline those processes. Here are some of the top SaaS Management challenges businesses face every day:1. SaaS Overspending
SaaS Overspending is one of the greatest challenges of SaaS. The pay-as-you-go payment model used by most Cloud vendors is attractive in its potential to only pay for what you need.2. Product Positioning
A fundamental step in the process of deploying a B2B or B2C SaaS solution is to strategically market your product to a target audience; this is also known as product positioning.3. Shadow IT
Shadow IT is the purchasing and usage of IT-related products by teams or individuals outside of the IT department without informing or receiving prior approval from IT.4. Data Security
Data Security is a critical function in any SaaS or other internet-based environment. As the digital world continues to grow and evolve, SaaS companies are also facing a growing threat of cyber attacks.5. Data Fragmentation
Data Fragmentation is a common challenge associated with multi-cloud strategies.What makes SaaS Management valuable?
SaaS alone boasts a wide variety of benefits, including near limitless scalability, greater flexibility, reduced manual labor, and increased efficiency. Without proper management, these benefits can fall flat due to challenges such as SaaS overspending, Shadow IT, or security issues. However, with a suitable SaaS Management solution, you can say goodbye to issues and maximize on your investment. Here are some of the top drivers of SaaS value:
- Optimized SaaS usage
- Reduced SaaS spending
- Prevents Shadow IT
- Maintains compliance and risk management
- Provides real-time insights and reports
- Improves visibility to SaaS stacks across the business
- Improves data protection and information security
Finding a SaaS Management Solution
With a continually expanding selection of SaaS Management solutions, finding the best platform for your organization can easily transform into a difficult and labor-intensive undertaking. Each business has its own unique set of business needs and technical prerequisites. Similarly, each SaaS Management solution will vary slightly in its features and technical capabilities.
A robust SaaS Management solution should include functions that resolve the various challenges and weak links of managing a SaaS system. Furthermore, security and compliance capabilities are critical components that must also be taken into consideration before choosing a SaaS Management solution. But how can you find SaaS Management Platforms (SMPs)?
The search for a suitable SMP can be carried out in several different ways. For example, you can ask for recommendations, take a look at the leading SMPs in the industry, or utilize a search tool with filter options, such as company size or industry. One such example is the SaaS product/vendor search tool, Gartner Peer Insights. Using Gartner Peer Insights you can search and filter your results to find vendors and their SMP solutions, like USU, complete with customer reviews, ratings in different areas, and other useful vendor insights.
USU SaaS Management Solution
USU’s SaaS Management solution organizes data into a centralized platform with real-time, accessible reports and insights. Integrate with 150+ API connectors and manage all your cloud products and licenses from a single platform. Our robust solution is built to scale; the platform’s automated workflows are ideal for boosting productivity, optimizing IT asset usage, and reducing IT spending.
With a strong management solution, like USU’s SaaS Management platform, various problem children such as shadow IT or abandoned cloud licenses can be easily tracked down and definitively resolved. Unused licenses can either be repurposed or eliminated, and subscription management processes or notifications be configured to meet your business needs. To get started with your SaaS Management Solution, contact us here.
Conclusion
The handling of cloud services is by no means the IT department’s easiest task. It’s a highly complex process with several interdependent working parts that require individual management and maintenance to successfully function as a whole. Fortunately, there are tools and solutions to convert these difficulties into streamlined processes. To make your SaaS system run like clockwork, implementing a robust, multi-faceted SaaS Management solution, like USU’s SaaS Management platform, is the way to go. As a business scales and the tracking and maintenance of data seems to grow out of control, it’s important to implement a SaaS tool that can not only automate your SaaS Management workflows, but also generate real-time reports on demand, and provide accurate data and insights to make informed business decisions.
FAQ
What is SaaS?
SaaS (Software as a Service) is an internet-based server system that performs as a hosting platform for applications, software programs, and data storage. A SaaS platform can be accessed from anywhere with a secure internet connection and features near limitless scalability. SaaS has a pay-as-you-go payment model designed to help companies only pay for what they need and reduce IT spending.
Do I need SaaS Management?
Knowing whether you need a SaaS Management solution can be answered with just a few simple questions:
- Do you have full visibility into the usage and assignment of all your SaaS products?
- Are your SaaS expenses over budget?
- Do you find it difficult to track license or subscription renewal dates?
- Are your SaaS reporting capabilities inefficient?
If the answer to any of these questions is yes, implementing a dynamic SaaS Management solution, such as USU’s SMP, will provide you with the tools needed to organize, optimize, and enhance your SaaS in your IT department.
What are SaaS Management tools?
SaaS Management tools, also known as SaaS Management Platforms (SMP), are software platforms used to manage, optimize, and monitor cloud or software spending and license consumption, contracts and cost allocation, or vulnerabilities and SaaS sprawl risks.
SaaS Management tools are ideal for automating notifications and tracking or monitoring processes as well as generating on demand, real-time reports and data insights. SaaS Management can be streamlined and accurate reports aid in the improvement of SaaS usage and spending decisions.
Is SaaS secure?
In recent years, the security of SaaS has seen significant improvements. AI and machine learning technology, as well as other forms of security technology are put into practice to stay one step ahead and ensure the utmost data security. Improved cybersecurity technology and 24/7 monitoring has made cloud solutions more reliable and are now often considered to be more secure than on-premise security.
SaaS security implements several best practices, including:
- Data Encryption
- API Security
- Compliance Management
- Data Accessibility
- Disaster Recovery