Have you ever felt like your tech stack is growing faster than you can track it? SaaS tools are quietly multiplying across teams, platforms, and budgets, and in many companies, nobody is keeping score.
One report found that the average company now uses more than 110 SaaS apps, with costs reaching about $5,600 per employee each year. With so many tools in play, unused licenses pile up, renewals slip through, and apps holding sensitive data can fall outside your security net.
So, what’s the move? You don’t want to stifle your team’s momentum, but you can’t afford to let tools stack up unchecked. That’s where strategic SaaS management comes in, not just as a cost-saving move, but as a smarter, more secure way to run your business.
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Why All Eyes Are on SaaS Right Now
SaaS itself isn’t the problem. In fact, it’s what powers most of the tools teams love, such as Slack, Notion, Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, and more.
The issue is visibility. Who’s tracking which apps are being used? Who owns them? Who’s still logging in?
In many companies, the answer isn’t clear. Over 50% of apps in use today are unsanctioned. Known as shadow IT, it creates two major issues:
- Cost creep: You’re paying for things no one touches.
- Risk exposure: Untracked apps are rarely secured and often hold customer or internal data.
Another growing concern is shadow AI, where employees feed company data into tools like generative AI chatbots or third-party assistants without approval. This kind of unmonitored use has already led to data breaches, often driving up costs and risks significantly compared to businesses that keep tighter control over AI adoption. A report found that 20% of surveyed organizations faced data breaches linked to heavy shadow AI use, with each breach adding an average of about $670,000 in costs.
SaaS needs a strategy, and it starts with something simple: seeing the full picture.
The Building Blocks of Smarter SaaS Oversight
Once you know where the gaps are, it gets easier to close them. Strategic SaaS management is about making sure your tools are working for you, not silently draining your budget or exposing your data.
1. Find Out What You’re Really Using
Here’s a tough but necessary step: build a real SaaS inventory. Not a spreadsheet from last year, but something dynamic and regularly updated.
You’ll want to pull from:
- SSO and login logs
- Corporate credit card or procurement systems
- Cloud access monitoring tools
Once you’ve got a working list, start tagging: Which apps are business-critical? Which ones handle sensitive data? Which haven’t been used in 90 days? If you don’t have policies in place to do this, it helps to rethink how you’re handling cloud policies in the first place.
2. Clean Up the Costs (Without Slowing Teams Down)
No one gets excited about license audits. Zylo estimates companies are throwing away $21 million a year on unused SaaS licenses. That’s an opportunity slipping through the cracks.
Where do you begin? It doesn’t have to be a massive overhaul. Try a few small shifts:
- Take a second look at usage: If someone hasn’t signed in for two months, maybe that app is not as critical as it seems.
- Match license levels to actual roles: Not every team member needs full admin access to a system they barely use.
- Call out the duplicates: You’d be surprised how often companies are paying for three different tools that do the same thing.
When IT and finance align on how tools are purchased and how they’re used, budgets become steadier, and decisions start making more sense.
3. Lock Down Access Before It’s Too Late
Every new app is a potential entry point, and if it’s not behind SSO or protected by MFA, you’re leaving doors wide open.
Some quick wins:
- Enforce SSO + MFA across all SaaS platforms
- Use auto-provisioning/deprovisioning to add and remove access as roles change
- Regularly review permissions and OAuth token scopes (some apps retain access even after users leave)
Too often, teams set it and forget it. But access control needs continuous review, especially as new tools and users rotate in and out. If you want more structure around this, build your policy on top of sound cloud management practices.
4. Monitor the Settings You Didn’t Know Were Dangerous
SaaS apps often come with generous sharing defaults, such as public links, guest access, and auto-syncs with third-party plug-ins.
That’s great for speed, but terrible for data security.
What to monitor:
- Public file shares
- Overly broad guest access
- Uncontrolled integrations and connected apps
In platforms like Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, DLP and retention policies can prevent a lot of these issues, but only if they’re turned on and regularly checked. If your team’s still using default settings in Microsoft 365, you’re probably overdue for a security tune-up.
5. Treat AI Like SaaS (Because It Is)
Most businesses are using some form of AI right now, including text generators, meeting assistants, and even marketing tools that summarize insights or draft emails. That’s fine. What’s not fine is when no one’s watching what data gets fed into those tools.
How to build a light framework:
- Approve tools before teams adopt them
- Define what data is off-limits
- Set rules on storage, deletion, and model training opt-outs
We Can Help You Turn SaaS Chaos into Clarity
If your tools feel scattered, you’re not alone. Many businesses end up with unused licenses, surprise charges, and apps no one’s monitoring. Over time, that chaos adds up in cost, risk, and missed opportunities.
At Cloudavize, we assist teams in simplifying their cloud environments. The best way to do this is to cut through the noise and leverage the tools they already have. Whether it involves access control, spend visibility, or better use of AI, we connect the dots.
If you are ready to get ahead of the mess, contact us. We will help bring some clarity to your SaaS.
