The emerging need for centralized SaaS By Martin Vilaboy One of the benefits behind the strong uptake in SaaS-delivered business solutions is the ease at which they are procured. In many cases, all that is needed is a credit card number to obtain a free trial. And according to data from SaaS management company Zylo, whose AI-powered engine has processed SaaS spend, license and usage data equating to more than $21 billion in SaaS spend under management, there’s been a “big shift in how these applications are purchased and managed,” with more organizations enabling employees to research and procure their own software tools. While not an entirely new trend, it’s a shift that’s been compounded by the realities of the work-from-anywhere revolution. And while the speed and agility of self-procurement are distinct advantages, and sometimes necessities, allowing employees the freedom over their application decisions also is creating a new set of challenges. Enterprise SaaS customers, Zylo data analysis shows, are experiencing a type of sprawl of SaaS applications across their organizations, and it could be choking off the value of their SaaS investments. Make no mistake, employees aren’t just occasionally buying a rogue solution on their own. Rather, the majority of SaaS procurement is being executed by employees and departments outside of the bounds of IT. “Today, IT controls just over a quarter (27 percent) of SaaS spend — and directly manages just 23 percent of the average organization’s SaaS applications,” said Zylo’s data analysts. “That’s a 35 percent decrease in control of spend and a 9 percent decrease in control of quantity, year over year.” AT YOUR SERVICE: XaaS 36 CHANNELV ISION | MARCH - APRIL 2022
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