What is SaaS license management?

Each user who uses the SaaS gets their own licence.

A company pays for the use of a SaaS application, whether or not they use it.

A flat rate is usually billed on a recurring basis, usually monthly or annually.

The price increases as more features are added.

Companies can end up with extra licences if they are no longer used—this can come from ad hoc purchases that lead to overbuying. Licences can also become excessive if companies don’t leverage enterprise agreements, and don’t track the use and installation of SaaS applications.

There are sometimes licences that are purchased that are never used, even if there is intent to use them. A lack of managing users can lead to too many users if some need to be de-provisioned, which can be expensive if the app is paid for on a user-by-user basis.

Users who leave companies also need application access revoked, as this can pose a security risk when people outside the organisation still have access to applications that are only meant for employees.

There are some applications that charge more for premium features. Consider whether every individual who uses the application needs access to certain features if they do not need the features to perform their job.

Not all SaaS applications are purchased at the same time, which can lead to renewal issues if they are not organised accordingly. Most applications will warn you about an upcoming renewal, but not all applications do. It’s important to track renewals, whenever their dates may be. Disorganisation can also lead to unnecessary costs if a licence is no longer needed, or if price negotiations are possible.

Some applications offer features in tiers, and not all users need access to all features. For security reasons, it’s advisable to grant the least amount of access to an application that a user needs to perform their job. It is also important to let IT vet a product before purchasing it to ensure that it follows proper security protocols.

There are important best practices to consider when managing SaaS licences.

Any SaaS strategy will depend on your ability to accurately identify and catalogue existing SaaS assets. As such, before you can develop your strategy, you need to understand the state of SaaS licensing within your organisation. Hunt down every licence currently in use, and then determine who is licensed to use it, whether there are any duplicate licences, if shadow IT is occurring, and what associated purchase costs, service fees and maintenance contracts may be included.

Not all organisations have the know-how to track and manage SaaS costs, and there may be a lack of visibility into what software is being used on which devices. Take time to break it down to better understand the past, present and potential future costs of the use of SaaS applications. Future use is particularly important to track, as it can help an organisation plan and budget out any needs for future SaaS applications.

SaaS license management fundamentally changes the posture of IT and procurement from a centralised, reactive approach to an empowering, insight-driven management of the ever-evolving SaaS vendor stack. To implement most effectively, the type and quality of data matters. Below are the four streams of SaaS data needed for the most accurate picture of your SaaS stack.

Four streams of SaaS data:

1. Financial payment data: A healthy scrub of the expense side of the general ledger and expense data is required to paint a picture of the total vendor footprint with which the business is currently engaged. Actuals are interesting, but budgeted information can also be piped in to paint a picture of budget versus actuals.
2. Vendor contract data: Deals can range from enterprise agreements, SOWs, SLAs and security reviews to a simple email receipt in someone’s inbox. Knowing where you stand with each vendor is key for navigating that relationship and mitigating risk, increasing value and controlling cost.
3. Vendor licences and consumption data: Pricing drivers are constantly changing in the software industry, from licence-based to consumption-based, to a mix of multiple drivers in most of today’s contracts. Understanding usage correlates to business value—are you getting what you paid for?
4. Tribal knowledge (spreadsheet): Most companies have some form of a spreadsheet or database of information. From renewal dates to ownership, to licences and approximate cost, all kinds of things end up in this spreadsheet. If a column exists, it must have been valuable enough to track. That’s why it’s important to compile that data into one platform.

SaaS license management would suggest that after combining all streams of SaaS data into one integrated platform, all the business stakeholders from IT, procurement, software owners, and budget holders must be involved.

It can be difficult to remember when licences need to be renewed or when they expire. Set reminders for everything from licence renewal dates to maintenance times to keep everything compliant, up to date and secure.

All necessary parties need to be aware of the importance of SaaS license management and why it must be carefully tracked and watched. Outlining the process on its own is not adequate. IT teams need to take the reins on managing SaaS applications by outlining processes and procedures, explain them to the necessary parties, and ensure that everything is compliant.

This can occur as a result of a lack of communication between the admin of a SaaS application and the billing department, who might continue to pay for an app without the knowledge of its cancellation. There is also the possibility that a team leader subscribes to a free trial of an application and enters credit card information, then forgets about the trial.

A team could be subscribed to an app, yet they may not be using the app’s full set of features. This provides the opportunity for a downgrade in subscription or a limitation in user roles if certain members of the team aren’t using the application. There may also be other applications that are a better fit financially and feature-wise.

There is the possibility that teams are using different applications that have overlapping features and functionalities. IT teams should regularly evaluate the SaaS applications used by each team, either free or paid, eliminate any redundancies and select an application that serves the purposes that are needed by each team.

The individual who holds administrative rights over the SaaS application. They add users, remove users or change permissions across the organisation.

The primary buyer or decision maker who chooses the SaaS application. Usually a team leader.

The person who holds the contract to the SaaS application.

Any team member who uses the application. Each user’s access level is typically defined by the IT administrator—this is usually granted at onboarding or when there is a change in employee status.

Oversees the management, deployment, maintenance and utilisation of the software assets.

Monitors SaaS applications in the cloud as they are deployed, used and closed out.

Employees must be effectively onboarded as they join the organisation. The onboarding process can be tackled on an ad-hoc basis, which can be difficult to manage. Access should be granted on day one to help them be productive and prevent any unnecessary downtime.

There is always the chance that an employee will progress through an organisation, and they may change departments or roles. Employees will need different access and responsibilities, which means that they should be granted certain privileged access. There are also some who may no longer require admin status, which means it needs to be revoked.

Once an employee departs from an organisation or is terminated, it is crucial to immediately turn off all of their access to SaaS licences. Access to a SaaS licence can open someone to sensitive company data, which makes it crucial to instantly revoke all access.