How Do You Choose The Right SaaS Management Platform?
With pandemic and remote work, companies worldwide have adopted plenty of SaaS apps, bringing out the need for SaaS Management Platforms.
Though the pandemic has started to subside slowly, companies are still reluctant to open up their office with a 100% workforce. They are either functioning with a complete remote or hybrid model. So, SaaS has still not lost its prominence and is playing a vital role in the day-to-day functioning of companies. With SaaS adoption increasing, there is a fear of SaaS sprawl that is also seen among IT leaders. That is when the SaaS Management Platform comes into the picture. Manually handling so many apps can be extremely taxing and time-consuming and cause errors. SaaS Management Platforms automate the whole process giving you complete visibility on the apps present in your SaaS landscape. Everything is presented to you in a single centralized dashboard, from usage stats to spend.
With many SMPs in the market, Keith Shaw, contributing writer to Computerworld, has written on how to choose the right SaaS management platform.
Here is what he has written:
Line-of-business managers, small teams, and individual employees can quickly and effortlessly adopt SaaS applications, which has led to a proliferation of SaaS apps.
App redundancies have increased as different departments sign up for the same apps without knowing they already exist.
With its numbers increasing, IT cannot have a note of its compliance, usage, and value to the organization.
SaaS Management Tools or SMPs help companies tackle these issues.
They thrive as a source of truth for all SaaS-related transactions, usage, spending, etc.
Now SaaS management companies have started giving additional features, such as application security, vendor management, cost optimization, and onboarding/offboarding configuration for employees.
Many vendors now even provide SaaS app recommendation services.
Experts say organizations should consider SaaS management software
If they find a surge in subscription expenses
If multiple departments start buying the same software
If the security folks express concern over whether the apps that are used are secure and compliant with regulations,
If Managing software purchases in a spreadsheet is becoming tiring
The Key SaaS Management Platform features to look out for are
Automated app discovery
Managing and automating the recurring administration functions
Enforcing app and data security policies
Provide role-based access controls
Create a catalog of approved apps
Monitor employee wise SaaS usage and adoption
Direct integrations with apps for accurate usage stats
Identity and access management\
SaaS app recommendation services
You can read the full article here.