Quick Answer: What Is SaaS Management? SaaS management is the process of discovering, securing, optimizing, and governing every cloud-based software application used across an organization. The average company runs 106 SaaS apps and wastes $135,000 annually in unused licenses — most without IT’s knowledge. A SaaS Management Platform (SMP) gives IT teams full visibility and control over every app, license, and user in their environment, and organizations using one report up to 26x return on investment.
SaaS management is the process of discovering, securing, optimizing, and governing all cloud-based software applications used across an organization. The average company now runs 106 SaaS applications, yet nearly half of all provisioned licenses go completely unused. SaaS spend per employee has climbed to $5,607 annually.
That’s not a purchasing problem.
That’s a visibility problem.
For businesses running 50 or more apps, unmanaged SaaS is one of the fastest-growing sources of wasted IT spend, security risk, and compliance exposure. SaaS management services, delivered by an IT partner using a dedicated SaaS Management Platform (SMP), gives organizations full visibility and control over every app, license, and user in their environment.
What Is the SaaS Sprawl and Why Is It Costing Your Business Money?
Picture this: your finance team signs up for an invoicing tool. Marketing starts using three different project management apps. A sales rep starts entering prospect data into an AI writing assistant. HR adopts a new onboarding platform.
None of these are approved by IT. None are monitored for security. And when employees leave, access to those apps is rarely revoked cleanly or quickly.
This is the reality of modern SaaS sprawl, and it’s happening at virtually every organization, regardless of size or industry.
When employees sign up for tools without IT approval, organizations accumulate what’s known as shadow IT, or unauthorized applications that drain budgets, create security gaps, and expose sensitive company data to vendors that IT has never vetted.
Research claims that shadow IT accounts for 30–40% of IT spending in large enterprises. The average cost of a cyberattack related to shadow IT? $4.2 million per incident.
The number of SaaS applications running on corporate networks is roughly three times the number IT departments were actually aware of. And that gap has only grown wider as AI tools have entered the equation.
The good news: a modern SaaS Management Platform solves all of it from a single dashboard.
How Big Is the SaaS Management Problem?
These data points quantify the SaaS governance challenge facing businesses of all sizes:
| Metric | Stat | Source |
| Average SaaS apps per company | 106 apps | Productiv / XtendedView |
| Unused SaaS licenses | ~49% go unused | Zylo 2024 |
| Average annual license waste | $135,000 per org | Capterra / XtendedView |
| Shadow IT share of IT spend | 30–40% in large enterprises | Gartner |
| Ex-employee access after departure | 90% of US companies affected | Auvik |
| SaaS logins using username/password | 94% (not SSO) | Auvik |
| Reduction in shadow IT with SMP | 35% YOY average | Productiv 2024 |
| ROI with managed SaaS platform | Up to 26x ROI | Auvik |
| Time saved via SaaS automation | Up to 80% reduction | Auvik |
| SaaS security incidents (2 years) | 50% of companies affected | Auvik |
| Workers using unapproved SaaS apps | 80% of workers | G2 |
| IT leaders citing SaaS as top challenge | Nearly 70% | XtendedView |
Managed SaaS vs. Unmanaged SaaS: A Side-by-Side Comparison
The difference between managing your SaaS environment intentionally versus letting it grow unchecked is significant in cost, security posture, and operational efficiency.
| Capability | Unmanaged SaaS | Managed SaaS (with Auvik) |
| App visibility | Partial / siloed | Full inventory, auto-discovered |
| Shadow IT detection | Manual, reactive | Automated, real-time alerts |
| License optimization | Manual audit (periodic) | Continuous tracking & reporting |
| User onboarding/offboarding | Hours of manual IT work | Automated workflows |
| Security & compliance | Gaps in SSO, shared passwords | Risky behavior detection + alerts |
| Spend visibility | Spreadsheet estimates | Centralized spend dashboard |
| Ex-employee access revocation | Often delayed or missed | Immediate, automated offboarding |
| Reporting for leadership | Ad hoc | Scheduled, role-based dashboards |
| Shadow AI detection | None | Automated discovery & flagging |
| Time to first insight | Weeks (manual) | Minutes (automated) |
The contrast is stark. Without a dedicated SaaS management program, IT teams are perpetually in reactive mode, responding to security incidents after the fact, discovering wasted spend at renewal time, and manually tracking down app access when employees leave.
How do You Get Your SaaS Environment Under Control Step-by-Step?
Whether you’re starting from scratch or looking to mature an existing SaaS program, the following steps represent a proven path to full SaaS governance. Each step builds on the last, delivering value at every stage of the journey.
SaaS management services gives organizations full visibility and control over every app, license, and user in their environment.
- Audit your current SaaS landscape. Start by identifying every application in use across your organization, including apps purchased by individual departments or employees outside of IT oversight. Most organizations discover they’re running two to three times more apps than IT is actually aware of. This initial discovery is often the most eye-opening step in the entire process.
- Connect your identity and SSO providers. Integrate your SaaS Management Platform with identity sources like Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure AD), Google Workspace, or Okta. This provides a unified view of who has access to what across your entire app ecosystem. With Auvik SaaS Management, connecting Microsoft Entra ID takes approximately two minutes, and the platform begins surfacing insights immediately.
- Identify shadow IT and shadow AI tools. Run an automated SaaS discovery scan to surface unauthorized apps, including shadow AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and AI writing assistants that employees are increasingly using to process sensitive business data without security review. In 2024, ChatGPT became the single most common shadow IT application in corporate environments. Auvik’s discovery engine flags these tools and maps their usage to specific users and departments.
- Analyze license utilization. Compare provisioned licenses against actual usage data at the user level. On average, up to 25% of licenses are completely unused. Beyond unused licenses, look for redundant apps: multiple teams independently subscribing to similar project management, file-sharing, or communication tools is extremely common and represents an immediate savings opportunity.
- Automate onboarding and offboarding workflows. Configure automated workflows so that new employees receive the correct app access on day one based on their role, without manual IT intervention. Even more critically, when an employee departs, all access is immediately and automatically revoked across every connected application. Ninety percent of U.S. companies have reported that former employees retain access to SaaS applications after their departure.
- Set up continuous security monitoring. Enable real-time alerts for risky user behaviors such as credential sharing, unauthorized data exports, personal account sign-ins, and new unsanctioned app registrations. Map your SaaS environment against compliance frameworks relevant to your industry, such as SOC 2, HIPAA, or ISO 27001, and use your platform’s reporting to document your compliance posture for audits and cyber insurance requirements.
- Optimize spend and demonstrate ROI. Use your SaaS Management Platform’s spend dashboard to identify licenses available for reclamation, flag contracts approaching renewal before auto-charges occur, and pinpoint apps that can be replaced by tools you already own. Organizations using Auvik SaaS Management report an average of $298,000 in total SaaS savings with a 26x return on investment.
- Report and refine continuously. SaaS management is not a one-time project, but an ongoing discipline. Establish a regular reporting cadence for leadership that translates SaaS data into business language: cost savings identified, security risks resolved, licenses reclaimed, and onboarding/offboarding efficiency gains. This reporting builds the business case for continued investment and keeps SaaS governance front of mind.
SaaS Management Services: What Your IT Partner Should Be Doing
Many businesses, particularly small and mid-sized organizations, lack the internal resources to continuously monitor, optimize, and secure their SaaS environment on top of everything else IT is responsible for. That’s where SaaS Management as a Service comes in.
When you work with a managed IT provider that offers SaaS management as part of their service portfolio, they take on the full SaaS lifecycle on your behalf, powered by enterprise-grade platforms like Auvik SaaS Management. Here’s what a comprehensive managed SaaS service should include:
- Ongoing SaaS discovery and inventory management. Your IT partner continuously scans for new apps entering your environment, maintains an up-to-date SaaS inventory, and flags any new shadow IT or shadow AI tools as they’re adopted by employees.
- License lifecycle management. Rather than discovering waste at renewal time, a managed SaaS partner tracks license utilization in real time, alerts you before unused licenses renew, and proactively recommends consolidation or cancellation throughout the year.
- Security monitoring and incident alerting. Your partner monitors your SaaS environment for risky user behaviors and alerts your team when a SaaS vendor is affected by a security incident that could impact your data.
- Automated onboarding and offboarding execution. New hires get the right access from day one. Departing employees are offboarded from every connected application the same day they leave. No gaps, no manual checklists, no lingering access.
- Executive reporting and business reviews. Your managed SaaS partner translates platform data into clear business reporting: cost savings, risk reduction, compliance posture, and efficiency gains presented in terms leadership teams can act on.
Teams using a SaaS Management Platform were able to decrease shadow IT spend by an average of 35% year-over-year in 2024. But with the rapid acceleration of AI tool adoption, that number will trend back upward for organizations that aren’t actively monitoring their environments.
What Is Shadow AI and Why Is It Now the Biggest SaaS Governance Risk?
If shadow IT was the defining SaaS challenge of the last decade, shadow AI is the defining challenge of this one. Employees are increasingly turning to AI-powered tools such as ChatGPT, Copilot extensions, AI writing assistants, AI image generators, and more to accelerate their work.
Most are doing so without IT’s knowledge, and many are inputting sensitive company data in the process. In 2023, Samsung discovered employees were entering confidential source code and internal meeting transcripts into ChatGPT.
The company was forced to issue an emergency restriction on the platform’s internal use. Samsung is not unique. It’s simply the most publicized example of a problem happening at organizations every day.
Nearly two-thirds of employee-expensed apps carry a security risk score of “Poor” or “Low,” and AI tools represent a growing share of that category. A SaaS Management Platform with built-in shadow AI detection, like Auvik, gives IT teams the visibility to identify these tools, assess their risk, and make informed decisions about whether to sanction, restrict, or block them.
The organizations that will manage this challenge successfully are the ones building proactive SaaS governance programs now, before an AI-related incident forces their hand.
Why Auvik SaaS Management?
Auvik SaaS Management is a purpose-built platform used by IT teams and Managed Service Providers (MSPs) to discover, manage, secure, and optimize SaaS environments at scale. It is rated 4.7 out of 5 on Capterra and 4.5 out of 5 on G2, and is trusted by organizations across healthcare, financial services, manufacturing, education, and more.
The average company now runs 106 SaaS applications, yet nearly half of all provisioned licenses go completely unused.
Key capabilities include:
- Automated SaaS discovery: Surfaces all apps in use, including shadow IT and AI tools, without requiring manual input from employees or department heads.
- User lifecycle management: Centralizes and automates onboarding and offboarding workflows across all connected applications.
- Real-time security monitoring: Detects credential sharing, unauthorized app access, and vendor security incidents with configurable alerts.
- Spend management and ROI reporting: Tracks license utilization, identifies waste, and generates the data needed to negotiate renewals from a position of knowledge.
- Multi-client MSP support: Designed with a hierarchical architecture that supports IT teams managing multiple sites and MSPs managing multiple client environments.
For organizations currently managing SaaS manually through spreadsheets, periodic audits, or not at all, the shift to a managed SaaS approach typically pays for itself within the first renewal cycle.
Frequently Asked Questions About SaaS Management Services
What is SaaS management?
Why is SaaS management important for small and mid-sized businesses?
What is shadow IT, and how does SaaS management address it?
Shadow IT refers to software applications adopted and used by employees without official IT approval or oversight. It is extremely prevalent. In 2024, 42% of apps in use across companies qualified as shadow IT.
SaaS management platforms automatically discover unauthorized applications, alert IT teams in real time, and help enforce governance policies without disrupting employee productivity or requiring manual investigation.
What is SaaS Management as a Service?
How long does it take to deploy a SaaS Management Platform?
Modern SaaS Management Platforms are designed for fast deployment. With Auvik, integrating Microsoft Entra ID takes approximately two minutes and deploying an endpoint agent takes roughly six minutes.
Most organizations begin seeing actionable insights, including unused licenses, shadow IT applications, and security gaps, within hours of initial deployment.
What is the difference between a SaaS Management Platform and a traditional ITAM tool?
How does SaaS management help with employee offboarding?
How is Auvik SaaS Management priced?
Is Your SaaS Stack Working For You or Against You?
Most organizations don’t realize the full scope of their SaaS problem until they start measuring it. The wasted licenses, the shadow AI tools quietly processing confidential data, and the former employees still logged into company systems. These risks are invisible until you have the visibility tools to surface them.
SaaS Management as a Service, powered by Auvik, gives your organization that visibility, plus the automation, security monitoring, and spend optimization capabilities to act on what you find.
Ready to see what’s hiding in your SaaS stack? Contact Be Structured today to learn how we can implement Auvik SaaS Management for your organization. We are located in the heart of downtown Los Angeles and are ready to be your go-to L.A.-based MSP for years to come.
