Cloud computing and SaaS have made managing IT costs increasingly complex. At the same time, the traditional view of IT as a cost center is giving way to a more business-oriented perspective. To achieve this dual transformation, organizations are embracing initiatives...
Software Management Articles
Turn FinOps into a Team Sport: Optimize Cloud Costs with Cross-Functional Collaboration
Cloud spending is skyrocketing with even small to medium-sized businesses spending over a million dollars annually on cloud services. With these numbers rising, managing cloud costs has become a critical concern for IT and finance leaders. Large companies are turning...
The New Frontier of FinOps: SaaS Licensing and Usage
Introduction Since the introduction of the first commercial cloud in 2006, cloud computing has taken the business world by storm. More than 90% of organizations use the cloud today according to the latest O'Reilly Cloud Adoption Report and the costs are adding up....
From MSP to DIY: 5 IT Challenges to Master For Success
Introduction Outsourcing IT can be an attractive option for small businesses just getting started, or for companies looking to focus on their core competencies and prioritize other initiatives. But as organizations' needs change, transitioning from a Managed Service...
Managing Software Assets Effectively in the SaaS Era
In today's fast-paced, software-driven world, managing software usage and cost is no longer a luxury—it's a necessity. The advent of SaaS (Software as a Service) has dramatically changed how organizations approach this problem, presenting new challenges and...
Software License Types, Examples, Management, & More Explained
1. What is a software license? 2. How do software licenses work? 3. Why are software licenses important? Why are EULAs important? 4. Software licenses vs. SaaS 5. Software license types and licensing models Public domain license GNU lesser general public license...
Software Decommissioning Made Easy: How Software Management Tools Streamline Access Removal
Businesses rely on a multitude of SaaS applications to drive productivity and innovation. As business needs evolve, so do the SaaS applications they use. Applications become obsolete, contracts expire, or new solutions emerge. Unfortunately, decommissioning a SaaS...
Be a Budget Hero: 5 Tips for Effective SaaS Budgeting
Introduction Software as a Service (SaaS) has become an indispensable part of the operational infrastructure of business, often ranking alongside leases and payroll as a top three expense. Given its significant impact on the balance sheet, thoughtful and effective...
Best Practices for Creating a SaaS Center of Excellence
Introduction SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) applications are indispensable for organizations aiming to maintain a competitive edge and lower IT costs. However, shifting from on-premise software to SaaS creates challenges as traditional software asset management (SAM)...
Provisioning and Deprovisioning Software: Risks, Processes, and More Explained
1. What are provisioning and deprovisioning? Provisioning meaning Deprovisioning meaning 2. The importance of comprehensive provisioning and deprovisioning processes 3. Understanding the risks of software provisioning and deprovisioning Compromised security...
Software License Management Explained and Best Practices
1. The critical role of software license management 2. The importance of cybersecurity and compliance IT and security standards Key standards for SaaS providers 3. Software license management: Building effective policies and processes 4. Considerations for successful...
A Step-by-Step Guide to Determining SaaS Cost Per Employee
As businesses increasingly rely on Software as a Service (SaaS) applications, understanding the costs associated with these subscriptions is essential to effective budgeting and financial management. Ahead of budget season, one significant metric to consider is the...
Transforming User Lifecycle Management to Unlock Efficiency
Software is now one of companies’ top three expenses, along with real estate and people, due to the explosion of businesses' software usage over the last decade. This has made user lifecycle management (ULM) more critical than ever. ULM is the process of managing user...
Preparing for Budget Season: How a Mid-Year SaaS Review Can Help
Want to ensure a smoother budget season? Conduct a mid-year review to take better control of your technology expenditures. SaaS spending can greatly impact a company's bottom line, which should make SaaS cost management an important item on the controller's to-do...
Software Contract Management: Driving Efficiency for Businesses
Software has become the backbone of modern business, but along with its many benefits comes licenses, subscriptions, and service agreements to manage. The proactive management of software contracts is a pivotal task for IT and finance professionals at forward-thinking...
Application Rationalization: Overview, Key Benefits, and How to Implement
Balancing the operational requirements of the business with the financial constraints that organizations face is a tricky task for IT professionals and CIOs. But, there's a critical process that can help you manage and even thrive under these pressures: application...
Software Asset Management Guide: Best Practices, Processes, Tools, & More
1. What is software asset management? 2. Defining a "software asset" Costs of software assets Operational impact of software use 3. Software asset management goals 4. SAM metrics: Measuring success 5. SAM roles and responsibilities 6. Software asset management...
What Is SaaS? SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS Explained
The cloud computing age has brought with it critical acronyms that often seem confusing to anyone outside the realm of IT. For finance professionals navigating the mid-market, comprehending Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), Infrastructure as...
How IT Teams Can Take on SaaS Management Challenges
SaaS applications are easy to acquire and use, creating major headaches for anyone responsible for managing them. IT departments are already short-staffed, and keeping up with a growing number of software subscriptions requires a constant effort. If you aren’t aware...
What Is SaaS Sprawl and What Can You Do About It?
SaaS sprawl has quickly become a serious problem for most businesses. It eats away at the bottom line, creates confusion for software users, and increases cybersecurity risks. As companies adopt more software to solve complex problems, they need to take a proactive...
SaaS Management Overview: Platforms, Operations, Spend & More Explained
1. What is SaaS Spend Management? 2. What is SaaS Operations Management? 3. What is SaaS License Management? 4. SaaS vs. managed services 5. What are SaaS management platforms (SMPs)? Which SaaS applications are being used? How are they being used? Who has access to...
Crucial Items in Preparing for Acquisition or Sale: Your Software and Contracts
Several years ago, my business partners and I sold our business to a large, publicly traded company. The due diligence process was a bear. Fielding incoming requests seemingly every hour while simultaneously running our business as normal was taxing and stressful....
Software Subscriptions vs. Licenses: Differences, Benefits, & More
If you’ve bought software in the last ten years, it was probably with a subscription. Wondering how the subscription model differs from the old way of buying software? Here’s an overview of the two common software purchasing models, how subscriptions came to dominate...
Tool | Software Spend Management RFP Template
From Chaos to Control: A Five-Step Approach to Effective SaaS Spend Management for CFOs and Their Teams
As presented in our previous article Managing SaaS Expenditures: Key Questions for CFOs to Consider, SaaS spend management is a critical task for finance leaders, as SaaS applications can represent a significant portion of a company's IT budget. With the rapid growth...
Managing SaaS Expenditures: Key Questions for CFOs to Consider
One of the key jobs a CFO is tasked with is capital allocation; ensuring dollars are not merely spent, but rather invested in the right people, projects, tools, and assets. In recent years, IT spend, specifically SaaS, has grown to be one of the top 5 spend categories...
Expense Management vs. SaaS Spend Management: What’s the Difference?
With the rate technology is growing each year, businesses are relying more and more on software and applications to automate processes and create more efficient workflows. It’s easy to get confused when you are searching for a software solution for a specific problem....
What Is Shadow IT? How Do You Deal With It?
1. What is shadow IT? Shadow IT examples 2. Shadow IT risks Wasted investments Lack of visibility and control Security gaps and data leakage Compliance issues 3. Why do people use shadow IT? High employee satisfaction Individual productivity 4. Best practices for...
Do You Know How Much Your Company Spends on Software?
1. Why software costs can be hard to pin down Lack of planning and organization Unclear lines of accountability 2. The cost of inadequate SaaS spend management 3. Who should worry about hidden software costs? 4. How SaaS spend management enables you to take control of...
Power Users vs. Administrators: Roles, Responsibilities, and More Explained
1. Power users vs. administrators: Know your user base Administrator Power users Standard users Inactive users 2. How admins can work with users to be more strategic Identify and work closely wth your power users Make finance a strategic partner 3. Make SaaS spend...
Corporate Budgeting for Fixed Assets, Leases, and Software
Corporate budgeting is the process of creating a detailed financial plan for an organization. It typically includes forecasting revenues and expenses, to project profits, as well as setting targets and priorities for various departments or programs. It involves...
Software License Audits and Why You Need One
1. What is a software license audit and why is it important? 2. Benefits of performing a software license audit Maintain software quality Remove unused licenses Improve business operations Create a better software budget 3. How to prepare for your software audit...
What Are Zombie Accounts and How Do You Fix Them?
The average employee uses nine apps per day for work. What happens to their accounts when they leave the company or switch teams? In many cases, they turn into zombie accounts. What are zombie accounts? When an account hasn’t been used for an extended period, it...
What is SaaS License Management Software?
License management software explained With the ongoing technology boom, many companies are turning to software solutions to help manage their data, including license management software. License management software is a type of asset management software that helps...
SaaS Spend Management Explained and Best Practices
The swift rise of the remote workforce moved a significant amount of technology to the digital cloud. If your organization uses software applications, you’re likely using Software as a Service (SaaS). While the IT department should keep tabs on these contracts, they...