What does the phrase “silent takeover” bring to mind?
Maybe a political coup, or when someone steals the “longest road” achievement from you in Catan (Don’t worry, you’ve still got the largest army).
Political upheaval and board-game-heartbreak aside, the silent takeover can also apply to how SaaS has expanded to almost every corner of the software landscape. Unfortunately, this expansion resulted in a SaaS Swamp, a miry muck of cloud applications hidden and underutilized, many without clear ownership.
To regain control of the SaaS Swamp, we developed a category of tools known as SaaS Management (read more 👉 What is SaaS Management). But, even SaaS Management in its basic form wasn’t enough.
So we now see the emergence of Automated SaaS Management.
Automation (when built on solid data) allows teams to do more, gain better visibility, reduce costs and risks, and focus on the most critical tasks.
But, let’s back up for a moment. How widespread is the adoption of SaaS Management?
In a recent poll, we found that only 16% of IT professionals had a SaaS Management tool in place.
However, when asked about how they would deal with the growth of SaaS moving forward, 64% reported that they would evaluate or adopt a SaaS Management tool.
Note 💡: That actually indicates that 76% of those without a SaaS Management Solution will try to adopt one in the next two years!
That is a jarring shift in sentiment and illustrates that priorities have changed – dramatically.
But… Why?
Why is SaaS Management suddenly a must-have?
Here are three reasons why Automated SaaS Management is suddenly something that cannot wait.
Three Reasons Why Automated SaaS Management Can’t-Wait
The New Normal is Change – So Build a Resilient Business
Complacency is the silent killer of business.
It limits innovation and leaves an organization flat-footed when action is needed.
During the throws of the pandemic, the complacent companies suffered while the resilient ones thrived. Now, as we look forward, the only thing we know for sure is that change is inevitable.
We can’t anticipate the future, only know it will test us.
The best way to prepare for the change is to adopt practices, workplace cultures, and technology that enable resiliency.
Resiliency is easy to spot but tough to embody.
It’s when your sports team comes back from a huge deficit.
It’s when Sam Gamgee carries Frodo up the side of mount doom.
It’s when you were given an “impossible” task, and you did it anyway.
That’s resiliency – the ability to face hardship, recover fast, and power forward.
Now, to be clear, you can’t buy resiliency. Instead, you must cultivate that characteristic within your organization. But, you can adopt tools and practices that allow your resiliency to come to fruition.
Automated SaaS Management is a perfect example of that. It enables IT (and the company as a whole) to gain insight, automate tasks, and design processes for any scenario. So whether your goal is to tighten security, speed up onboarding, make more informed contract decisions, or do something else -you can augment and improve your processes.
In Torii, we see this time and time again with our customers. Torii includes a no-code workflow builder. With that builder, our customers create unique workflows that fit the needs of their organizations. During the early stages of the pandemic, this resource allowed our customers to pivot and adapt their processes quickly.
Resiliency isn’t only about withstanding trials; it’s also about finding the right path to press on when others retreat. With a flexible, accessible, and robust automation engine – you can do just that.
Decentralization is Necessity
Once upon a time, IT purchased every piece of software.
Those days are largely gone. Now, it’s a shared responsibility between IT, department leaders, and even individual employees. This decentralization has benefits such as:
- Speed
- Agility
- Innovation
But, there are also drawbacks like:
- Waste
- Security risk
- Silos
One thing we know is that decentralization is here to stay. As cloud applications become more numerous and more niche, the selection is more reliant on the knowledge of the departments using these tools. IT simply does not have the time to micro-manage and select every piece of software.
However, we can’t ignore the negative impacts that decentralization creates. We must deal with bloated spending, siloed knowledge, and security threats. So instead, we must find ways to mitigate these negatives without suffocating the innovation of decentralization.
Automated SaaS Management makes this possible.
Through Automated SaaS Management, the IT team sees which applications employees are testing, trialing, and buying – both sanctioned and unsanctioned.
For example, Torii uses endpoint discovery through a browser extension. This extension captures anytime an employee uses their company email address to sign up for new software. This way, IT still has visibility into every piece of software connected to the company without micro-managing.
Torii gives IT the resources to maintain security without limiting the decentralized freedom for departments.
The Role of IT is Evolving
IT’s role is shifting.
They don’t make all the purchase decisions, but they are still accountable for security and orchestrating the entire company’s technology.
This shift is vital to recognize, and it’s why SaaS Management is a critical tool in IT’s arsenal.
Not to lean too heavily on sci-fi imagery, but the SaaS Management platform becomes a mission control for IT. Through this platform, they gain visibility, orchestrate automated workflows, ensure applications are connected, reduce bloat, monitor usage, and help other departments accomplish their goals.
Without SaaS management, IT is forced to be reactive to SaaS technology. The company treats them like a help desk or a security clean-up crew. But, with SaaS Management, IT gains back its autonomy and leads the organization with insight and automation – connecting, orchestrating, and enabling the path forward.
Conclusion – 64% Plus One?
Remember the survey at the beginning of this article?
Only 16% of respondents have a SaaS Management tool. Yet, 64% said they would evaluate or adopt a SaaS Management tool.
That’s a dramatic shift, and it’s revealing the way things have changed.
Simply buying powerful software isn’t enough. Without the right technology in place, we won’t use these incredible tools to their full potential. Worse yet, new technology can weigh down a company when not monitored and optimized.
With Automated SaaS Management, you can help shape a resilient business that embraces the decentralization of decision making and empowers IT to adapt to their changing roles.
To learn more about Torii, the leading Automated SaaS Management system, request a demo or watch an on-demand demo from our co-founder and CEO, Uri Haramati.
