The Dark Side of SaaS: App Waste and License Fee Overload
Can too much of a good thing be bad for business? When it comes to managing multiple Software as a Service applications, the answer is yes for many small to large companies. Research shows there is a dark side to SaaS that needs to be considered, such as how wasted app use, duplicate app use, app churn rates, and accumulated license fees can take a big hit on your bottom line. Just like when Yoda from Star Wars Return of the Jedi once said to Luke during his final breaths, “If once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny.”
Follow along as we dive into the latest industry truths on this topic, plus how you can light-saber away some of the negative effects to reach the lighter side of our multi-SaaS-app world.
Person-to-app relationships are growing at lightspeed rates
Check out the illuminating visual from the 2020 Annual SaaS Trends Report by Blissfully, which includes The SaaS Graph™ illustrating the average person-to-app relationship in an organization. While the graph’s rainbow-colored intersecting lines are mesmerizing, it also presents the stark reality of how many SaaS platforms that professionals – ranging from support and IT to sales, marketing, and other departments – are tasked with managing on a daily basis.
More apps per user adds up to astronomical license fees
Blissfully research also uncovered that the overall spend per company on SaaS products is up 50% and the number of unique apps in usage per company is up about 30% year over year. The average small business uses 102 different apps, each mid-market business uses an average of 137 apps, and enterprises use an average of 288 different apps. If you calculate the total number of employees that require X number of apps per year, then consider the annual subscription fees for said apps, it drives home just how significant SaaS spend is for businesses to keep up with the times and operate successfully.
Purchased apps are often unused and abandoned
With a whopping 8,000 brands currently competing in the SaaS space, it’s easy for businesses to waste money on duplicate apps, apps that are unused by employees, or app subscriptions that are abandoned (and not cancelled in a timely manner) during employee turnover. Blissfully reports that duplicate app subscriptions increased by 80 percent from 2018 to 2019. Also, the average number of duplicate apps per company is 3.6. Enterprise companies have the highest average number of duplicate apps at 7.6, while small businesses show the least redundancy with just 2.3 duplicates on average.
Ready to combat some dark side effects of SaaS?
As with the dark, there is always the light to create balance in the galaxy – and that is where Glances steps in as the no-code integration platform for all of your favorite business apps and platforms.
✔️ Save time and boost productivity
It’s no secret that juggling multiple apps hurts your daily productivity. All the tab-switching, clicking around, and copy/pasting key data wastes time and increases errors. Glances was built to securely connect all of your apps and provide a simplified view of your data in real time. It empowers you to be efficient in the way that works best for you: by browser, by desktop, by glances.com, and native apps like in monday.com.
✔️ Save on licensing fees
Since only one admin needs to connect apps within Glances for your team to view data, you can help your company save on licensing costs. As for pricing, Glances starts at a friendly $10 per user/month for the annual plan, plus it offers a convenient free trial to test things out.
✔️ Reduce app waste
Glances acts as your go-to hub, unifying your once-scattered SaaS stack. Simply connect each app you use with Glances and the collective data from all of your apps will be available for viewing right when you need it, in real time, in a single view. Even if you forget you have an account with a few of your lesser-used platforms, you will still be gaining valuable data from them every workday through Glances.
✔️ Connect multiple app accounts
There are many businesses out there (including our own) where multiple accounts or instances for the same software are necessary. Perhaps your company is made up of multiple divisions or it markets several product lines. Maybe you have separate databases or varying online businesses. Or, you may simply want to view data from your personal account with an app separately from your professional account that uses the same app. Whatever your reasons are, Glances can connect more than one app account or instance.
Try Glances for 14 days, on us!
Schedule a demo to see the awesome benefits of Glances in action or ask our team questions.
If you need to connect a specific app or platform with Glances that is not currently available on glances.com, please send your requests to hello@glances.com.
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