According to IDC’s “Global Public Cloud Services Spending Guide,” European companies will spend €113 billion this year on cloud computing. contracting these IT services, figure that will double in 2026, reaching a total investment of 239,000 million. For David Alonso, Country Manager in Spain at Sastrify, an expert firm in the management and optimization of software as a service (SaaS) licenses, “companies have triggered the hiring of cloud tools to speed up their digitization and reduce costs. However, if they don’t keep an eye on the evolution of their subscription models, they can easily end up wasting resources.”
Some examples of this, they point out from the company, are the hiring of an excessive number of licenses that the employees do not take advantage of, the time spent on its mere management or the inadvertent fact that when a SaaS provider increases its services or adds new features, on multiple occasions, there is also an increase in the price to be paid.
According to Alonso, “ironically for many companies, instead of putting technology to work for their business, they put their business to work for technology. This ends up being, more than a method, an end in itself”. To alleviate this situation, Sastrify has compiled best practices when purchasing business software to reduce spending and get more out of companies’ technological investment. For this analysis, the company has based itself on the experience with its 150 clients from 15 different countries.
Promote a digital culture: if a technology is acquired, it is used
A very common situation in large companies is that employees are unaware of all the tools and programs they have at their disposal. Many even resort to “freemium” alternatives on an individual basis (like what usually happens with file transfer tools), not knowing that they have a more complete option within their organization.
The first thing to consider when taking full advantage of cloud platforms and services is to make the entire workforce aware of the services. that are contracted. Fostering an internal digital culture that empowers the user and makes them aware of the tools available to them is basic.
Reduce waste: if it doesn’t work, throw it away
With an eye on the January slope, many people take advantage of the end of the year to dispense with services that they pay for regularly but ultimately never use. Who doesn’t know someone who dropped out of the gym the second time they stepped foot in it? The same thing happens with cloud services. When starting a new business, it is very common to hire SaaS platforms to help consolidate and grow it. However, over time many of them are forgotten.
Thus, when it comes to optimizing costs, a second option that we should always consider is to eliminate unnecessary expenses. To do this, we will have to make a list of all the licenses that we have contracted and eliminate those that we do not directly use. The time has come to make room in the closet and take out everything that we do not wear. In addition, in the case of needing a platform intermittently, on many occasions there is the possibility of activating and deactivating the service as we see fit.
License management: invest wisely
Just as important as getting rid of everything we no longer use is good management of the licenses that we do use. It is not just about gaining space in the closet, but about taking advantage of all the clothes that we have kept. It is going one step further in order to identify and eliminate inefficiencies.
If the right tools are available, we can obtain the necessary information to know which licenses are truly profitable -those whose contract we will renew- and which ones should be replaced by other services that can offer us a better quality/price ratio.
Automate: leave the accounts to the expert
Why expose ourselves to the failure of doing a complex mathematical operation in the head if we have at our disposal the reliability of a calculator? In line with this, another step to follow whenever possible is to opt for automation as insurance against possible human errors.
There are functionalities that, as an “autopilot”, are responsible for the supervision of all our SaaS licenses. This will not only speed up our entire management process, but it will also help us avoid risks and cost overruns that are imperceptible to our eyes, as is the case with automatic license renewals.
Renegotiate the contract: words are worth gold
When we already have a large volume of platforms, another possibility to reduce costs is to renegotiate the price of contracts with suppliers. Above all, with those services whose use is essential, but whose licenses are about to expire and represent a great expense for the business.
Given this situation, the renegotiation of contracts is consolidated as a win-win that will allow us to prolong the use of solutions that we really need and, at the same time, that our provider retains us as customers. In short, a very useful alternative to continue using the same platform, but at a lower cost.
Bet on SaaS platforms: a sixth piece of advice that never hurts
As the use of cloud services increases, obtaining the highest profitability from the SaaS licenses already contracted becomes a gradually more complex process. This can lead to an economic problem considering the large capital outlay that these investments represent for many companies, regardless of their size.
Therefore, betting on hiring a platform that offers SaaS license management solutions is a differential point in this type of situation. Thanks to the service provided by these firms, we will be able to put into practice the five guidelines outlined above in an outsourced manner. Without worrying about having to carry them out proactively.
“Today, no one has any doubt that the business future lies in joining the contracting of cloud services. If we add to this the benefits that SaaS management platforms bring us both in the acquisition and maintenance of this type of service, we will be choosing to add even more value to our investment. In short, it is to approach our investment in a more rational and intelligent way, with the knowledge that with the help of a SaaS provider we will get the maximum return on our licenses”, Alonso concludes.
