What is the purpose of digitalization if not to make businesses run with more efficiency and agility? Fortunately, SaaS management platforms have helped companies take it a notch higher with their great functionalities. A SaaS management tool allows you to collaborate effectively and lets you schedule meetings and assign and keep track of the workflow.
Many businesses considered SaaS tools and took a digital transformation initiative, especially during the pandemic. While remote working has perks, collaboration and communication among team members can get taxing. Here is when it is wise to consider using a SaaS management tool.
SaaS tools are majorly all benefits. However, you need to choose a tool that adds real value to your business. You need a platform that benefits small as well as big companies. Saas management platform like Zluri can help a company with as little as 50 employees to a company with over 500 employees. Its unique features like vendor management, automatic renewals, and providing security to applications make it worth purchasing.
Purchasing a SaaS tool still comes after you know your business needs. To help you do that, we have listed five tips to keep in mind when choosing a SaaS management platform. So, let’s get to it without further ado.
5 Tips to consider when choosing a SaaS management platform
Now that you understand the benefits of a SaaS management platform comes the real question – of the zillion tools, which SaaS tool to go for? Well, calm your nerves as we will dive straight into it. Below are five tips to help you make an informed decision about the tool.
1. Check if it automatically discovers all vendors and applications
You want a SaaS tool that helps you identify your company’s usage and spending on various SaaS applications. In fact, it should not only automatically discover all applications and vendors used in your company but also automatically put them in their respective software categories.
Doing so will be possible if the SaaS tool has the functionality to integrate financial systems like Oracle NetSuite, Intuit, and SSO (Sign-On) systems like Google Workspace. Once the device has the knowledge from the two systems, SaaS management tools can identify the usage and spend it on various applications in your company. Hence, automatically discovering all apps and vendors is a vital functionality your SaaS tool must have.
2. See if it manages contracts
Needless to say, your company may have many SaaS applications, especially if you are well-established. Keeping track of hundreds of contracts and invoices can be a little taxing and might affect your company’s overall productivity. Missing out on important contract information like renewal date, auto-renewals, or billing frequency can mean wasted spending, and we don’t want that.
So, you need a SaaS tool that extracts all the contract information to quickly determine which vendors are on auto-renewal and their payment terms and conditions. This data will help you navigate smartly with your SaaS vendors. SaaS management software should bring all this contract information on a single contract dashboard for easy access.
If the SaaS tool has this feature, it will benefit you in the following ways:
- You won’t have to try to delete contracts and invoices from the employee mailboxes or shared folders.
- You can view and manage everything about contracts and invoices through a single platform.
- With this information, you get valuable insights that can help you negotiate smartly with your vendors.
3. Verify if the SaaS tool has best security features
In today’s data-driven world, cybersecurity is as critical as physical security. 43% of cyber attacks are aimed at small businesses, according to a Sidepost study. However, only 14% of small businesses are prepared to defend themselves.
Perhaps more given the data servers have.This is why the demand for cybersecurity experts is on the rise. However, when it comes to software, how do you ensure to choose the one that provides security?
Your SaaS management tool has access to all the applications and software used by your company. While this is crucial to keep track of things, it can also be risky since the chances of security breaches increase. So, you need a separate SaaS platform that manages and tracks the security of SaaS applications and provides control access to the employees.
The SaaS management platform would know all the applications in your company. Hence, it should provide you updates when a security vulnerability is discovered in any of the apps. Managers should be aware of such security vulnerabilities for all applications used in the company.
So, while choosing a SaaS management platform for your company, it is vital to ensure that the platform has up-to-date vendor information.
4. Check for backups, disaster recovery plans
According to Henfield, on average, it takes two days to penetrate a company’s internal network and that there were at least 1,243 publicly disclosed security incidents in 2021.Thus, it is imperative that your SaaS tool should ensure that security breaches and cyber-attacks do not happen.
However, if it happens, it should have a disaster recovery plan, so you don’t lose your data. You need to know the type of incidence management and disaster recovery plans the SaaS security company provides.
You should not only know what your SaaS tool can do, but you also need to know how much responsibility you would take as a company in case of a data leak. The roles of the software and you as a company should be clearly outlined right from the beginning. You also should know what type of recovery you want, how much downtime you can afford, and how frequent backups you want.
So, choose a SaaS tool with disaster recovery plans that suit your company’s requirements.
5. Usage Tracking and Analytics
Robust analytics stack can do wonders for your company if used correctly. It can help you better track and understand your company’s performance. However, how do you do that?
First, you should know which applications are used by employees and which are not. Analyzing the application usage per employee will help you make an informed decision on spending and preventing data on multiple app clouds. The data can help you make informed decisions before the renewal.
These five tips will help you find a SaaS management tool. However, there are some more questions that you can ask before shortlisting a suitable SaaS tool for your company.
- Does the platform cater to your business needs?
- Is the solution scalable?
- What security certificates does the SaaS company have?
- Will the software work in the present and future user environments?
- Does it fit with your budget requirements?
Wrapping up 5 tips when choosing a SaaS management platform
It must be clear from the article that having a SaaS management tool will help you upscale your business. Well, the right tool will. SaaS tools differ based on use-care scenarios, costs and updates. Some tools offer quarterly updates, while others may provide yearly updates. Some tools may have auto-renewals at certain time intervals, while some do not have them.
Now, choosing the platform that aligns with your needs is something only you can decide. While the article may highlight the benefits of a SaaS tool, it doesn’t tell you which tool you should buy. First and foremost, you need to have a clear list of requirements, from why you want a tool to what features are essential to your business. On the other hand, for a better understanding of vendor risk management, take help from a guide to vendor risk management.
Once you have, it figured out, explore the tools available in the market and choose the one that fits your budget and business needs. Good luck!
Author Bio:
Parita Pandya is an Engineer turned Writer. She usually finds herself writing for businesses. When she is not writing, she is either strumming her guitar or penning her thoughts down on paritapandya.com.
