Common Mistakes in Managing SaaS Applications Using Spreadsheets/SAM Tools

Quick Answer: Some common mistakes in managing SaaS apps using spreadsheets/SAM tools include manual tracking, missing shadow SaaS and AI apps, overlooking unused licenses, disconnected access management, missing renewal dates, and redundant subscriptions. The SaaS and AI app management tool, CloudFuze Manage, helps large enterprises simplify SaaS and AI application governance through centralized discovery, license optimization, and usage visibility.

7 Common Mistakes Enterprise Make Mistakes in Managing SaaS Applications Using Spreadsheets/SAM Tools

The following are seven SaaS management mistakes that enterprises must avoid and the ways to overcome them.

1. Failing to Discover Shadow SaaS and AI Applications

Users in an organization can adopt shadow SaaS and AI apps for file sharing, meeting summaries, or project management purposes. This practice leads to issues like shadow IT, data security, and compliance risk. Spreadsheets and legacy SAM solutions do not have the capability to provide adequate visibility into such applications.

Common challenges include:

• Adoption of SaaS and AI applications.
• Exposing sensitive corporate data.
• Inadequate visibility into application usage.
• Hard to measure risks involved.
• No control over AI agents.

Enterprises can adopt SaaS discovery and Shadow IT detection to discover these applications and measure risks. Our tool, CloudFuze Manage, helps with SaaS discovery and Shadow IT detection, including ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor, GitHub, Copilot, and much more.

2. Ignoring Wasted Licenses and Unused Subscriptions in SaaS Licensing

Tracking purchased licenses does not reflect actual utilization. For instance, an organization may buy 500 licenses but use only 320 of them. As a result, there are many opportunities to lower SaaS costs. Spreadsheets and traditional SAM solutions may not provide enough usage data.

Common challenges include:

• Payment for unused licenses.
• Keeping licenses for departed employees.
• Keeping redundant premium plans.
• Missed chances for license recovery.
• Subscription renewals without review.

You should constantly monitor license utilization and find inactive users, redundant and unused subscriptions, and downgrading opportunities. Nevertheless, when you use CloudFuze Manage, it is much easier for IT departments to detect unused or underutilized licenses, manage subscriptions, and save unnecessary SaaS cost.

3. User Access Management via Disconnected Systems

For instance, during employee offboarding, companies disable corporate accounts but forget to restrict third-party application access. In this case, a company will have departed employees who have active accounts and unnecessary access to its business assets.

Common challenges include:

• Lack of information regarding application access.
• Active accounts of departed employees.
• Incomplete access reviews.
• Redundant user permissions.
• Increased offboarding process.

For this, you must establish centralized visibility into application users, access permissions, and account ownership. SaaS management tools help IT teams improve SaaS access visibility and strengthen user access governance.

4. Missing SaaS Renewal Dates and Contract Obligations

Relying on spreadsheets and manual reminders to track SaaS renewals can cause IT and procurement teams to miss important deadlines. This may result in automatic renewals for unused applications, unexpected costs, and missed opportunities to negotiate better terms.

Common challenges include:

• Unnecessary automatic subscription renewals.
• Unexpected subscription price increases.
• Limited time for contract negotiations.
• Spending on unused applications.
• Overlapping vendor subscriptions.

Maintain centralized records of subscription costs, renewal dates, and application ownership. Review application usage before renewing contracts. CloudFuze Manage provides SaaS spending visibility and helps organizations identify subscription optimization opportunities for better purchasing decisions.

5. Lack of Identification of Duplicated SaaS Applications

Departments might purchase SaaS applications with duplicate capabilities without being aware of the same. In the absence of application visibility, it becomes difficult for organizations to determine if there are redundant purchases.

Common challenges include:

• Multiple purchases with similar capabilities.
• Higher costs for purchasing the software.
• Difficulties with collaboration across departments.
• Complexity of vendor management.
• Extra cost associated with security and compliance.

Perform periodic assessment of the SaaS portfolio to identify applications that have duplicate capabilities. Comparisons can be done on the basis of use, business requirements, and subscription cost. The SaaS Management tool can provide you with visibility of applications and spending in order to help your IT team optimize the portfolio.

6. Lack of Usage and Spending of SaaS Visibility

It is difficult to get visibility regarding the current SaaS usage and spending in case the company uses out-of-date spreadsheets and reports from SAM. As employees change their jobs or leave the organization, the old records might not represent their requirements anymore.

Common challenges include:

• Limited visibility into active applications.
• Difficulty comparing assigned and utilized licenses.
• Unclear departmental SaaS spending.
• Delayed identification of unused subscriptions.
• Poorly informed procurement decisions.

Establish centralized visibility into SaaS applications, licenses, usage, and spending. CloudFuze Manage provides application and spending insights that help IT teams identify optimization opportunities and make informed SaaS management decisions.

7. Approaching SaaS Governance as a One-time Exercise

Organizations tend to conduct reviews of their SaaS applications on an annual basis, such as at audit time or renewal time, but fail to account for any ongoing changes in how the software is being used. However, these one-time audits do not provide sufficient visibility into continuous changes, creating gaps in SaaS governance.

Enterprises should regularly review application discovery, license consumption, access control, and subscription spending. CloudFuze Manage enables enterprises to retain centralized visibility over SaaS and AI applications.

How CloudFuze Manage Helps Enterprises Simplify SaaS and AI Governance

CloudFuze Manage is a SaaS and AI governance platform that helps enterprises address these challenges through:

• Application Discovery: Discover SaaS, AI, and shadow applications.
• Centralized Visibility: View enterprise applications in one place.
• License Optimization: Identify unused licenses and reduce waste.
• Access Governance: Improve visibility into application access.
• Spending Insights: Track SaaS spending and identify savings opportunities.
• AI Governance: Strengthen oversight of tools such as ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor, and GitHub Copilot.

CloudFuze Manage also helps organizations move beyond fragmented application tracking by bringing SaaS and AI governance into a centralized platform. This enables IT teams to reduce manual administrative work, improve license utilization, and maintain better oversight of their growing application environments.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Why aren’t spreadsheets adequate for managing SaaS?

Spreadsheets require manual updating and do not necessarily provide visibility into applications, usage, licenses, or user access.

2. What are some limitations of traditional SAM solutions for SaaS management?

Limitations could include lack of visibility into shadow SaaS, AI application usage, license utilization, and application governance.

3. What’s the difference between SAM and SaaS management?

SAM is about managing software, licensing, and compliance, whereas SaaS management involves cloud applications, subscription management, access governance, and usage spending.

4. How does SaaS management software help IT teams?

SaaS management software gives visibility into applications and licenses to help IT teams manage their shadow SaaS and spending.