SaaS Management Platforms

SaaS Management Platforms Overview

SaaS management platforms help businesses proactively identify and manage all of the SaaS applications used in the business. They provide a centralized pane of glass for managing and reporting on SaaS sprawl that has become a norm, especially among enterprises.


SaaS management platforms primarily serve as a singular system of record for what SaaS applications are used across an organization, with mechanisms for proactively or automatically identifying which applications are in play. Beyond this ability, SaaS management platforms often focus on managing either the spend or operations of SaaS applications, with many products expanding to cover both areas.


SaaS spending management usually entails elements of license management, contract renewal management, and SaaS budget visibility and reporting. SaaS operations management entails administering user access controls for SaaS apps, monitoring SaaS onboarding, adoption, and offboarding.


There are several main benefits behind SaaS management platforms. Many businesses will save on costs by identifying and trimming unnecessary or inefficient SaaS spending, such as different business units using multiple collaboration or web conferencing products simultaneously. It also allows for more efficient employee onboarding and offboarding. The former allows new employees to spend less time ramping up, and the latter minimizes security risks when an employee leaves the company. There are other security benefits from improved visibility into the business’s SaaS ecosystem, particularly shadow IT.


SaaS Management Products

(1-25 of 49) Sorted by Most Reviews

The list of products below is based purely on reviews (sorted from most to least). There is no paid placement and analyst opinions do not influence their rankings. Here is our Promise to Buyers to ensure information on our site is reliable, useful, and worthy of your trust.

Apptio Cloudability

Cloudability is a cloud cost management platform for cloud cost control developed the company of the same name in Portland, acquired and now supported by Apptio (May 2019). The Cloudability also includes additional products, Cloudability Shift to support migration to cloud, and the…

Teams Manager for Microsoft Teams

Teams Manager is presented by the vendor as an easy-to-use tool for structure and governance in Microsoft Teams. Teams Manager helps companies prevent uncontrolled growth in Microsoft Teams, while still enabling users to request new teams. Features include: Request process &…

BetterCloud

BetterCloud is a SaaS Management Platform (SMP) that enables IT professionals to discover, manage, and secure their cloud applications. With BetterCloud, users can: Uncover Security Threats & Increase Controls – Proactively mitigate security risks through automated granular policy…

ShareGate

ShareGate headquartered in Montreal offers a suite of Sharepoint, Microsoft Office 365, and Azure adoption, administration, and cost management solutions.

Blissfully

Blissfully is a complete SaaS management platform. It aims to give companies the visibility and tools needed to manage vendors, simplify IT operations, maintain compliance, and optimize spending.

AvePoint DocAve

The DocAve Software Platform, from AvePoint, is a software that enables users to backup, manage, and migrate SharePoint, Microsoft Office 365, and file shares. The DocAve Software Platform provides central or delegated control over one, or multiple SharePoint environments.

Certero for Cloud

Certero for Cloud is a cloud asset management application providing full visibility of cloud applications and designed to optimize cloud asset usage and reduce wasted spend. Certero for Cloud has two modules to manage the major Cloud IaaS / PaaS vendors in Azure and AWS. Certero…

Quest On Demand Audit

Quest Software's On Demand Audit is a SaaS management tool that allows users to streamline security, compliance & change auditing for hybrid Microsoft environments.

CloudM

CloudM, from Cloud Technology Solutions Limited headquartered in Manchester, is a platform that aims to help organizations get the most out of the cloud through migration, automation & administration.

SysKit Point

SysKit Point is a Automated Office 365 Governance and Security tool, from SysKit in Zagreb. It is designed to enable users to get a full overview of an Office 365 environment and ownership across Microsoft Teams, SharePoint Online, Office 365 Groups, and OneDrive in a central web…

Augmentt

Augmentt is a platform to discover, optimize and fully manage SaaS applications from the company of the same name in Ottawa.

Ampliphae SaaSGuard

Ampliphae headquartered in Belfast aims to give IT Management an easy-to-deploy, sophisticated and affordable cloud discovery and management platform, so users can monitor cloud usage to minimise risks, maximise business benefit and ensure compliance. SaaSGuard is their SaaS Management…

Quadrotech Nova

The Nova Management Platform, from Quadrotech, consists of integrated components and services that work together to provide deeper operational visibility and control of Microsoft Office 365 environments, while removing a significant load from IT through sophisticated automation, reporting,…

Substly

Substly provides a businesses a subscription usage overview that aims to save money and effort Subscription-based business models were created to make users spend more. And there is a reason that most vendors move toward that type of business model – it works! Substly helps companies…

CoreSuite

CoreView is a provider of Microsoft 365 management for large enterprises. They help IT and Security teams manage, secure and optimize licenses for more than 5 million M365 users worldwide. CoreView’s CoreSuite solution imports data from every nook and cranny of an organization's…

Riverbed SaaS Accelerator

Riverbed's cloud-based Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) acceleration service is purpose-built to ensure consistent performance of SaaS applications for anyone, anywhere, regardless of distance. A key pillar of the Riverbed Application Performance Platform , SaaS Accelerator offers…

BHub

BHub is a backoffice SaaS product providing reports, KPIs, accounting documents and billing for startup management.

Wingback

Wingback provides tools and APIs for SaaS pricing and packaging. Wingback provides an infrastructure that allows SaaS startups to deploy any set of features of their product with any pricing model.

Patronum

Patronum takes the Google Workspace (G Suite) administrators wish-list and creates a set of features to transform the way Google Workspace users, groups and resources are managed. Onboarding and Off-boarding users within Google Workspace can be time-consuming and costly. Patronum…

gPanel

gPanel's centralized user management interface provides administrators with visibility and control over all their users' data and settings. From Promevo headquartered in Burlington, Kentucky, the solution aims to deliver peace of mind with a robust suite of security features.

Lumos

Managing all of the apps deployed across a 1000+ person company can be painful. IT can be flooded with tickets addressing issues arising from these apps. Lumos helps to reduce IT tickets with its AppStore for Companies. Lumos enables employees to solve any software-related problem…

Simeon Cloud

Simeon Cloud is a cloud management platform for managing Modern Workplace using Microsoft 365 automation, establishing and maintaining baseline configurations for multiple Microsoft 365 tenants, deploying non-production environments, monitoring for drift, backing up, and applying…

sapio365

Sapio365 is a desktop application that streamlines M365 management with multi-tenant & hybrid AD access, automation, granular RBAC and no PowerShell. • View and update M365 data in the cloud or on-prem (hybrid AD) from a single interface • Keep M365 data private & safe – Ytria…

Tropic

Tropic is a procurement management solution specifically for SaaS applications, from the company of the same name headquartered in New York. They provide intelligence, benchmark data and the guidance to find the right platforms for a company's software stack. The service also includes…

Quest Enterprise Reporter

Quest Software's Enterprise Reporter provides visibility into critical Microsoft configurations — from Active Directory and Exchange to Teams and OneDrive for Business. The reporting solution enhances compliance with security best practices and internal policies while helping users…

Learn More About SaaS Management Platforms

What are SaaS Management Platforms?

SaaS management platforms help businesses proactively identify and manage all of the SaaS applications used in the business. They provide a centralized pane of glass for managing and reporting on SaaS sprawl that has become a norm, especially among enterprises.


SaaS management platforms primarily serve as a singular system of record for what SaaS applications are used across an organization, with mechanisms for proactively or automatically identifying which applications are in play. Beyond this ability, SaaS management platforms often focus on managing either the spend or operations of SaaS applications, with many products expanding to cover both areas.


SaaS spending management usually entails elements of license management, contract renewal management, and SaaS budget visibility and reporting. SaaS operations management entails administering user access controls for SaaS apps, monitoring SaaS onboarding, adoption, and offboarding.


There are several main benefits behind SaaS management platforms. Many businesses will save on costs by identifying and trimming unnecessary or inefficient SaaS spending, such as different business units using multiple collaboration or web conferencing products simultaneously. It also allows for more efficient employee onboarding and offboarding. The former allows new employees to spend less time ramping up, and the latter minimizes security risks when an employee leaves the company. There are other security benefits from improved visibility into the business’s SaaS ecosystem, particularly shadow IT.


Shadow IT Management

SaaS management platforms also enable organizations to gain crucial visibility into the org’s shadow IT. Shadow IT occurs when applications and systems are bought or built without IT or other administrative authority’s knowledge and approval.


Shadow IT isn’t bad by default. Decentralized purchasing and adopting can be more efficient and is often inevitable in larger organizations. SaaS management platforms can allow such decentralization to continue while also giving IT better visibility into the efficiency and security risks associated with the organization’s shadow IT.



SaaS Management Platforms Features

All SaaS management platforms should facilitate either the operations of or spending on the business’s SaaS applications. While the specific features offered may vary, SaaS management platforms should be able to deliver most or all of the following capabilities:


  • SaaS application discovery

  • Manage and report on SaaS budget

  • SaaS license and renewal management

  • SaaS onboarding/adoption metrics

  • SaaS data security and compliance

  • SaaS administrative control over SaaS access

  • SaaS applications security management



SaaS Management Platforms Comparison

There are some factors to consider when comparing SaaS management platforms:


  1. Catalogs of known SaaS: All SaaS management platforms will be able to identify the most popular applications, such as Google Workspace. Are there more niche applications or SaaS systems that the organization uses, or that may be present in the org’s shadow IT? This is most common among industry-specific SaaS apps, in which case buyers should check platforms’ coverage of products tailored to their industry.

  2. Spend management vs. ops management: Consider whether the organization is more focused on improving operational efficiency or trimming excessive spending associated with SaaS sprawl. While many products can address both issues, they do so to varying degrees, and there are some point solutions that exclusively focus on one or the other. Buyers should choose a product with capabilities that align best with their unique SaaS management needs.

  3. Security features: Security capabilities are still a developing feature set for many SaaS management platforms. Their ability to identify security risks in SaaS ecosystems and remediate the risks, in addition to securing specific activities like employee offboarding, will vary drastically across products, and will continue to shift in the near future.


Start a SaaS management platform comparison

Pricing Information

Pricing will depend primarily on what specific features are purchased. Implementation and deployment support will also frequently increase costs. Some vendors also scale pricing by the amount of SaaS spending that will be managed, starting at a free version for less than $1,000 in monthly SaaS spending in some cases.

Related Categories

Frequently Asked Questions

What do SaaS management platforms do?

SaaS management platforms serve as a system of record and central administration console for a business’s SaaS ecosystem.

What kinds of SaaS management platforms are there?

The two most common SaaS management platform types are SaaS spend management and SaaS operations management. Many platforms now include some elements of both.

Who uses SaaS management platforms?

Platforms are most common among enterprises, and their IT departments usually own and manage the platform itself.

What is “shadow IT”?

Shadow IT is the sum of unauthorized SaaS applications and systems that individuals or business units purchase or adopt. While this decentralized adoption can be efficient, SaaS management platforms can help mitigate its inefficiencies and security risks.

What are the benefits of SaaS management platforms?

SaaS management platforms can save businesses money on redundant SaaS applications and save time managing disparate systems.