ManageEngine launches SaaS Manager Plus to curb SaaS sprawl

ManageEngine, the enterprise IT sector of Zoho, has unveiled its comprehensive SaaS Management Solution, SaaS Manager Plus. The solution is designed to tackle the growing issue of SaaS sprawl and aims to reduce costs while maximising return on investment (ROI). In the evolving digital landscape with organisations increasingly switching to cloud-based applications, this comes as a welcome move.

Worldwide spending on public cloud application services (SaaS) is projected to reach approximately $244 billion in 2024, marking a growth of 19% year over year, according to Gartner. A fast-paced switch to cloud-based applications has presented IT teams with the mammoth task of managing SaaS sprawl – controlling the plethora of SaaS applications used within an organisation, managing access permissions, and maintaining secure usage across a distributed workforce. This is a global challenge that firms are striving to overcome.

Michael Coburn, information technology and security director at NEAR Foundation, shared his experience with managing SaaS applications. "In our journey towards facilitating community-driven innovation within various organisations, we grapple with an ever-increasing count of SaaS applications that primarily serve as a support tool for users. These applications are not only strenuous to manage manually but add to our burgeoning IT spend. There is a need for a robust tool that helps us keep track of invoices and discover applications, thereby regulating cost inefficiencies associated with SaaS sprawl."

SaaS Manager Plus comprehensively answers these challenges by providing a unified platform for SaaS management. It streamlines discovery, enforces access controls and offers valuable usage insights. This tool allows IT teams to gain control over their SaaS ecosystems, optimise costs, and ensure data security, supporting a productive remote workforce.

Rajesh Ganesan, president at ManageEngine, stated, "While multi-Cloud and multi-SaaS strategies offer enormous benefits, inefficient use of cloud resources and spiralling costs could topple business operations. A disciplined FinOps approach could help, but most organisations struggle to align it well with their management practices across IT, Finance, Operations, etc. SaaS Manager Plus brings one of the key FinOps components to ManageEngine, which continues to evolve into a platform. This launch is a testament to our commitment to solving technology management problems end-to-end for enterprises."

The noteworthy features of ManageEngine SaaS Manager Plus include a comprehensive view into all active SaaS subscriptions, identification of underutilised subscriptions and opportunities for consolidation for significant cost savings, integration with leading identity and access management systems for enhanced productivity, detailed reports on SaaS spending trends to facilitate informed decision-making, and alerts on upcoming subscription renewals to avoid unnecessary expenses through timely optimisation strategies.

SaaS Manager Plus is immediately available in Standard and Free editions. Pricing depends on the number of users, with the Standard edition starting from $250 a year for 25 users. A fully functional, 30-day trial version is also available.