Snow Launches the Industry’s Most Complete Discovery Engine and Cost Optimization Framework to Rein in SaaS Sprawl
“I’m shocked. I had no idea we were using this many SaaS applications.”
This is the #1 piece of feedback we get after speaking to new customers using Snow Software for the first time. This is no surprise. There are tens of thousands of B2B SaaS companies in the market today, all with their own suites of SaaS solutions targeted at individuals or departments, creating an overwhelming number of applications available. The average organization uses at least 125 SaaS applications, and this is not even counting the free ones.
It is no wonder that IT is drowning in SaaS sprawl with the never-ending proliferation of SaaS apps and the bloated budgets associated with them. The very aspects that make SaaS so appealing to end users is wreaking havoc on the IT, Finance, Procurement, and ITAM teams that need to manage out-of-control software portfolios.
To support these teams, Snow is expanding its portfolio of solutions for solving the challenges of managing SaaS applications with Snow SaaS Management. In March, we made Snow SaaS Management available to a select number of customers, and today we are excited to share that is now in general availability.
Snow has over 10 years of experience supporting Software Asset Managers (SAM) to rein in SaaS sprawl. We launched our first SaaS solution – SAM for Cloud – as an extension of Software Asset Management in 2013. Our ten years of experience in the management of SaaS is telling us something: the market for B2B SaaS is about to change tremendously.
The rise of product-led growth, the shift from user-based to usage-based pricing, and the increased cybersecurity and data risks felt in IT from shadow SaaS means the tools we have been using to address SaaS sprawl must change. Technology innovation never stops and the tools that manage technology, like Snow, need to stay ahead of changes.
Snow SaaS Management, our fourth-generation SaaS Management solution, is our solution to do this by:
- Building the most complete discovery engine in our industry with first-to-market agentless browser extensions for web application metering
- Launching an advanced optimization framework with deep insights by SaaS application built on our learnings from advanced optimization for M365 and Adobe Creative Cloud
- Empowering users with hybrid data to manage complex enterprise applications
- Taking a user versus device-centric view of the world (user-centric views, new to Snow SaaS Management, are critical in SaaS as IT needs individual insights for use cases like chargeback)
- Delivering this as a service on Snow Atlas, which means the end of waiting for a software upgrade – innovation is delivered on-demand
- Enabling users to buy SaaS Management without requiring them to purchase our Software Asset Management module first
Get the details on Snow SaaS Management
Here’s more on how Snow SaaS Management enables you to see what other solutions don’t and extract savings from SaaS that are impossible to do with other vendors in this space:
Consolidated visibility across all SaaS discovery methodologies
One of the reasons IT fails to rein in SaaS sprawl is multiple usage discovery methodologies, including connecting to SaaS vendor portals, importing SSO data and tracking browser data, are required for complete visibility. This is no easy task for IT to do on its own. Snow automates this by combining all discovery sources and providing comprehensive usage data at the application and user level.
Optimization insights at your fingertips
All Snow solutions move beyond simply providing raw data by transforming it into Technology Intelligence.
Snow SaaS Management now has “Insights” cards that recommend areas for optimization based on duplicate users or unused licenses.
In addition, Snow SaaS Management has broadened optimization capabilities from 8,000+ to over 23,000 SaaS applications, so you can see more and extract more savings across your entire SaaS portfolio.
User-centric views
Snow SaaS Management provides the ability to see all applications and subscriptions associated with each user. User views are also required to reduce risk when offboarding employees. In this scenario, IT must ensure access is removed not only for IT-managed SaaS but unknown applications that may have been procured by a department or individual.
Usage views not available anywhere else
While some SaaS management vendors can tell whether someone has used an application within the last 30, 60 or 90 days, Snow provides granular verified usage information with logs detailing how long an application has been used and when.
Given SaaS applications contain critical user data that would be lost if access rights were erroneously removed – usage data versus simply the financial data other SMPs provide – is a game-changer for IT departments seeking to improve license management, negotiate better deals at contract renewal and provide Security the data necessary to prevent shadow SaaS.
Optimization of complex, hybrid applications
One of the most expensive, difficult-to-manage SaaS applications are hybrid applications—such as Microsoft 365—that allow for both installed and cloud-based usage. Only by gathering and analyzing both usage types can IT and procurement leaders perform advanced optimization, such as selecting the most efficient license type based on usage. This choice can be critical considering the significant price difference between licenses such as M365 E5, E3 and E1.
Snow not only discovers and consolidates all hybrid application usage but provides actionable insights to highlight optimization opportunities.
Looking for more reasons to try out our newest solution for SaaS management? Here are 3 more:
- Snow is the leading SaaS management vendor for tracking trial software and free applications such as ChatGPT.
- We are the only SaaS management vendor with a SaaS cost optimization framework that combines installed and cloud-based hybrid application usage for applications such as Microsoft 365 to enable advanced license type optimization such as E5 vs. E3 vs. E1.
- The combination of coverage of known and unknown SaaS applications – combining multiple discovery methodologies including a browser extension, vendor portals and SSO data – with our Data Intelligence Service gives you unparalleled visibility and management of SaaS.
As great as we feel about reaching general availability, we are just getting started.
Upcoming Snow SaaS Management innovations include new usage discovery methods, more specialized optimization capabilities for complex vendors, and even greater application rationalization capabilities, ensuring organizations have complete visibility of SaaS usage and optimized spend.
Existing customers, be sure to subscribe to our blog, so you don’t miss our latest product updates and industry news. Not a customer yet? Join 700 other SaaS customers and schedule a demo of Snow to see the power of SaaS management and Technology Intelligence.