SaaS sprawl and auto-renewals: what IAM teams miss

TL;DR: SaaS sprawl, low app engagement, and missed renewals are turning hybrid-work adoption into avoidable budget waste, according to Zluri, citing Gartner and a survey showing 254 apps per company with only 45% average engagement over 60 days. The governance issue is not just cost control but identity-linked visibility into who is using which apps, when renewals trigger, and where duplicate access footprints are inflating spend.

NHIMG editorial — based on content published by Zluri: SaaS Management SaaS Spend Management: How Zluri Helps IT Leaders Deal with Budget Cuts?

By the numbers:

• According to Gartner's report, end-user spending has reached $482 billion in 2022 and will exceed 45% by 2026.
• 254 SaaS apps, that, on average, a company uses 254 SaaS apps, but the average app engagement over 60 days was 45%.

Questions worth separating out

Q: How should organisations reduce SaaS spend without losing business capability?

A: Start with application discovery, then validate which tools are actually used, which are duplicated, and which renewals are automatic.

Q: Why do unused SaaS licences keep creating cost even when teams stop using the app?

A: Because subscription renewals continue unless someone actively intervenes.

Q: What is the most reliable way to spot SaaS spend waste in a large organisation?

A: Look for gaps between purchased licences, active users, and feature adoption, then compare those figures across departments.

Practitioner guidance

• Build a single SaaS inventory from multiple signals Combine SSO, finance, API, endpoint, and browser telemetry so app ownership and usage are verified from more than one source.
• Rightsize licences on observed usage, not procurement history Use 60-day engagement, active-user counts, and feature consumption to reduce overbuying and downgrade unused tiers before renewal.
• Assign named renewal owners for every material subscription Give each high-value contract one accountable owner who can review usage, approve cancellation, and negotiate terms before auto-renewal triggers.

What's in the full article

Zluri's full article covers the operational detail this post intentionally leaves for the source:

• The vendor's discovery methods and how they combine SSO, finance, APIs, desktop agents, and browser extensions.
• The renewal calendar behaviour, including alert timing for contracts and payments before auto-renewal.
• The MoEngage example showing how centralised visibility translated into reported savings over six months.
• The department-level spend comparisons and contract overcharge checks used to find budget leakage.

👉 Read Zluri's analysis of SaaS spend management and renewal waste →

SaaS sprawl and auto-renewals: what IAM teams miss?

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