Topic starter
12/06/2026 12:45 am
TL;DR: More than 30% of SaaS spend is wasted each year, according to Zluri research, while the post argues that unused, duplicate, and abandoned subscriptions also create security and compliance drag as SaaS adoption accelerates. The practical issue is not just cost control. It is governance over app access, lifecycle, and entitlement cleanup before shadow subscriptions become shadow identities.
Editorial analysis by NHI Mgmt Group, based on content published by Zluri: “The Story of Forgotten Subscriptions & the Birth of Zluri”.
By the numbers:
- More than 30% of SaaS spend is wasted every year, according to Zluri research.
Key questions
Q: How should teams govern SaaS subscriptions that no one actively uses?
A: Treat them as lifecycle objects, not just cost items.
Q: Why does SaaS sprawl increase non-human identity risk?
A: SaaS sprawl increases NHI risk because every new integration can create tokens, service accounts, OAuth grants, and delegated permissions that persist outside normal review cycles.
Q: What breaks when subscription ownership is not assigned?
A: Review and offboarding break first.
Practitioner guidance
- Map subscriptions to business owners Create a live inventory that ties each SaaS app to a named owner, renewal date, user population, and downstream integrations.
- Review dormant subscriptions with access attached Identify licences that have not been used for a defined period and check whether accounts, roles, and API connections are still active.
- Fold SaaS cleanup into offboarding Add subscription removal to leaver and project-end workflows so app access does not persist after the team or use case disappears.
Bottom line: SaaS sprawl becomes an identity issue when subscriptions carry accounts, permissions, and integrations that outlast their business purpose.
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This topic was modified 4 days ago by NHI Mgmt Group
12/06/2026 10:12 am
Subscription sprawl is an identity governance failure before it is a finance problem: once SaaS procurement outpaces ownership, the organisation loses track of which applications still have valid users, integrations, and business justification. That creates a governance gap that sits between procurement, IAM, and security operations. The practitioner conclusion is simple: if you cannot inventory the app, you cannot govern the access it creates.
A question worth separating out:
Q: How do organisations reduce shadow subscriptions without creating more manual work?
A: Use a repeatable review process that combines app inventory, usage data, and ownership checks. The goal is to make subscription retirement a standard governance step, not a spreadsheet exercise. That gives IAM and procurement one shared view of which tools are still justified.
👉 Read our full editorial: SaaS sprawl and forgotten subscriptions are creating identity risk
This post was modified 4 days ago by NHI Mgmt Group