Reducing SaaS Costs | 5 Steps to Optimize Licenses

Tracking logins may not give you an accurate picture of your usage. The login credentials may be generic or shared, so they won’t help you identify the real people behind them.

Linking real people with the login credentials will help you to identify people with multiple licenses. In most cases, users do not need more than one subscription for a single SaaS solution. If you’re already using a license management solution, start there to find out who has been assigned which aliases

SSO and AD logs are a great start for monitoring SaaS account activity. But you should diversify your data sources to ensure there are no gaps in your data coverage.

For instance, you can use mail and chat activity to see assess whether an account is being used. Consult your Exchange/Online solutions and use email activity to determine which accounts to deactivate, reharvest, and reassign.

Some users and their usage activity may be “hidden” on an external machine or shared device. Diversifying your data sources can help you uncover hidden and unmanaged users to get the most accurate overview.

Data may not be enough to tell you if a user needs access. If you’re not sure, then ask! People should be able to say whether their license is really being used. And involving them in the process will raise awareness for license management in an organization.

Make sure that your automatic license reharvesting tools allow email workflows and notifications, so users are actively involved in licensing decisions. If they don’t respond, it’s a good indication that they don’t need the license.