The current economic downturn has created an urgent need to reduce costs without compromising team productivity. To gain better visibility into your existing software system, you can use SCS’s suite of tools to make the renewal process easier and smoother. Software contract renewals don’t have to be stressful, and when done properly they can help save money while maintaining optimal team performance. In this guide, we explain the critical steps to include in managing and renewing your software subscriptions.
Identify an Implementation Manager
Software contracts can sometimes be complicated, as they involve a variety of parties and regulations. To avoid confusion and excess spending, it’s important for the same person or team to manage the implementation of new software tools. Involving an implementation manager helps reduce maverick spend and keeps departments from procuring two project management apps with overlapping feature sets. Moreover, companies should also consider setting purchasing policies to restrict software buying to the procurement team in order to prevent unapproved purchases.
Determine KPIs
What do you intend to accomplish with renewal management? Are you trying to…
- Stop missing renewal deadlines?
- Raise the value you’re getting from SaaS?
- Empower your teams with better tools?
- Stop wasting the budget on unused software?
The answer to this question will direct your efforts when building an impactful renewal strategy.
Build SaaS Visibility
As your business grows, staying in the know about your SaaS usage and license renewals is critical for making sure you don’t pay for unused services. Take advantage of complete visibility into your SaaS portfolio by gaining full insight into what software licenses are active, their usage numbers, and how those tools are being utilized to determine which ones should stay in the budget and which can be removed.
Develop Renewal Calendar
Forgetting to manage the renewal of contract agreements can be costly. Setting up a calendar reminder system with notifications is key in avoiding any auto-renewal traps that may come along. Additionally, prioritizing renewals of high cost or mission-critical software should be done to ensure important programs receive proper attention.
Just Say No to Automatic Renewals
To ensure you always have full control of your payments, disabling auto-renewal is key. This involves disabling software spending on corporate credit cards, as they can be easy to forget and renew without a second thought. Doing this gives you extra time to reconsider or renegotiate the terms of your SaaS contract; don’t let the auto-renewal speak for you!
Employee Accountability
Organizations can maximize employee accountability by assigning an “app owner” to each software package. The app owner is the person who initially requested or purchased the software and should be held responsible for its upkeep. In cases when the app owner leaves the company, ownership should be reassigned to ensure that someone is available to provide context about the application. When it comes time to renew, turn to the app owner to help decide if renewal is worth it.
Renewal Management
If you want to take advantage of renewal management, the best way to get started is to integrate it with your existing spend, contract, or vendor management system. This will help ensure your team is efficiently handling all related tasks in one place while leveraging the same financial data. This makes renewals simpler and more streamlined.
Call SCS
Procurement platforms can provide a great deal of assistance for SaaS renewal management and budgeting, allowing teams to focus on drawing real value from their applications. By integrating renewals into existingworkflows, it’s easier to save time and money–definitely worth considering if your organization uses a procurement platform! Contact SCS today to learn more about how we’ve helped other clients reduce their IT spend.