Product(s): USU SAM for SaaS
Overall Comment:"Over the last four years, we have partnered with USU to optimize licensing for several SaaS products, including Salesforce, Veeva, and Microsoft. The tool features numerous pre-built connectors that only require credentials to begin data extraction. Once the connection was established, we could configure our workflow rules and automations to reclaim underutilized licenses, as well as licenses from former employees, among other tasks. Additionally, we leveraged the data to conduct license compliance checks and uncover further savings opportunities, such as identifying users assigned premium licenses when more affordable options would suffice. Finally, the USU engineers and consultants were very receptive to our feedback and made adjustments to their tool to better meet our business needs."
USU's SAM for SaaS functions more like a toolbox than a ready-to-use finished product, which is perfectly acceptable once you understand its capabilities and how to utilize them. After successfully setting up the connectors and establishing data flow from our SaaS providers, we were able to configure various workflows that enabled us to quickly achieve a return on investment with USU. To date, we have realized cost savings and avoidances through USU SAM for SaaS that exceed ten times the investment in the product and associated consulting services.
USU SAM for SaaS would benefit from the following enhancements: 1. Managerial reports. While we have successfully optimized license usage, USU lacks the reporting tools that would effectively communicate the value to leadership. 2. I hope to see this product adopt some of the best practices from FinOps, especially now that FinOps has expanded its focus to include SaaS. 3. I would like insights into the frequency of SaaS product usage among our users. Currently, we disable a license if an employee leaves the company or does not log in to the SaaS offering for xx days. However, I would like to know whether users engage with the product a few times a week or primarily at the end of the month or quarter. A visual representation of user login frequency would help us identify areas for additional training and innovation to drive adoption, as well as potential use cases for migrating low-utilization users off the SaaS offering. This information could also be beneficial during SaaS renewal discussions.