A new insight has shed light on the disparities between IT workers’ understanding of software-as-a-service (SaaS) systems and cross-team collaboration in the workplace.
This was the key finding of a new report published by the SaaS management platform Torii, which indicated that three in five IT workers are in the dark when it comes to understanding their cloud app ecosystem.
The company queried 300 IT leaders about the effects of decentralised app purchasing on collaboration and SaaS management
In terms of the cross-team collaboration required to run these systems efficiently, only a small percentage actively work with parallel teams to control costs, secure data and respond to changing business conditions.
The report also highlighted the tremendous dissonance between how well IT thinks they’re working with other teams to manage distributed SaaS, and how poorly they actually are.
“SaaS is the ultimate team sport. Everyone from IT, procurement, and lines of business, to finance and security plays an important role in acquiring and managing cloud apps,” comments Uri Haramati, the company’s CEO.
“But in many businesses, the team is dysfunctional. People operate in silos with limited information, no single source of truth and woefully inadequate collaboration,” continues Haramati.
“The only possible outcomes from this are wasted money on apps and licenses, wasted time, and loss of agility.
“In today’s distributed, cloud-powered workplaces, businesses can’t afford substandard SaaS management.”
The report makes clear that a fresh approach to distributed SaaS management is required; one rooted in collaboration, transparency and empowerment.
Key findings
Despite the benefits of easy access, employee engagement with cloud-based apps rarely incurs communication with the relevant IT team.
This scattered approach to app data and ownership is only further decentralising what the report identifies as largely distributed organisations; undermining productivity and competitiveness.
In recognition of the increasingly widespread use of cloud-based applications, the report urges IT teams and stakeholders to actively participate in managing cloud applications and spending.
Although some level of collaboration is happening between different departments, the report identifies that it’s not happening nearly as often as it should.
While nine in 10 IT leaders praised their collaboration with other teams around SaaS management, in reality, only one in five do so with any regularity.
Likewise, just five per cent collaborate on the majority of business-critical tasks.
- Procurement and finance are underutilised IT resources
According to the company’s report, only 14 per cent of IT workers frequently engage with finance and procurement teams.
But ongoing collaboration and data sharing are essential for minimising costs, eliminating under-utilised licenses and surfacing the app usage and cost data needed for continuous spend management and successful contract negotiations.
- Businesses aren’t being proactive enough against shadow IT
Only 20 per cent of respondents work with security and/or compliance often enough to help them discover and derisk unknown applications.
Without a complete view of their entire SaaS stack and users, businesses will be unable to secure sensitive data, ensure authorised access or meet compliance requirements.
Image and article originally from thefintechtimes.com. Read the original article here.