AI Explore articles

Software license management helps businesses cut SaaS waste, stay compliant and reduce costs. Here's how to get it right.

A cost reduction strategy aims to cut spending on products, processes and suppliers that aren't adding value to the business, typically led by a CFO. Vertice customers see average software cost reductions of 20%, addressing a real problem: the average business now subscribes to around 144 separate applications, each with its own contract and supplier relationship to manage.

SaaS spend management tracks, controls and optimizes software subscriptions to eliminate waste and prevent unwanted auto-renewals. Vertice's 2026 data shows 15% of applications sit entirely unused and a further 51% are underutilized, running at less than half the capacity paid for – costing an organization of 500 to 1,000 employees an average of $1.7M a year. Automated renewal alerts and usage tracking are the primary tools for closing that gap.

Proven strategies for optimising SaaS costs, including guidance on conducting a software audit, and advice on negotiating contracts.

Spend analytics software tracks, analyzes and manages procurement spend across vendors, contracts, departments and categories to surface savings opportunities. SaaS costs rise by an average of 16.4% a year, and as much as 65% of software licenses go unused or underutilized. Vertice has helped one customer save $155,000 on a single software contract using this visibility.