Vendor stickiness by SaaS category

74.8% of SaaS spend is tied to deeply embedded suppliers

74.8% of SaaS investment is concentrated in mission-critical vendors within the average organization. CRM (89.8%), Sales (99.2%) and Development (86.9%) tools in particular are deeply integrated into the business ecosystem – often spanning multiple departments and core processes. While this highlights the critical nature of these platforms, the effort required to switch providers often outweighs potential cost savings or improvements in commercial terms, creating a significant risk of vendor-lock in.

Other highly-sticky platforms include ERP, Productivity Suites and Security tools, underscoring the complexity and long-term reliance on vendors within these categories.

Conversely, categories such as Customer Service and Design display a greater proportion of spend with medium or lower-dependence vendors, suggesting these tools are generally more replaceable and less embedded in organizational workflows.

These figures ultimately reinforce the importance of securing optimal terms and contract flexibility from the outset, and of taking a proactive approach to supplier management – particularly for critical platforms where switching costs, integration complexity and business impact are significant.

By understanding which tools are highly sticky versus those that are more flexible, procurement teams can prioritize negotiation, contingency planning and strategic management where it matters most, while maintaining agility for less-critical tools.