Vendor risk exposure by SaaS category

74.8% of SaaS spend is tied to high-risk suppliers

74.8% of SaaS spend is with high-risk, "sticky" suppliers. Categories like CRM (89.8%), Sales (99.2%) and Development (86.9%) tools are heavily concentrated on suppliers that are difficult to replace, reflecting the critical, often deeply integrated nature and the potential for vendor lock-in. ERP, Productivity Suites and Security tools also show high levels of supplier stickiness, underscoring the complexity and long-term reliance on these vendors.

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

These figures ultimately reinforce the importance of proactive supplier risk management, particularly for critical platforms, where switching costs, integration complexity and business impact are significant.

By having an understanding of the tools that are highly sticky versus those that are more flexible, procurement teams can prioritize negotiation, risk mitigation and contingency planning where it matters most, while maintaining agility for lower-risk tools.