SaaS Management vs IT Asset Management: What's the difference

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Managing software has become increasingly complex, especially with the rise of SaaS applications. Relying solely on traditional IT Asset Management tools may no longer suffice, as they were primarily designed for physical assets and on-premise software.

In this blog, you’ll learn about the key differences between SaaS management and ITAM and why ITAM tools fall short of managing cloud-based software.

You’ll also know how SaaS management platforms can fill those gaps. This will give you the insights needed to optimize your software portfolio and cut unnecessary costs.

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TL;DR

• IT Asset Management (ITAM) tools focus on managing physical assets and traditional software, while SaaS management platforms handle cloud-based applications more effectively.
• SaaS platforms like CloudEagle.ai offer real-time tracking, usage monitoring, and automated license management, which ITAM tools struggle to provide.
• ITAM tools often lack the automation and renewal workflows needed for SaaS procurement, resulting in missed renewals and increased costs.
• SaaS management platforms enhance security with access control, identity management, and compliance monitoring, which ITAM tools do not offer.
• Combining ITAM tools with SaaS management platforms ensures full visibility and control over both on-premise and SaaS assets, optimizing costs and boosting efficiency.

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What is IT Asset Management?

Assets are often tracked in multiple places by different individuals, leading to confusion and a lack of accountability. Without a single person or tool overseeing and centralizing this information, chaos, and inaccuracies arise, making it hard to make informed decisions.

Asset management brings order and serves as a single platform for IT teams, management, and your entire organization.

With an effective IT asset management system, you can keep an accurate inventory of these resources. Additionally, you can monitor their usage and stay compliant with software licensing agreements.

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What is SaaS Management?

SaaS management involves managing every phase of a SaaS application's lifecycle within an organization, from acquiring new software to integrating it with current systems. It also includes tracking usage, handling subscription renewals, and overseeing licensing agreements.

A SaaS management platform provides a centralized dashboard. This way, it can streamline the overall process and help you maintain control as your SaaS stack grows.

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IT Asset Management Vs SaaS Management (As a process)

Remember that SaaS management and IT asset management aren’t the same. They both have different scopes and approaches. ITAM can help you manage physical assets and traditional software licenses, whereas SaaS management is geared towards cloud subscription-based tools.

Understanding their core differences is important. It will help you know why SaaS management tools can handle complexities better. Here's a table comparing ITAM and SaaS Management as processes:

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SaaS Management Tool vs. ITAM Tool: Key Differences (As a Tool)

1. Tracking and visibility

SaaS management platforms are extremely effective at providing comprehensive tracking and visibility into your entire SaaS portfolio. These platforms give you real-time insights into which applications are being used, who uses them, and how much each costs your business.

CloudEagle.ai, for example, offers detailed dashboards and reporting tools that allow IT, finance, and procurement teams to monitor spending, app usage, and compliance in one place.

This level of transparency helps you make informed decisions about renewals, provisioning, and overall SaaS optimization. It will ensure that no app or license goes unnoticed.

But ITAM tools often lack this granular visibility. While they might offer basic asset tracking, they’re typically focused on physical hardware and on-premise software. This lack of real-time tracking can result in missed opportunities for cost savings.

An SMP like CloudEagle.ai is essential for true tracking and visibility. It will provide everything needed to keep your SaaS ecosystem under control and optimized.

2. License Management

CloudEagle.ai provides real-time visibility into purchased, provisioned, and used licenses on a centralized dashboard. Instead of getting only surface-level insights, you can explore feature-level usage for each license through direct integrations or Excel uploads.

This allows you to efficiently manage license types, user assignments, login activity, and spending from a single platform.

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You will receive alerts based on app usage patterns, helping you decide whether to upgrade or downgrade licenses. You can also invite app admins to audit licenses and deprovision users directly from the app.

On the other hand, ITAM tools can track and manage licenses that effectively. So, if you rely only on ITAM tools, you will face problems tracking license usage, leading to wasted spend on underutilized licenses and potential compliance issues.

ITAM tools help you manage software licenses typically connected with on-premise applications and hardware. While effective for tracking traditional licenses, they often fall short when handling SaaS subscriptions.

Unlike SaaS management tools, ITAM tools cannot help you manage fluctuating subscription models. Therefore, staying on top of license usage in a SaaS-heavy environment will become harder.

License harvesting

CloudEagle.ai provides detailed feature-level usage for each license through direct integrations and Excel uploads.

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CloudEagle.ai also automates the reclamation of unused licenses through customizable workflows. You can set triggers based on usage thresholds, offboarding dates, and other criteria to streamline the process.

With insights into feature-level usage, CloudEagle.ai identifies low-usage licenses and recommends downgrades at the user level, ensuring unused licenses are optimized, improving ROI.

3. Procurement & Renewal Management

SaaS management platforms are built to handle everything in one place. As they have procurement and renewal process in them, you don’t need to use separate tools.

CloudEagle.ai streamlines procurement workflows, eliminating the need to waste time on manual requests and follow-up emails. It allows your teams to collaborate seamlessly through no-code workflows, all in one platform.

With CloudEagle.ai’s Slack integration, you can tag and message stakeholders directly, accelerating approvals. Users can submit procurement requests, receive notifications, and take action without leaving Slack.

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The purchase request forms automatically adjust based on the purchase type and are assigned to the appropriate stakeholder. Once submitted, requesters receive automatic updates via their preferred channels—Email, Slack, or Teams.

Moreover, with CloudEagle.ai’s automated renewal workflows, you can prevent last-minute contract renewals by starting the renewal process up to 90 days ahead. This system ensures timely approvals from the necessary stakeholders.

You can also set up dedicated channels for clear communication, allowing stakeholders to raise requests, approve workflows, and leave comments effortlessly.

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Track renewal opt-out dates 30, 60, or 90 days in advance, allowing you to decide whether to renew or opt out. CloudEagle.ai’s app directory helps you quickly find alternatives if you're exploring new vendors. Renewal cards provide key data points, simplifying negotiations and streamlining the data collection process.

However, ITAM tools primarily focus on managing on-premise licenses and lack automation and workflows. They do not offer a seamless way to manage SaaS purchases or keep track of renewals.

Even if you have an ITAM tool, it won’t help you manage procurement efficiently, so you need to complement it with a SaaS management tool to manage the entire lifecycle of SaaS applications.

4. Compliance & Security

Compliance and security is one of the most significant differences between SMPs and ITAM tools. SMPs provide a significant advantage, especially in managing identity and access across a company’s SaaS ecosystem.

Let’s take CloudEagle.ai’s robust Identity and Access Management (IAM) features. It can streamline security by allowing for privileged access management, app access reviews, and provisioning and deprovisioning of users.

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It even includes features like a self-service app catalog and time-based access, ensuring that employees only have access to what they need, when they need it. These features can minimize security risks, prevent unauthorized access, and maintain compliance with regulations.

Unfortunately, ITAM tools cannot provide this level of sophistication. They are primarily focused on managing IT assets such as hardware and software without offering IAM features.

This means that ITAM tools cannot safeguard your organization from security vulnerabilities. You need an SMP integrating comprehensive access control and security features to protect your SaaS portfolio.

5. User Experience and Automation

Regarding user experience and automation, SaaS management platforms can simplify even the most complex workflows. These tools are designed to streamline operations, offering comprehensive automation for procurement, renewals, provisioning, deprovisioning, and even license reclamation.

Using an SMP to automate these processes can reduce the workload for IT, security, and procurement teams. This will free up their time and boost overall productivity.

For example, provisioning and deprovisioning user access is handled seamlessly, eliminating the need for manual input. On the other hand, automated renewal workflows ensure no subscription is missed or unnecessarily renewed. This not only improves efficiency but also strengthens security and compliance efforts.

However, traditional ITAM tools often lack this level of automation. They are typically harder to use, requiring manual intervention at multiple stages. They are less suitable for managing the vast and growing SaaS portfolios, as handling applications manually can burden your IT teams.

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Why ITAM Tools Alone Are Not Enough for Managing SaaS

Incomplete Application Discovery

ITAM tools cannot help you discover cloud-based applications. As the number of SaaS applications grows, many can go undetected, leading to “shadow IT” where applications are used without proper oversight.

This incomplete discovery creates significant risks in terms of security and compliance. You may have subscriptions and user accounts that aren’t being actively managed or optimized.

Difficulty Identifying Savings

ITAM tools are designed for capital expenditure management, primarily focusing on tracking ownership rather than usage. This model doesn’t align well with the flexible, operational expense nature of SaaS.

Without real-time visibility into usage patterns or granular data on spending, it becomes extremely challenging to know cost-saving opportunities. SaaS management tools, on the other hand, are designed specifically to track usage and costs at a detailed level.

Lack of User Activity Monitoring

IT asset management tools cannot monitor real-time user activity within SaaS applications. Without this level of insight, you’re left in the dark about how each application is being utilized.

This makes it difficult to make informed decisions about renewing or canceling subscriptions. As a result, it can lead to wasteful spending on inactive or redundant tools that could otherwise be eliminated or consolidated.

Inefficient License Harvesting

One key benefit of SaaS is the ability to scale licenses up or down based on actual need. However, ITAM tools are built around traditional licensing models, where licenses are often perpetual or tied to hardware.

This makes it difficult for ITAM systems to effectively manage SaaS license harvesting. Without the right tools, you can end up paying for subscriptions that aren’t fully utilized. You will have opportunities to reallocate licenses to employees who need them.

Lack of Procurement and Renewal Workflows

SaaS procurement and renewals operate on short, recurring cycles. ITAM tools are typically designed for managing long-term procurement contracts and licenses with slower renewal cycles.

As a result, ITAM tools often lack the automated workflows and alerts needed to stay on top of SaaS renewals. You may either miss a renewal or overcommit to long-term contracts that don’t fit your business needs. Without these automated workflows, managing SaaS contracts becomes a manual, time-consuming task that’s prone to errors.

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How SaaS Management Platforms Complement ITAM Tools

SaaS management platforms and ITAM tools together provide a comprehensive view of both on-premise and SaaS assets. They can help you manage costs, mitigate risks, and streamline operations.

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We compared CloudEagle.ai with an ITAM tool like Flexera and found that CloudEagle.ai is an excellent alternative. Unlike Flexera, which was initially developed for managing on-premise software assets, CloudEagle.ai was explicitly designed to focus on SaaS from the outset.

CloudEagle.ai can help you monitor real-time usage and optimize costs. Flexera often struggles in this area as it cannot provide effective insights for SaaS management. Thanks to its integrations with SaaS applications, CloudEagle.ai can provide actionable insights on licenses, something that Flexera cannot do.

There are many more differentiating factors between CloudEagle.ai and an ITAM tool like Flexera. If you’re looking for a robust Flexera alternative, make sure to read how CloudEagle.ai outperforms Flexera in terms of SaaS management.

Case Study

A leading media company faced challenges managing its expanding SaaS portfolio with Flexera, as the tool had difficulty offering clear visibility into the total number of SaaS applications and their usage.

The company integrated CloudEagle.ai with Flexera to improve app discovery, reclaim underused licenses, and boost ROI. Its AI-powered metadata extraction streamlined contract management, set renewal reminders, and enhanced vendor negotiations.

As a result, they achieved full visibility into its SaaS portfolio, saving time and lowering costs. AI-driven insights and automated contract management improved vendor negotiations. They reclaimed unused licenses and adjusted JIRA and Zoom licenses based on actual usage

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Conclusion

So, which one is the winner? A SaaS management platform or a traditional ITAM tool? While ITAM tools can help you manage on-premise software, you cannot rely on them entirely, especially if you use too many SaaS applications.

In such cases, you must use a SaaS management platform. These platforms will help you maintain stronger control over the entire SaaS ecosystem.

So, if your business relies on SaaS apps and you’re looking for a SaaS management platform, CloudEagle.ai is here to help you. Schedule a demo and the experts will showcase how CloudEagle.ai can benefit your business.

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