Grid® for SaaS Management Platforms (SMP)
SaaS Management Platforms (SMP) Definition
Software-as-a-service (SaaS) management platform (SMP) is a centralized tool that enables organizations to discover, manage, optimize, and automate the lifecycle of their SaaS applications. It provides visibility into all SaaS usage across the business, including shadow IT, and integrates with identity providers, financial systems, and SaaS tools to unify data and workflows. SMPs support efforts to reduce software sprawl, improve license efficiency, enforce access policies, and maintain secure and compliant use of cloud software across departments.
A key differentiator of SMP is its ability to automate critical SaaS operations. This includes onboarding and offboarding users, managing access permissions, enforcing approval workflows, and applying real-time security and compliance policies. These capabilities help reduce manual effort, mitigate risk, and ensure that access to software is properly governed throughout the organization.
Unlike SaaS spend management software, which focuses primarily on tracking expenses, managing payments, and surfacing budget insights, SMPs emphasize operational control and governance. Key differentiators include automated user provisioning and deprovisioning, approval workflows, access control, security and compliance enforcement, and risk monitoring.
SMPs enable organizations to manage not only what is being spent, but also how SaaS is used, who uses it, and under what conditions. Products that exclusively manage Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Salesforce, or any other single SaaS ecosystem do not qualify as SMPs unless they also support a broad range of third-party SaaS applications.
To qualify for inclusion in the SaaS Management category, a product must:
- Discover and inventory sanctioned and unsanctioned SaaS applications. including shadow IT
- Provide visibility into usage, license allocation, and renewal cycles across multiple SaaS vendors
- Enable automation of workflows such as user provisioning, app onboarding and offboarding, and license right-sizing
- Enforce access, security, and compliance policies related to SaaS usage
- Integrate with identity providers, finance systems, and multiple SaaS applications
- Offer insights and analytics to drive app adoption, optimize usage, and reduce waste
SaaS Management Platforms (SMP) Grid® Scoring Description
Products shown on the Grid® for SaaS Management Platforms (SMP) have received a minimum of 10 reviews/ratings in
data gathered by March 05, 2024. Products are ranked by customer satisfaction (based on user reviews) and market
presence (based on market share, seller size, and social impact) and placed into four categories on the
Grid®:
- Products in the Leader quadrant are rated highly by G2 users and have substantial Market Presence scores. Leaders include: BetterCloud, Torii, Zluri, Zylo, Vendr, and Lumos
- High Performing products have high customer Satisfaction scores and low Market Presence compared to the rest of the category. High Performers include: Sonar, Trelica, and Cledara
- Contender products have relatively low customer Satisfaction scores and high Market Presence compared to the rest of the category. While they may have positive reviews, they do not have enough reviews to validate those ratings. Contenders include: Productiv, SailPoint SaaS Management, and G2 Track
- Niche products have relatively low Satisfaction scores and low Market Presence compared to the rest of the category. While they may have positive reviews, they do not have enough reviews to validate those ratings. Niche products include: Sastrify, Spendbase, Stackshare, SharePoint Reporting Tool, FinQuery Software Management, Augmentt, and Basaas
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in any form without G2’s prior written permission. While the information in this report has been
obtained from sources believed to be reliable, G2 disclaims all warranties as to the accuracy,
completeness, or adequacy of such information and shall have no liability for errors, omissions, or inadequacies in such information.
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