Highlights:

  • Organizations currently use an average of 130 SaaS apps, with net SaaS app growth of 18% year over year.
  • 57% of respondents claimed that their teams had expanded the amount of SaaS apps they manage and support over the previous year.

Organizations are employing more software-as-a-service apps than ever, according to cloud service management company BetterCloud Inc. However, changes are afoot in the market due to consolidation and worries about app security.

The findings, based on a poll of 742 IT and security professionals, were among many in BetterCloud’s 10th annual State of SaaSOps report.

The study and research looked at the growth rate of SaaS, the current information technology operations’ most pressing problems, and the reasons why SaaS security keeps IT professionals, up at night.

In the past 12 months, 43% of those surveyed indicated they had introduced a new SaaS program that handles sensitive data, and 81% stated they oversaw ensuring its security.

With 40% of companies reporting that they have discontinued redundant and overlapping applications in the past year, the arrival of new SaaS apps was slightly offset by those canceled.

Organizations currently use an average of 130 SaaS apps, with net growth of SaaS apps by 18% year over year.

A whopping 59% of those polled claimed that SaaS proliferation and spread are challenging to control. With 65% of respondents citing “shadow” SaaS apps as a problem, this is one of the significant issues.

However, 57% of respondents claimed that their teams had expanded the amount of SaaS apps they manage and support over the previous year.

80% of respondents cited employee experience as a motivating factor for SaaS adoption and modifications. Employee experience, according to those polled, was another important factor in measures to automate procedures.

Most respondents—86%—said that they believe automation is essential for tackling the SaaSOps difficulties of today. 71% of companies have already automated at least one help desk procedure, including password resets or new user onboarding. Of those companies, 43% already have a SaaSOps automation function or team and 23% more plan to.

The analysis discovered persistent problems with visibility and understanding of the SaaS application stack. 46% of IT experts claim that a lack of current information and visibility hinders automation.

Finally, most respondents said that they thought zero-touch automation, which involves coordinating automated workflows to replace all manual IT touchpoints, was the way of the future.

David Politis, chief executive officer of BetterCloud, said, “This is our 10th year surveying IT about the SaaS-powered workplace, and one thing remains true: SaaS is critical to doing business and to providing a better employee experience. Yet, in the last few years, the rush to adopt SaaS has outpaced IT’s ability to keep up with management and security challenges.”