Navigating Complexity and Risks in SaaS Management: Insights from the 2025 Report

The 2025 State of SaaS Report Overview

BetterCloud has unveiled its annual State of SaaS Report for 2025, which continues to be the leading research study in the SaaS management domain. In its twelfth edition, this year’s report focuses on the experiences of nearly 600 IT professionals. They face increasingly complex SaaS environments, as they navigate the challenges posed by economic instability and the rapid integration of artificial intelligence in their operations.

Key Challenges Identified

The report reveals that IT departments are grappling with rising workloads. The ratio of IT personnel to employees has increased dramatically, now standing at one IT employee for every 108 full-time staff. This is the most significant increase recorded in the history of the survey, emphasizing the mounting challenges faced by IT teams.

Additionally, over half of the survey participants stressed that budget constraints and the frequency of underutilized applications are driving them towards cutting costs and consolidating their SaaS usage. Surprisingly, while organizations are reducing the average number of SaaS applications—from 112 to 106 in just one year—this trend of consolidation is now slowing down considerably.

The Shadow IT Issue

Another notable issue echoed by the respondents is the persistent concern over Shadow IT. Nearly 60% of IT professionals expressed worries regarding the security risks associated with unauthorized applications being used within their organizations, which complicates the overall management of SaaS that is supposed to streamline processes.

Automation: A Critical Need

Despite acknowledging the need for automation, especially concerning onboarding and offboarding processes, only about 40% of the respondents have automated offboarding and just 34% for onboarding. This gap emphasizes an urgent need for organizations to adopt automation tools to alleviate pressure on IT teams.

AI Investment Gains Momentum

A significant highlight from the report is the overwhelming interest in AI. A striking 95% of companies reported having invested in various AI applications that promise to enhance functionality and productivity within SaaS frameworks. This is in line with the expectation that AI will continue to evolve, requiring IT departments to adapt rapidly and effectively.

Shifting Towards Unified SaaS Management

Considering the challenges involved with managing multiple point solutions, a majority of participants (70%) voiced a preference for a unified SaaS Management Platform (SMP). This indicates a broader trend towards integrating tools that streamline spending, automation, discovery, management, and security under one roof, making it crucial for organizations to reevaluate their current SaaS management strategies.

Conclusion

The findings of the State of SaaS 2025 Report underline critical insights into the evolving landscape of SaaS management. Organizations face increasing operational complexity driven by external economic pressures and internal demands for efficiency and innovation. This growing complexity mandates IT teams not only to manage software effectively but also to align technology spending with strategic business goals. With the continued embrace of AI technologies and the need for efficient automation, IT departments hold a pivotal role in guiding organizations through their digital transformation journeys. The insights revealed in this report will be a valuable resource for understanding investment needs and operational adjustments necessary to thrive in a concerning yet exciting SaaS landscape.