SaaS and cloud spend management is the discipline of tracking, rightsizing and forecasting spend on software subscriptions and cloud services, which now averages close to 300 applications at a typical company and wastes an estimated 25% to 30% of budget on unused licenses and overlapping tools. Dedicated FinOps platforms handle this in isolation. ExpenseLogic’s License Manager extension handles it as one category inside the same platform already auditing telecom, utility and mobility spend, so SaaS visibility does not sit in a fourth disconnected system.
Important Points Explained Ahead
- The average company now runs close to 291 SaaS applications, and IT leaders report visibility into only a small fraction of that actual footprint.
- Companies waste an estimated 25% to 30% of their SaaS budget annually, mostly through unused seats and overlapping tools purchased by different departments.
- Dedicated SaaS spend platforms like Zylo and CloudEagle offer deep, SaaS-only functionality. RadiusPoint’s License Manager is not a replacement for that category, it is a complementary module for clients who already centralize telecom, utility and mobility spend in ExpenseLogic.
- Shadow IT, subscriptions purchased outside a centralized process, is now one of the fastest-growing sources of unmanaged spend as expense-based software purchasing accelerates.
- The clearest win for most organizations is not a new best-in-class SaaS tool, it is one place that shows SaaS spend next to telecom, utility and mobility spend, since waste patterns (unused seats, unused lines, unused meters) repeat across all four categories.
Short version: if SaaS is the only category you need to manage, a dedicated SaaS spend platform will out-feature RadiusPoint. If you already manage telecom, utility or mobility spend through ExpenseLogic and want SaaS visibility without adding a fourth vendor, that is where License Manager fits.
What SaaS and Cloud Spend Management Covers
SaaS and cloud spend management discovers, tracks and optimizes the subscriptions and cloud services an organization pays for, covering everything from productivity tools to specialized CRM and infrastructure platforms. Software procurement is no longer a centralized IT event; departments purchase tools independently, which is exactly why visibility has become the hard part of the problem rather than the spend itself.
The scale is significant: the average company now runs close to 291 SaaS applications, and IT leaders report real visibility into only a small fraction of that actual footprint. Financial waste rarely comes from one large error. It accumulates from hundreds of small unmanaged expenses, such as a department purchasing 25 seats for a team expansion that never materializes, with those seats billing every month afterward with no one tracking the gap.
Why SaaS Spend Is Hard to Control Once It Scales
Shadow IT is the fastest-growing driver of unmanaged spend, since expense-based software purchasing lets any employee with a corporate card start a subscription outside any centralized approval process. Once dozens of departments are each independently buying tools, overlapping subscriptions for the same function become normal rather than exceptional, and nobody owns the job of noticing.
AI-driven features are adding a second layer of volatility on top of this. A meaningful share of SaaS companies now monetize AI features through usage-based or hybrid pricing, and a large share of IT leaders report unexpected charges tied to AI or consumption spend in the past year alone. That means SaaS costs increase even when the number of applications in use stays flat, which a simple subscription inventory will not catch.
What a SaaS Spend Management Platform Should Do
| Capability | What it catches |
|---|---|
| Application discovery, including shadow IT | Subscriptions purchased outside a centralized process |
| Utilization tracking per license | Seats purchased but never activated or rarely used |
| Contract and renewal tracking | Auto-renewals at rates nobody re-negotiated |
| Overlap detection | Multiple departments paying for functionally similar tools |
| Usage-based and AI cost monitoring | Consumption charges that scale independent of headcount |
Dedicated platforms built specifically for this category go deeper than a general expense management add-on can, with native integrations across identity systems, finance platforms and hundreds of individual SaaS vendors. Organizations whose only cost management need is software should evaluate those platforms directly rather than expecting a telecom-first platform to match that depth.
Where License Manager Fits Inside ExpenseLogic
RadiusPoint built ExpenseLogic around telecom and mobility expense management, and the License Manager extension applies the same inventory and utilization tracking already used for telecom assets to software licenses and cloud subscriptions instead. It centralizes control over SaaS licenses, tracks contract terms, forecasts subscription costs, and reports on utilization inside the same interface a client already uses for telecom expense management.
The honest positioning matters here: License Manager is not built to out-feature a dedicated FinOps platform on pure SaaS depth. It exists for organizations that would rather see SaaS spend, telecom spend, and utility spend in one place than add a fourth specialized vendor and a fourth login to their expense stack. The waste patterns repeat across categories, unused software seats, unused wireless lines, unused utility meters, and a single platform makes that pattern visible across all of them at once instead of one category at a time.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is RadiusPoint a dedicated SaaS spend management company?
No. RadiusPoint is a telecom, utility and mobility expense management firm, and License Manager is an extension of ExpenseLogic built for clients who want SaaS visibility inside that same platform, not a standalone best-in-class SaaS spend product.
Should we use a dedicated SaaS spend tool instead?
If SaaS and cloud spend is your only cost management need, a dedicated platform will likely offer more integrations and deeper SaaS-specific functionality. License Manager makes more sense if you already manage telecom, utility or mobility spend through ExpenseLogic and want to avoid adding another separate system.
How much does the average company waste on SaaS spend?
Industry research puts the figure at roughly 25% to 30% of SaaS budget annually, driven mostly by unused seats, overlapping tools purchased independently by different departments, and subscriptions nobody remembered to cancel.
What is the fastest way to find out what we are actually paying for?
Start with application discovery, matching every active subscription and cloud service against actual usage data, since that comparison is what surfaces unused seats and overlapping tools fastest.
How We Researched This
This page draws on current 2026 research from Zylo’s SaaS Management Index, CloudEagle and Airwallex on SaaS spend waste and shadow IT trends, and on RadiusPoint’s own License Manager and ExpenseLogic product scope. It was reviewed by Sharon Watkins, RadiusPoint’s founder and CEO.
Latest Updates
August 28, 2026: Fully rewritten from a 2019 product announcement into a current guide, replacing outdated cloud-spend projections with 2026 research and adding honest positioning against dedicated FinOps and SaaS spend platforms.
References
- Zylo, 2026 SaaS Management Index
- CloudEagle, 2026 SaaS spend management research
- Airwallex, 2026 CFO’s guide to SaaS cost optimization
Related Articles
- ExpenseLogic
- Telecom Expense Management
- Utility Expense Management
- How to Reduce Telecom, Utility and IT Operational Costs
Industry statistics cited reflect third-party research current as of 2026 and may not predict outcomes for any specific organization. License Manager functionality is scoped to clients already using the ExpenseLogic platform.