to automate SaaS inventory, reduce license waste, and better control shadow IT

About Brightworks Group
The Brightworks Group is a digital transformation and cloud transition IT service company offering cloud-based managed services to companies in a range of industries such as Healthcare, Financial Services, Engineering, Dental, Distribution, Manufacturing, Dermatology, Multi-Location Businesses, and more.
Brightworks’ approach is human-focused and that companies must work with both IT professionals and business stakeholders to build a true IT strategy. Brightworks does this by bringing a strategic approach to all the IT challenges they face to ensure the appropriate solution is implemented to solve the holistic problem.

Needs and Challenges

Managed Service Providers (MSPs) increasingly face the challenge of managing many Software as a Service (SaaS) applications for their customers. Furthermore, customers increasingly demand this type of solution and seek help from their MSP managing SaaS. According to the CompTIA State of the Channel Survey, in 2022, 47% of MSPs were asked for a SaaS management solution by their customers. Customers request these solutions to help wrangle cost, decrease risk, and improve operations around their SaaS stack. MSPs without a SaaS Management solution lack visibility into usage and cost, leading to inefficiencies and increased risk. Brightworks, a leading MSP, adopted Auvik SaaS Management as a solution to address this challenge. This case study examines the benefits of Auvik SaaS Management for Brightworks and its customers.

With a focus on delivering high-quality service, Brightworks has a reputation for providing innovative solutions to meet the needs of its customers. However, with the increasing adoption of SaaS applications, the company faced new challenges in managing the cost and usage of these applications. Brightworks needed a solution to give them visibility into their clients’ SaaS ecosystem and help them manage their customer’s licenses efficiently. They also required a tool to identify and address compliance issues and reduce customer risk.

Throughout their evaluation of platforms to solve their business problem, they chose Auvik SaaS Management because it gave them an excellent overview of their client’s SaaS ecosystem. They can show our customers what is happening and all the licenses they use. Auvik SaaS Management lets them know if someone is using unauthorized apps or if they’re using apps in a problematic way. “Many of our customers are in highly regulated industries subject to a lot of compliance oversight. Auvik SaaS Management helps keep them out of trouble, said Doug Miller.

How Auvik Solved These Challenges

Solution in Detail

Automated SaaS Discovery

Visibility into SaaS usage is essential for several reasons. Firstly, it helps Brightworks understand how their clients use SaaS applications, which can help them identify areas where they can optimize usage and reduce costs. As a result of the automated discovery, Brightworks has introduced license surveys for expensive software as part of their standard customer process to reduce wasted IT spending as part of their benefits.

Secondly, instead of relying on manual methods such as forms or surveys, the product has made it possible to automate the process and eliminate the need for time-consuming manual work. This has enabled the team at Brightworks to focus on more critical tasks, such as analyzing the data collected and making strategic decisions based on the insights gained. Not only has the product created efficiency, but it has also helped improve the accuracy of data collection, making it an essential tool to streamline internal operations.

Finally, the automated discovery of SaaS helps

Brightworks identify potential security risks. “Auvik SaaS Management allows us to monitor what’s happening with our customers’ data to stop problems before they start. It has substantially reduced customer risk,” said Doug Miller. Advanced insights into user access methods, shared accounts, and high-risk shadow IT has allowed Brightworks to reduce client spend while decreasing risk.

Deeper Reporting on SaaS Usage

One of the main benefits of Auvik SaaS Management for Brightworks is the ability to optimize SaaS licenses for their customers. Auvik SaaS Management provides a centralized platform for managing their clients’ SaaS contracts, making it easier for Brightworks to ensure they are being used effectively. According to Gartner, nearly 20% of software licenses are shelfware. This provides Brightworks with a strategic opportunity to reduce costs and IT burdens.

‘lt offers visibility into SaaS platforms and other software because it monitors all the licensing. We can show customers where they are overspending and buying more licenses than necessary. That’s extremely valuable.” said Doug Miller.

With Auvik SaaS Management, Brightworks can report on the number of users accessing a platform against the number of licenses purchased and ensure they have the correct licenses to meet their client’s needs. This helps to prevent overspending on licenses that are not being used.

“The license monitoring and management capabilities probably top the list of most valuable features in terms of everyday day utility. You can go to customers and say, ‘You have 1 00 licenses of Office 365 E3, but you only use 95, so we can adjust your licensing and save you some money.'”

Reducing wasted spend in client environments with shadow IT reduction

One challenge that most business face regarding SaaS expenses is shadow IT. Gartner found 30-40% of IT to be shadow IT, and Everest Group projects that shadow IT accounts for up to 50% of IT spending. Brightworks knew this was an area to focus on to get SaaS expenditures under control.

Insight from Auvik SaaS Management Expert:

Shadow IT often comes into an organization in one of two ways. The first type is an education gap in the teams, where employees are unaware of the existing software the IT team is already spending money on. This creates an overlapping expenditure for the organization when employees self-procure technology. The second type of shadow IT is when an employee finds software to solve a brand-new business problem. The challenge with the latter is that if the licensing is not procured through centralized channels, the purchaser is often not getting the best price for the organization.

By running an automated assessment of all shadow

IT and having a stack-ranked list of shadow IT, Brightworks detected areas to improve in a customer’s environment quickly. ‘Sometimes [employees] don’t understand that they’re not supposed to use unauthorized solutions for work. It’s just a human error kind of problem,” said Doug. Brightwork was able to detect these unauthorized solutions and stop their continued use. This additional benefit to their standard service has saved their clients money on unnecessary expenses by identifying and removing these rogue applications.

What is Auvik SaaS Management for Brightworks Group
“Auvik SaaS Management is part of a bundled solution we offer to all our customers. We primarily use it for two things: shadow IT monitoring and SaaS license management. We also use it for SaaS compliance, i.e., to ensure people aren’t using tools they shouldn’t be using.” Doug Miller, Chief Executive Officer

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