Wasted SaaS spend, cybersecurity threats, and outdated technology seen as compromising company success
Torii, pioneer of the Distributed SaaS Management Platform, today released its new “Torii State of IT Mind Report.” It revealed that an astounding 99% of IT professionals say they’re fulfilled in their jobs, and 94% feel appreciated by their companies. However, stresses around spend, cybersecurity, and outdated technology keep many up at night. Despite the rising pressure to cut IT costs, 75% of CIO respondents say wasted SaaS spend remains a threat to their company – yet none feel they have good visibility into how much is actually spent on SaaS apps as well as an effective framework for evaluating whether these investments are worthwhile.
“IT teams play a key role in company success. It’s great to see they’re energized by their jobs. However, they need to be empowered to address major challenges,” said Uri Haramati, CEO of Torii. “Many IT teams are lean and don’t have the human or technology resources needed to keep on top of their ever-changing app landscape and its associated risks. As the State of IT Mind report makes clear, IT pros urgently need an easy way to gain visibility and insights so they can effectively manage spend and curtail risk.”
Key Findings from Torii’s State of IT Mind Report
- Cybersecurity – the perennial threat – faces new competition from spend anxiety: Spend (cited by 61% of overall respondents), used to be lower on IT pros’ lists of concerns, but now it virtually ties with cybersecurity (62%). The fear that their organizations’ technology stacks lag behind competitors follows closely at 59%.
For CIOs in particular, SaaS spend is top of mind. Seventy five percent of CIOs say their inability to identify wasted SaaS spend is a threat to their company’s success. - CIOs feel blind to SaaS spend management: Despite CIOs’ concerns, 73% say their organization does not have a strategic framework for evaluating app rationalization and license usage. Thirteen percent say they lack even basic visibility into SaaS spend – indicating that IT organizations need to invest in tools that give them this visibility and, at the very least, instruct teams to create frameworks for assessing and taking action on SaaS investments.
- IT isn’t confident in the methods they’re using to thwart cybersecurity threats: Fifty percent of respondents point to leadership’s cybersecurity experience and awareness as a strong contributor to their company’s cybersecurity preparedness. However, only 27% cite cybersecurity systems and tools, and an even slimmer 16% say their companies are strong in training and education. This implies training must be more of a priority since employees are typically unwitting conduits for bad actors wanting to gain access to company networks and data.
- IT prefers centralized IT models. Sixty eight percent of respondents work in a centralized IT model – and 82% would prefer it – over having IT services embedded throughout their company. This could make it difficult for lean IT teams to scale and effectively manage their SaaS ecosystems when the majority of cloud apps are acquired via Shadow IT, unless they have tools that enable better visibility and distributed management.
Access the full report
Torii queried 200 IT professionals about their job satisfaction and key challenges they face. For additional survey findings and implications, access Torii’s complimentary “State of IT Mind” report, here.
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