How Remote Teams Made SaaS Sprawl Way Worse

Have you ever looked at your company credit card statement and found a subscription you didn't recognize?

We've been there. You ask around, and it turns out the marketing team needed a quick design tool, so they just bought it. Meanwhile, sales is using a different tool for the same thing. Suddenly, you're paying double.

This is the reality for many of us managing remote teams. In fact, nearly half of managed service providers now use more than ten different tools just to handle a single job role.

At first, letting everyone pick their favorite apps feels like being flexible. But over time, it drains your budget and creates serious security headaches. When your team works from kitchen tables and home offices across the country, it's easy for new apps to slip in unnoticed.

We've run several businesses and coordinated with small remote groups daily, so we understand these struggles. We see exactly what happens when cloud apps pile up without clear rules.

I'm going to walk you through why this happens and show you the exact steps we use to fix it. Let's get your budget back under control.

Key Takeaways

Remote work fuels hidden spending: Distributed teams often adopt cloud apps independently, with 35% of employees admitting to using unapproved applications for work tasks in 2025.
The "Shadow AI" risk is real: As teams rush to use tools like ChatGPT, unapproved AI accounts are becoming a major source of data leakage and compliance risk.
Wasted cash piles up fast: US companies now spend an average of $8,700 per employee on SaaS tools, yet nearly half of those licenses go unused.
Redundancy is the norm: Without oversight, companies end up with multiple tools for the same job (like having Trello, Asana, and Monday.com all active at once), fragmenting workflows.
Fixing it requires a system: Regular audits, centralized management platforms like Torii or Zylo, and strong security controls like multi-factor authentication are essential to stopping the bleed (Forrester; Gartner).

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What Is SaaS Sprawl?

SaaS sprawl happens when teams adopt too many cloud applications without a central plan. It's like a digital junk drawer that keeps growing until you can't find what you need.

Definition of SaaS sprawl

SaaS sprawl refers to the unchecked growth of software as a service (SaaS) apps across our organization. It occurs when different teams buy their own cloud tools to solve immediate problems without checking if the company already has a solution.

For small businesses, this creates a mess of disconnected data and security holes. We end up with "zombie" accounts—licenses we pay for but nobody uses.

We have seen firsthand that unmanaged SaaS adoption wastes both time and money. According to 2024 data, organizations now manage an average of 106 different SaaS applications. That is a massive number to track manually.

Without clear rules, extra licenses pile up while budgets quietly drain away. As one tech executive shared:

Without strict oversight, even smaller companies can lose track of which teams use what apps, and costs snowball fast.

The role of remote work in accelerating SaaS sprawl

Remote work pushed small businesses and agencies to embrace cloud computing faster than ever. During the pandemic, we all grabbed whatever tools we needed to keep the lights on.

With projections showing 32.6 million Americans will work remotely by 2025, this isn't just a temporary phase. It's our new normal.

When teams left the office, they couldn't just walk over to IT to ask for software. They grabbed a credit card and bought what they needed. This gave us speed, but it also meant IT lost visibility. Suddenly, 26% or less of SaaS spend was actually managed by the IT department.

Many employees felt empowered to experiment with freemium models or free trials. While this improved engagement, it left us with a fragmented digital environment where data doesn't flow between teams.

Our experience managing distributed teams echoed this trend. We saw how easily different groups could stack redundant applications without a unified platform, amplifying both efficiency gains and risks tied to SaaS sprawl.

Common Causes of SaaS Sprawl

Most of the time, sprawl doesn't happen because people are trying to be difficult. They just want to get their work done. But without a clear process, that drive for productivity creates a mess.

Decentralized SaaS procurement

Distributed teams often buy software independently. In our own experience working with small agencies, we have seen that over half of employees sign up for SaaS applications without IT or security involvement.

This "decentralized procurement" means the marketing manager buys a project management tool, and the engineering lead buys a different one. No one talks to each other.

Without a coordinated strategy, each department acts like its own mini-company. By 2027, 75% of workers are expected to adopt technology independently. This makes it impossible to negotiate volume discounts.

Unregulated purchases make it difficult to gain visibility into spending. As a result, financial waste from unused licenses becomes common in companies under forty people.

Lack of IT governance and policies

A lack of IT governance leads to chaos. We often see individual departments choosing their own apps without input from IT, creating weak compliance controls.

If you don't have a clear policy that says "Check with us before you buy," people won't do it. Our experience shows that vague rules are the biggest driver of app overlap.

Limited user training means people may unknowingly use unauthorized apps that don't meet security standards. For example, an employee might put sensitive client data into a free PDF converter they found online, not realizing the security risk.

Regular audits help us pinpoint these gaps. As Forrester noted recently, establishing centralized application management can reverse these trends: "Organizations regain control when they prioritize transparent policies and consistent oversight."

Freemium and trial-based entry models

Freemium models are a double-edged sword. They make it easy for us to try new tools without upfront costs, but they are also a major cause of sprawl.

SaaS providers like Zoom, Slack, or Canva offer free tiers to get you hooked. Once a team member enters data into the free version, switching becomes a pain. Eventually, they hit a limit and upgrade to a paid plan on a personal card, bypassing approval entirely.

Research shows that extending a free trial period increased initial user sign-ups by more than 11 percent. However, we observed that users often forget to cancel these trials.

This decentralization increases the risk of duplicated functions. We often find ourselves paying for three different subscriptions that all do the same thing because three different people started three different free trials.

Rapid growth of the SaaS market

The SaaS market is exploding. There is an app for everything now. We have seen how midsize organizations in the United States now deploy between 51 and 200 SaaS applications.

In our work with agencies under 40 people, we often encounter an overwhelming number of solutions competing for attention. The market expanded by 16.7 percent in 2024 alone.

With vendors constantly launching new services, integration happens fast. But without a strategy, it becomes unmanageable. This rapid pace increases application overload as we try to streamline our digital transformation efforts.

How Remote Teams Contribute to SaaS Sprawl

Remote teams naturally add more tools because they can't collaborate in person. But this reliance on digital tools can quickly spiral out of control.

Increased reliance on digital tools

We saw a significant jump in our use of digital tools as remote work became the norm. We need tools for everything: video calls, chat, project tracking, and file sharing.

The rapid adoption of AI-powered solutions has created a new layer of "Shadow AI." Employees are signing up for tools like Jasper or ChatGPT Plus to write emails or code, often without telling anyone.

This growing dependence introduces more tools into our daily operations. Gartner's reports state that one in three organizations struggle with SaaS sprawl due to these patterns. For small businesses, this makes it harder to manage software costs and keep resources focused.

Lack of centralized oversight in remote settings

In a physical office, you can see what people are doing. In a remote setting, oversight is much harder. Teams make decisions in silos.

In our experience working with agencies of under forty people, this results in redundant subscriptions. For instance, we once found a client paying for Dropbox, Google Drive, and Box all at the same time.

Data silos emerge as each team manages its own systems. Employees sometimes receive little training on approved tools, so they turn to unregulated solutions just to keep work moving.

These unmanaged choices allow ghost accounts to accumulate. Many small teams waste thousands of dollars a year maintaining access for users who have left the company. If you don't have a central list of apps, you don't know which access to cut when someone quits.

Shadow IT in remote work environments

Shadow IT is what happens when employees go rogue. In remote environments, 67% of workers say they prioritize convenience over security when choosing tools.

Our teams often download unauthorized SaaS applications to get their jobs done faster. It's not malicious; they just want to be efficient. But this "quick fix" creates long-term problems.

Cybersecurity risks become a major concern. We might not notice it at first, yet without centralized oversight, unmanaged adoption becomes common. A 2025 report highlighted that 35% of employees admit to using unapproved apps for work tasks.

Conducting regular Shadow IT discovery helps reveal these unknown apps. Pairing strong security controls with ongoing training allows better compliance while still supporting productivity.

Challenges of SaaS Sprawl for Remote Teams

Sprawl isn't just an annoyance for the accounting team. It causes real operational drag and security risks that can hurt a small business.

Redundant applications and app overlap

Redundant applications are the most visible sign of sprawl. With IT leaders managing over 100 tools, it is easy to see how multiple teams deploy similar software.

We frequently see overlapping functionality in project management and communication. Here is a comparison of common redundancies we find in small businesses:

Category	Common Overlapping Tools	The Cost of Redundancy
Video Conferencing	Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet	Paying for Zoom Pro when Teams is already included in your Office 365 plan wastes ~$15/user/month.
Project Management	Asana, Trello, Monday.com, Jira	Teams can't collaborate because tasks live in different silos. You pay 3-4 separate subscription fees.
File Storage	Dropbox, Box, Google Drive, OneDrive	Files get lost across platforms. Security permissions are impossible to manage centrally.

This redundancy results in unnecessary spending. Multiple subscriptions add up fast. Every new application we roll out also increases security risks while reducing visibility over usage.

Data silos and fragmented workflows

Data silos block our teams from smooth collaboration. When marketing lives in Asana and sales lives in Salesforce, and they don't integrate, you have a problem.

This spread limits how well we can manage information. Nearly 48% of enterprise applications remain unmanaged, which means crucial integrations often fall through the cracks.

Software proliferation increases workflow inefficiency. With separate teams using different tools, information becomes isolated. You end up manually copying data from one app to another, which introduces errors.

Disconnected app stacks make it hard for staff to share knowledge. The resulting barriers slow down productivity and reduce the value of our data.

Increased security vulnerabilities

Mismanaged SaaS tools are a hacker's best friend. Security experts point out that each new app increases our attack surface.

Shadow IT becomes a bigger problem when remote teams use unauthorized software. If an employee uses a weak password on an unapproved app, and that app gets breached, your company data is exposed.

Dormant accounts pose major risks. We often find accounts for former employees that are still active months after they left. These are open doors for cyber threats.

Overlapping apps can lead to misconfigured systems. Clear policies and effective risk management stay critical as we manage multiple digital products every day.

Financial waste from unused licenses

The financial impact is staggering. In 2024, US companies spent an average of $8,700 per employee on SaaS tools.

But here is the kicker: nearly 49% of those licenses go unused.

Without strong subscription management, we risk paying for accounts that no one actually uses. We call these "ghost accounts." They drain resources and inflate maintenance costs.

Unmonitored procurement strategies leave us locked into contracts with rising prices. Centralized vendor management helps close these gaps and improves budgeting precision.

Solutions to Manage SaaS Sprawl

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You don't have to let sprawl run your business. We can curb it with a few simple strategies that improve workflow and security.

Conduct regular SaaS audits

Regular SaaS audits help us maintain control. You can't fix what you can't see.

We recommend reviewing application usage at least once every quarter. Start by exporting a report from your accounting software for all software vendors. You will be surprised at what you find.

These reviews enable us to spot redundant apps and cut costs. We look for tools with low usage rates and cancel them or downgrade the plan.

Cross-functional meetings every few months allow teams to analyze software practices together. This process strengthens compliance with data protection regulations like GDPR or CCPA.

Centralize SaaS management and procurement

Centralizing management is the game changer. We use a shared dashboard to see real-time visibility into spending and user activity.

Automated platforms like BetterCloud, Torii, or Zylo enable us to combat shadow IT. These tools connect to your finance and SSO systems to automatically detect every app your employees sign up for.

Effective procurement strategies let us monitor licenses in real time. For example, if a user hasn't logged in for 90 days, the system can automatically reclaim that license.

With one centralized process, we prevent financial waste and strengthen security by closing access loopholes.

Educate remote employees on app usage policies

You can't just rely on software; you need to talk to your team. Clear education on app usage policies helps prevent sprawl before it starts.

We train our team members on which tools are approved and why. We explain that it's not about being controlling; it's about keeping our client data safe.

For example, we actively discuss new tool acquisitions with IT before anyone swipes a card. This simple "ask first" policy saves us thousands.

Awareness programs centered around data security can limit vulnerabilities. With ongoing communication, small businesses like ours create a safer environment for dispersed teams.

Implement strong security controls and access management

Finally, lock down the front door. We use strong security controls to keep our applications safe.

By requiring multi-factor authentication (MFA) across all platforms, we ensure each user's identity is verified. Even if a password gets stolen, MFA stops the attacker.

Automated solutions such as Grip SaaS Security Control Plane allow us to monitor shadow IT that slips outside our main systems. This strengthens our risk management efforts.

Regular software audits help us spot gaps in compliance. Training employees on app usage policies builds a culture of awareness while reducing careless mistakes.

Conclusion

Remote teams have accelerated SaaS sprawl by relying on a growing variety of cloud applications without clear oversight. As businesses turn to digital solutions for productivity, the risk of redundant apps, wasted licenses, and data security gaps grows more severe.

Small agencies can address these challenges through regular audits, centralized procurement, and stronger policies. Tackling SaaS sprawl means protecting budgets while securing sensitive information.

Staying proactive in SaaS management empowers teams to reclaim control. It lets us stop wasting money on unused tools and focus our resources where they matter most.