TL;DR
Most SMBs are paying for overlapping tools, old plans, and seats no one uses. My audit flow: Talk to your team, reconcile the P&L, inventory everything (paid + free), right-size plans, then kill overlap. That usually frees 10 – 20% of SaaS spend and simplifies workflows. New AI features (like Figma’s prompt-to-prototype) make consolidation even easier.
Audit Your Tech Stack Like an Operator (Not a Shopper)
If you haven’t audited your stack this year, assume you’re wasting money. The average company now runs hundreds of SaaS apps and still expands spend even when app counts flatten – classic “sprawl.” Recent benchmarks show portfolios hovering in the ~250 – 275 apps range and spend ticking back up in 2024–2025. Zylo
And it’s not just “too many tools.” Unused and under-used licenses remain the #1 budget leak. Multiple analyses peg waste in the eight figures at scale and ~half of purchased licenses actually used. Translation: there’s fat to trim without breaking anything mission-critical. CFO Dive
Below is exactly how I run a stack audit for clients to cut waste, reduce risk, and keep the tools that actually move the business.
Step 1: Quick conversations with everyone
Fifteen-to-Thirty minute calls with each function (sales, marketing, ops, finance, support). Ask:
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What do you use daily?
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Which features do you actually use?
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What’s clunky or duplicate?
Why: sprawl isn’t just a finance problem – “shadow IT” creeps in whenever teams grab tools without central oversight. (It’s growing alongside AI adoption.) IEEE Computer Society
Step 2: Reconcile the P&L to reality
Pull every software/subscription line.
Map each charge to: tool → team → owner → seats → renewal date.
You’ll find orphans (no owner), zombie tools (no users), and over-seated contracts. Industry data shows this is where the biggest, fastest savings come from. CFO Dive
Step 3: Build a complete inventory (paid + free)
One list to rule them all.
Include plan/tier, price, users, last-login or usage if available, integrations, and renewal terms.
App catalogs from identity providers underscore how big this gets (Okta’s annual report is a good reality check). Okta
Step 4: Start with tier optimization (your “quick wins”)
Before you cancel anything, right-size plans. A lot of companies sit on legacy or top-shelf tiers they don’t need, while newer plans cost less and include more. Modern benchmarks show spend rising faster than app counts, which is your cue to renegotiate and downgrade where usage doesn’t justify premium. Zylo
What I do:
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Compare actual feature usage vs. tier entitlements.
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Check if the vendor launched a new plan since you signed.
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Trim seats; reclaim unused licenses. (Yes, this is where half-used licenses hide.) Zylo
Step 5: Eliminate overlap (consolidation)
Group tools by job-to-be-done (PM, chat, docs, design, automation, analytics, asset mgmt, CS, etc.). If two tools do ~80% of the same job, pick a winner.
Why now: Market data shows a broad shift toward consolidation after years of “add another app” behavior. That’s not just cost; it reduces risk and admin load. BetterCloud
The AI Twist: Platforms are eating point tools
Rapid AI releases mean yesterday’s “specialized” tool might now be a feature inside a platform you already pay for. Example: Figma.
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Figma Make turns a text prompt into a working, interactive prototype, then lets you edit and wire things up further. That’s prompt-to-app inside your design tool. Figma
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Tech press covered the rollout alongside Sites (design → build → publish websites) and Buzz (content/asset generation). That’s design, prototyping, and site building converging. TechCrunch
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Figma’s docs now explicitly position Make as an AI prototype generator and prompt-to-app builder, useful when you’re deciding if a separate prototyping/site tool is still necessary. Figma
How to use this in your audit:
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If you pay for Figma already, test whether Make + Sites can replace your lightweight prototyper or basic site builder.
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Calculate migration/training cost vs. killing two line items.
Guardrails so the mess doesn’t grow back
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Assign an owner per tool (budget + renewal + usage).
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Quarterly mini-audits: seats vs. active users, features used, support tickets, NPS from internal users.
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One-page intake for all new purchases (who needs it, overlap check, data flows, exit plan).
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Renewal runway: start vendor talks 60–90 days before term.
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Identity and discovery: use your SSO/MDM logs for app discovery—organizations often underestimate how many apps are actually in use. Okta
What “good” looks like (outcomes to expect)
- Lower run-rate: biggest bites come from tier downgrades, seat right-sizing, and overlap removal. (Benchmarks repeatedly point to large pools of unused licenses.) CFO Dive
- Fewer tabs to manage: consolidation reduces admin overhead and context switching. (Yes, your ops team will thank you.) BetterCloud
- Less risk: fewer unsanctioned tools and cleaner identity story; shadow IT drops when you make good tools easy to get. IEEE Computer Society
My Working Checklist (steal this) | FREE Downloads
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Interviews: 30–60 minutes total per department.
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P&L x Apps: tie every charge to a tool, owner, and team.
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Inventory: add tier, seats, renewal, usage, integrations.
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Quick wins: right-size tiers, reclaim seats.
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Overlap cuts: pick winners; plan migrations.
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AI scan: what new features (like Figma Make/Sites) make point tools redundant?
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Governance: owner per tool, intake for new apps, quarterly review cadence.
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Want help?
This is exactly what I do: short staff conversations, a ruthless P&L reconciliation, then swift tiering and consolidation. We keep what’s working, ditch what’s not, and make the survivors pull their weight.
Contact us:
info@ascentoperationsgroup.com
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