Most IT teams aren’t struggling with software adoption—they’re struggling with everything that follows. With tools popping up faster than processes can catch up, IT teams are left cleaning up a mess they didn’t make.
Here’s what that looks like in real life:
A department lead buys a new project tracking tool on a corporate card. The vendor offers a discount if it auto-renews, so they accept. Months later, the tool shows up in an audit request, and IT is asked: Who’s using this? Should we renew it? Is it secure?
No one has the answers. Admin access is unclear, usage data is spotty, and the decision deadline is tomorrow.
For most IT teams, modern SaaS license management is reactive, incomplete, and constantly behind.
In this post, we’ll explore what’s broken with SaaS license management today, what a modern approach looks like, and how solutions like Stitchflow are helping IT teams finally catch up.
Why SaaS license management is a modern IT headache
Ownership is fragmented, but accountability isn’t
Most licenses are purchased and used outside IT, yet IT is still responsible when something breaks.
Vendor audits? That’s IT’s job.
Offboarding an employee? IT’s expected to know every tool they had access to.
Budget cuts? IT is asked which licenses can be removed.
But the data isn’t centralized. Ownership is murky. Admin rights are scattered. And without a shared system to track everything, IT makes judgment calls with incomplete information.
Related read: Software License Compliance Management: Keeping Pace With Cross-Department Sprawl
Traditional tools were built for a different kind of IT
Traditional software asset management (SAM) tools assume that software flows through a central process, that IT controls procurement, access, and renewal.
But that’s no longer the case.
Today, organizations have SaaS that are:
- Fast-changing, with tools constantly being adopted, dropped, or replaced
- Distributed, with teams managing their stack
- Exception-heavy, with contractors, vendors, and remote workers all needing temporary access
SAM tools often fall short because they expect clean, consistent data from tools not designed to provide it. They struggle with:
- Apps that lack SSO or admin APIs
- Teams with non-standard naming conventions
- Frequent org structure changes and exceptions
License audits are still manual, clunky, and out of date
Even proactive IT teams face a familiar challenge: their audits are only as good as their spreadsheets. But spreadsheets can’t:
- Flag unused licenses in real time
- Tell you if a user should still have access
- Identify misaligned entitlements or unnecessary admin roles
Without continuous, contextual visibility, audits become guesswork, and decisions are delayed or based on instinct rather than data.
Related read: Enterprise Software License Management: Handling Complex User Access Reviews.
What modern SaaS license management actually requires
Real-time, not point-in-time
SaaS is fluid. People join, leave, switch teams, and pick up new tools constantly.
Point-in-time reviews can’t keep up with that pace.
Modern IT teams need:
- Ongoing reconciliation between user directories and SaaS tools
- Real-time license utilization tracking
- Automatic alerts for orphaned or stale licenses
This kind of visibility helps teams prevent waste before it happens, not just clean it up after.
Context over raw usage data
A login count doesn’t tell the whole story. Just because someone logs into a tool once every 90 days doesn’t mean they should keep their license—or lose it.
What you need is context:
- What’s the user’s role?
- Are they a full-time employee or a contractor?
- Is the tool business-critical for their team?
- Were they offboarded from other systems?
This depth of insight helps IT teams make smarter, faster decisions—and justify them to finance, security, or compliance teams.
Flexibility across identity systems and org structures
Few companies operate with one clean system of record. Modern businesses often have:
- Multiple identity providers (Okta, AD, Google Workspace)
- Global teams with local tools
- A mix of employees, contractors, and partner accounts
- Exception cases everywhere
License management solutions need to support this complexity out of the box, not force rigid processes that break under real-world conditions.
Stitchflow syncs user and license data from your actual systems of record, so you can reconcile, review, and act in real time across any app, org unit, and user type.
How Stitchflow supports modern IT teams
Stitchflow is purpose-built for IT teams managing decentralized software stacks. It doesn’t assume perfect processes or full IT control—it works with the messy middle ground most companies operate in.
With Stitchflow, you can:
- Reconcile license data in real time
Automatically match app license usage to your identity systems (Okta, Google Workspace, AD), flagging misaligned or unnecessary access.
- Conduct access reviews with context
Go beyond “last login” with insights into user type, role, team, and previous actions across tools.
- Support complex org structures
Stitchflow handles multiple IDPs, exceptions, and dynamic org charts without losing integrity or breaking workflows.
- Stay audit-ready, without scrambling
Stitchflow continuously tracks changes, so your data will be updated when an audit request arrives.
“Before Stitchflow, every SaaS renewal meant a tedious manual audit—jumping between admin consoles, chasing usage data, and second-guessing spreadsheets. Now, we get everything in one place: usage stats, license reconciliation, and cross-app insights, all in a single dashboard. Stitchflow has made managing hundreds of tools more efficient and less frustrating.”
— Dean Hoffman, Senior Information Technology Manager, Rula
Conclusion: SaaS license management needs to evolve with your business
SaaS isn’t slowing down, nor is the complexity that comes with it.
License management can no longer be a quarterly spreadsheet review or a post-renewal panic. It needs to be continuous, contextual, and flexible enough to match how your business works.
Stitchflow helps IT teams do just that—without forcing you into rigid tools or manual processes.
If you're navigating a growing stack, shifting teams, and unpredictable tooling decisions, it's time to rethink how you manage licenses—and take back control.
Book a demo to see how Stitchflow helps modern IT teams simplify SaaS license management across the business, without the busywork.
Jane is a writer at Stitchflow, creating clear and engaging content on IT visibility. With a background in technical writing and product marketing, she combines industry insights with impactful storytelling. Outside of work, she enjoys discovering new cafes, painting, and gaming.
