TL;DR
Your CFO doesn't care about SCIM. They care about cost, efficiency, and risk.
Walk into a budget meeting saying "we need SCIM for security" and you'll walk out without approval. Try this instead:
"We're spending $50K a year on wasted licenses and manual work that we could automate for less than $5K."
That's not an IT request. That's a business case.
Manual provisioning costs $12K per app per year. Stitchflow costs less than $5K. The delta is your savings.
Reframe the problem in financial terms
Most IT leaders frame the conversation like this:
- "We need SCIM for security."
- "We need to reduce our attack surface."
- "We have too many orphaned accounts."
What finance hears is simple: "IT wants to buy something."
Now try this instead:
"We're spending $50K a year on wasted licenses and manual work that we could automate for less than $5K."
That changes the conversation completely.
You're no longer asking for a security tool. You're proposing a reduction in operating expenses with a 5-10x return.
That's the framing that gets approved.
SCIM automation isn't a security feature. It's an efficiency play with security benefits. Lead with the dollars.
How to calculate SCIM automation ROI
Start by calculating what manual provisioning is actually costing you today.
Total Annual Cost =
- (Unused licenses found × Avg seat cost)
- + (IT hours spent on manual provisioning × Hourly rate)
- + (Compliance gaps that show up × Remediation hours × Hourly rate)
Based on real data from 27 organizations across 500 manually managed app deployments, the average cost per app (per 500 employees) looks like this:
| Cost Driver | Benchmark (per app, per 500 employees) |
|---|---|
| Unused licenses | 12 licenses × $327 avg = $3,925 |
| IT labor | 101 hours × $60/hr = $6,088 |
| Compliance gaps | 7 gaps × 4 hrs × $60/hr = $1,741 |
| Total | $11,754 |
Round to $12K per app per year. At a typical mid-market company with 16 apps outside automation, that's $192K to $340K per year in manual management costs.
That's your baseline. That's what you're spending today to not have automation.
Three paths to SCIM automation and their ROI tradeoffs
Once you've established the cost, walk through the options. Finance likes choices.
Path 1: Pay the SCIM Tax
Upgrade each app to its enterprise tier to unlock SCIM.
This is what we call the SCIM Tax. This may work for 2-3 critical apps where you're already paying close to enterprise pricing. However, it doesn't scale. Upgrading 16 apps to enterprise tiers will cost more than the manual work you're trying to eliminate.
Path 2: Stay Manual
Keep doing what you're doing. Absorb the $12K/app/year in labor, waste, and compliance scrambles.
This is acceptable for low-risk, low-volume apps, tools with 10 users that don't touch sensitive data. It's not acceptable for anything in your core stack. Every manual app is a gap waiting to show up in an audit.
Path 3: Stitchflow
Get SCIM-level automation without enterprise upgrades.
Stitchflow costs less than $5K per app per year, works with any app, any plan, and any IdP.
This is the only option that scales across a growing SaaS portfolio.
The ROI math finance expects to see
Finance wants to see the math. Show them.
Worked example: Salesforce in a 500-employee company
| Line Item | Annual Cost |
|---|---|
| Current manual cost | $25,970 |
| Stitchflow cost | Less than $5,000 |
| Net savings | More than $20,970 |
Result: A 5x return on a single app.
Worked example: 10-app portfolio
| Line Item | Annual Cost |
|---|---|
| Current manual cost | $120,000 |
| Stitchflow cost | Less than $50,000 |
| Net savings | More than $70,000 |
Result: Immediate cash savings, plus reduced audit prep time, fewer security incidents, and less firefighting. Those don't show up in the formula, but they show up in your quarter.
The math isn't complicated. Manual provisioning costs $12-25K per app. Stitchflow costs less than $5K. The delta is your savings.
The one-page SCIM automation ROI summary for finance
Your CFO won't read a 10-page proposal. Give them one page with five sections:
1. Problem
We manage X apps manually. Each costs $12K-$25K per year in labor, unused licenses, and compliance remediation.
2. Current cost
Total annual impact: $X (show the formula).
3. Solution
Automate provisioning using Stitchflow at < $5K per app per year.
4. ROI
Year-one savings of $X. Payback period: under six months.
5. The ask
Approve $X to automate the top 10 apps. Expected return: 5x.
Lead with dollars. End with the ask.
Why SCIM automation ROI is an operating decision, not an IT request
You're not asking for permission to buy a security tool. You're proposing to cut $70K-$300K in operating costs while reducing risk.
That's not an IT request. That's a business case.
Frame it that way, and you'll get the budget.
Frequently asked questions
SCIM automation ROI measures the cost savings from replacing manual provisioning, license waste, and compliance cleanup with automated user lifecycle management. Based on our data, manual provisioning costs $12K per app per year - automating with Stitchflow costs less than $5K.
Jay has been serving modern IT teams for more than a decade. Prior to Stitchflow, he was the product lead for Okta IGA after Okta acquired his previous ITSM company, atSpoke.
