How BetterCloud customers optimize SaaS renewals

Is your company still running its SaaS renewals on a hope and a very outdated spreadsheet?

If the thought of another contract coming up for renewal—complete with surprise auto-renews, haggling over licenses no one uses, and endless back-and-forth between Finance and IT—makes you groan, you’re in good company. In today’s explosion of software, keeping control of your SaaS spending and contracts has become one of the most frustrating parts of the job. It’s like trying to manage a thousand tiny subscriptions all at once.

We’re here to tell you it doesn’t have to be this way.

BetterCloud transforms that chaotic, hair-pulling process into a smooth, smart operation for IT and procurement leaders.

The problem with traditional SaaS renewal processes

Before we dive into the solution, let’s really hammer home why the old way of doing things just doesn’t cut it anymore. Traditional contract renewal processes are plagued by several critical issues that lead to wasted time, budget overruns, and a general sense of dread:

Lack of centralized data: Most organizations have contract details scattered everywhere—in emails, shared drives, individual department folders, or even just in someone’s head. There’s no single source of truth for expiration dates, terms, or key clauses. When a renewal comes up, it’s a scavenger hunt.

No visibility into usage: Are you paying for 100 licenses when only 50 are actively used? Without clear, real-time usage data, it’s impossible to answer this. This leads to massive overspending on shelfware—software bought but not utilized. Finance gets frustrated, and IT knows there’s waste but can’t prove it.

Surprise auto-renewals: Ever gotten that notification that a contract automatically renewed for another year, complete with a price hike, because you missed a 30-day cancellation window? It’s a painful and expensive lesson, and it happens far too often when renewal calendars aren’t meticulously managed.

Inefficient workflows and communication gaps: The process usually involves multiple teams (IT, Finance, Procurement, Legal, department heads) with different priorities and access to different information. Handoffs are clunky, approvals get stalled, and everyone ends up pointing fingers when things go wrong.

Weak negotiation position: Going into a negotiation without solid data on usage, sentiment, or competitive pricing puts you at a huge disadvantage. You can’t justify asking for a better deal if you don’t know your own landscape or what alternatives exist. This means you often settle for less favorable terms.

Employee churn and knowledge silos: When key employees leave, their institutional knowledge about specific contracts, vendor relationships, and historical pricing often walks out the door with them. This leaves the next person scrambling to piece things together.

These problems compound, turning what should be a strategic opportunity to optimize spending into a reactive, costly, and time-consuming burden.

Check out the smart software renewal checklist

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How does BetterCloud streamline contract renewals?

BetterCloud tackles these entrenched problems head-on by unifying your SaaS management efforts and providing actionable insights. Here’s a look at how it transforms the contract renewal process…

Centralized visibility into software usage

BetterCloud provides a centralized platform that aggregates data across your entire SaaS stack, giving you comprehensive visibility into software usage which is critical for making informed contract renewal decisions.

BetterCloud integrates directly into your finance and accounting systems and SSO applications, so you can automatically track every software expense as well as license assignments and deprovision users the moment they leave your organization.

This visibility directly informs SaaS spend optimization and negotiation strategy by:

License usage analysis: The platform tracks utilization data, allowing you to see which licenses are assigned, which are active, and which are underutilized or completely unused (shelfware). This pinpoints overspending where you are paying for more seats than are actually needed or used by employees.
License reclamation: BetterCloud’s insights and automated workflows allow you to systematically identify and automatically remove or reclaim inactive or unused licenses.. This free-up licenses that can be re-assigned to new users or eliminated during renewal negotiations, ensuring you only pay for what your organization truly uses.

“

We have over 800 different SaaS apps in our stack that have been discovered through BetterCloud… keeping track of who owns what is crucial for negotiating renewals.”

– Nick Zimmerman, Senior Manager, Enterprise Technology at Bullhorn

By leveraging this data, you can enable effective SaaS contract renewal management by going into renewal negotiations armed with the precise metrics needed to right-size your license count, negotiate favorable terms, and significantly reduce unnecessary spending.

Customized automated reminders for upcoming contract renewals

Everyone has encountered an unfortunate auto-renewal. To avoid this, BetterCloud allows you to set multiple custom alerts for contract followers in any department.

We generally recommend a minimum of two alerts at 30 and 60 days, but have seen many set additional alerts for 120 days and more.

Leverage contract price benchmarking data

In SaaS negotiations, information is power, and complex pricing leaves buyers at a massive disadvantage. Level the playing field with price benchmarking data—your procurement team’s new secret weapon.

BetterCloud customers can use BetterRenewal to fight back. We leverage detailed analytics to benchmark your contract against industry standards, showing you exactly how your costs stack up against companies of the same size and in the same industry.

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Imagine going into a renewal for your $100,000 CRM contract. BetterRenewal reveals companies your size pay an average of 15% less. You are immediately empowered to demand a $15,000 discount, backed by irrefutable data.

Stop guessing and start negotiating from a position of strength.

How BetterCloud customers optimize SaaS renewals

Optimizing SaaS renewals is essential for controlling IT spend. BetterCloud customers don’t just track licenses; they use the platform’s advanced features to gain deep utilization insights, identify immediate savings opportunities, and execute data-driven renewal strategies, ensuring they only pay for the software they actually need.

Bullhorn

Previously working in spreadsheets, Bullhorn migrated into BetterCloud’s spend optimization platform. Bullhorn gained full SaaS visibility and saved hundreds of hours during renewal cycles.

They identified unused licenses across their 800+ apps, reallocated resources efficiently, and went into renewals armed with accurate data.

Learn how Bullhorn achieved 360-degree SaaS visibility

Definitive Healthcare

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BetterCloud helped Definitive Healthcare with key renewal strategies by providing proactive notifications and license usage data. Specifically, BetterCloud set up alerts at 60, 90, and 120 days prior to renewal, enabling Definitive Healthcare’s procurement and IT teams to meet proactively and strategize. These notifications helped prevent costly accidental auto-renewals for unused applications.

Furthermore, for upcoming renewals, they combined BetterCloud’s license usage data with price benchmarking from BetterRenewal to negotiate effectively.

Read more on Definitive Healthcare’s software spend transformation

Best practices for IT teams managing SaaS renewals

Managing SaaS renewals successfully requires proactive strategy and rigorous attention to detail from IT teams (and other departments involved in the procurement process).

A fundamental practice is maintaining a centralized, accurate inventory of all SaaS applications, including license counts, usage metrics, and renewal dates. This ensures no application’s renewal slips by and provides the data needed for informed decisions.

IT should establish a regular review cycle – well in advance of the renewal deadline, ideally 90 to 120 days out – to assess application necessity and usage. During this review, de-provisioning unused licenses and right-sizing subscriptions based on actual usage are critical steps to eliminate waste. Engaging directly with application owners and end-users is also key to determining the true business value and future need of the service.

Helpful tip! Negotiating terms—not just price—but also service levels, security clauses, and offboarding provisions should be a standard practice for significant renewals, ensuring the organization maintains the best possible value and flexibility.

Ultimately, leveraging SaaS management platforms to automate data collection, track utilization, and predict future spend can transform the renewal process from a reactive scramble into a strategic, data-driven operation.

BetterCloud Webinar: Unlocking savings: Software renewals

Renew with confidence using BetterCloud

Whether you’re new to the software renewal process or this is your umpteenth time being involved with contract renewals, BetterCloud is here to help.

Ready to take action?

Reach out to sales for an in-depth, personalized demo
Upload a contract to BetterRenewal for price benchmarking – free for your first contract!
Join a live demo to see BetterCloud in action

FAQs

Q: What is “shelfware” and how does BetterCloud help eliminate it?

A: Shelfware refers to software licenses that have been purchased by a company but are either completely unused or significantly underutilized. BetterCloud addresses this by providing real-time usage data across your entire SaaS stack. This visibility allows IT and Procurement teams to pinpoint unused licenses and use BetterCloud’s workflows to reclaim them, ensuring you don’t renew or pay for what you don’t need.

Q: How far in advance should my team start preparing for a SaaS renewal?

A: We recommend starting the renewal strategy process at least 90 to 120 days before the contract’s expiration date. This provides ample time to assess current usage, reclaim licenses, get internal approvals, and conduct thorough negotiation prep using tools like BetterRenewal. BetterCloud’s custom alerts are designed to ensure you never miss a critical window.

Q: Is it difficult to integrate BetterCloud with our existing systems?

A: Integration is designed to be fast and non-disruptive. BetterCloud uses native APIs and connectors to securely link to your various SaaS applications and identity providers (like Okta or Azure AD). Setup typically involves granting necessary permissions through a simple, guided process.

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