From manual to automated license management
A lack of visibility over software and SaaS licenses throughout the entire employment relationship is currently one of the biggest hidden cost and security challenges in businesses.
When employees start and leave, but the costs remain
When a new employee starts, there's rarely a lack of enthusiasm. What is often lacking, however, is a complete grasp of which systems, licences and accesses are actually being allocated.
The situation becomes even more critical when an employee leaves. The risks then increase significantly: forgotten licenses and active users lead to unnecessary costs and high security risks.
The benefits of automatic license management
Automatic license management ensures that licenses are assigned based on need rather than standard packages. This results in lower costs with better security and internal control.
When an employee starts
Onboarding often happens quickly and under time pressure. New employees receive standard packages of licenses, temporary access that is never revoked, and tools based on outdated role understanding.
Businesses handle onboarding very differently. Some still do everything manually, while others have come further in the digitalisation of the employee flow. The common denominator is that people onboard people – and when the process isn't fast enough, duplicate orders arise.
Orders can come from the closest manager, HR, or project managers, and are sent verbally, by email, or via various systems. Often without responsibility and overview of licences being consolidated in one place.
The result is:
- Over-licensing and unnecessary SaaS costs
- Lack of cost control
- Increased security and compliance risk
- Time-consuming manual processes
This is not just an IT problem. It is a management problem.
During the recruitment process
Roles change, projects end and teams are reorganised. Yet, licenses are rarely adjusted accordingly. Over time, this accumulates:
- Unused premium licenses
- Dual tools with overlapping functionality
- Access that is no longer required
For finance and IT management, this means reduced cost control. For security managers, this means increased risk.
Getting an overview manually requires a lot of time, and not least, familiarity with the company's various areas.
When an employee leaves
Offboarding is where both costs and risks peak. Without clear processes, it's easy for:
- Users remain active in SaaS systems
- Licenses are not released
- Costs continue to mount – entirely without value
This is a well-known audit finding and a recurring theme in security incidents.
For most people, this is unknown. Employees come and go, giving little thought to everything that needs to happen for the company to function well. For those responsible for licenses and security, however, license control is paramount.
Full overview per employee
Otheo gives companies full control over their SaaS portfolio by connecting users, licenses, costs, and actual usage throughout the employee lifecycle.
This gives HR, IT and Finance a shared factual basis.
License management isn't just about saving money. With increasing demands for information security, privacy, and GDPR, businesses must be able to document who has access to what – and why.
Otheo gathers structure, insight, and control in one platform.
License control is not a project, but a continuous discipline
With Otheo, companies get a unified overview of users, licences, costs and actual usage – from their first working day to their last. This provides a better decision-making basis for HR, IT and finance, lower SaaS costs and verifiable control over access and security.
Would you like to see how Otheo provides full control over licences throughout the entire employment period? Contact us for a no-obligation review.