May 27, 2020
3
MIN READ

Maverick Buying and SaaS

Procurement

Life, as Jeff Goldblum once said, finds a way. People want to get things done. They want to deliver and so they become mavericks. Maverick buyers have a bad name, and certainly they can cause a lot of problems (more on that later), but in many ways they represent the best of companies.

by
Brad van Leeuwen

Maverick buying happens when people inside a company skip formal purchasing procedures. In doing so, they disregard any price comparison, negotiation, or contract agreement, and often annoy entire procurement or software management teams.

Life, as Jeff Goldblum once said, finds a way. People want to get things done. They want to deliver and so they become mavericks. Maverick buyers have a bad name, and certainly they can cause a lot of problems (more on that later), but in many ways they represent the best of companies.

Maverick SaaS Should Be Embraced**

The types of people inside a company that are likely to want to become maverick buyers of a new SaaS product are disproportionately those that are high achievers and most passionate about contributing to the success of the business. The simple fact that they even know what SaaS to buy, means that they’re likely to be an expert in their field. Maverick buying represents the entrepreneurial spirit inside the business. If it can be harnessed, companies can move forward in non-linear ways and get more done, faster.

Maverick buying used to result in inflated costs, contracting inferior products and agreeing to inappropriate terms and so it was justified to have every single potential new bit of software go through a formal procurement process. The world has changed and for the vast majority of SaaS products those risks just don’t apply.

SaaS products tend to be niche, focused on a single problem and therefore tend to be small. They tend to be used by individuals or teams to solve well-defined problems. Contracts tend to be generic and the average cost of a single SaaS subscription for most companies is less than $300 per month. It makes sense to let people on the front line take decisions of this magnitude, rather than centralising them in a procurement or Software Asset Management team.

Software Asset Management for SaaS is Needed**

The trouble with that is risk. If you don’t know what software you’re using in the business, you have know way of knowing where your customer data is going. If you don’t know where your customer data is going, you run the risk of regulatory fines.

So managing maverick buying of SaaS isn’t about optimising costs, but instead having controls to prevent a large regulatory fine for breaching GDPR, CCPA or, if you’re a regulated financial institution, for not following risk management guidance for third party relationships issued by The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and their equivalents around the world.

And those fines can be massive - total GDPR fines in 2019 reached a mind-boggling €417.5 million. So the question is, how can you procure SaaS responsibly, harness the entrepreneurial spirit of a company and manage risk when everyone in the company with a credit card is a risk vector?

The answer is to design processes and controls that can be fast, run affordably (who wants to have a software committee that costs £10k a day approve a £30/month subscription?), that provides a central register of what software is in a business and who has access to it, and puts as much autonomy in the hands of the people needing software as possible. If you can design a process and system that is almost as easy as someone in the team pulling a card out of their own wallet, you have a great chance of getting the risk under control. And if you’d like to talk more about how to implement something like that, let us know and start harnessing your mavericks for good!

Contents

Contents

The software management solution for finance teams.

Learn more

Subscribe to our newsletter

Receive the latest insights in your inbox

Brad van Leeuwen

Brad is the co-founder and COO of Cledara. Prior to Cledara, Brad scaled partnerships, infrastructure and Go-to-Market at several fintech companies. He also led multiple early-stage investments into fintech and financial services for the EBRD and is one of highest-ranked Techstars startup mentors globally.

Share this post

Subscribe to our newsletter and stay informed on the latest SaaS insights

Explore more

Explore more

RFIs vs RFPs vs RFQs: What They Are and When to Use Them in Your Procurement

Navigating the procurement process starts with understanding RFIs, RFPs, and RFQs—essential tools to select the right vendor for your business needs.
Read more

A Complete Guide to the Procurement Process

Procurement is the backbone of every business, guiding how organizations acquire goods and services efficiently to save money, streamline operations, and build strong supplier relationships.
Read more

SaaS Governance for CFOs: Why Collaboration with IT Matters

SaaS governance is essential for CFOs to collaborate with IT in managing SaaS applications to control costs, mitigate security risks, ensure compliance, and optimize software usage across the organization.
Read more

SaaS License: What They Entail and How to Negotiate

Navigating the diverse landscape of SaaS licensing models can be daunting for a CFO, but understanding their nuances is crucial for making informed decisions that optimize costs and functionality for your organization.
Read more

SaaS Vendor Management 101: How To Manage Subscriptions

Learn best practices, tackle key challenges, and see how Cledara can transform, step by step, your approach to SaaS vendor management.
Read more

A CFO’s Guide to SaaS Contracts

Here’s what to look for when you sign a SaaS contract—which clauses to read carefully, which to insist upon, and how to come away with a great deal.
Read more

9 Best Spend Management Software Solutions for 2024

Discover the best spend management software for your needs, with this detailed rundown of the tools on the market.
Read more

What Is SaaS Procurement?

SaaS procurement encompasses the entire lifecycle of a SaaS tool within a company. From identifying a need, purchasing the solution, assessing its security and compliance, and implementing it.
Read more

How to Negotiate Your SaaS Agreement

Learn how to negotiate your software agreements and secure a good deal with this comprehensive guide.
Read more

Software Tail Spend: Why It Matters and How to Manage It

Uncover the hidden impact of tail spend on your company's software purchases and learn how to effectively manage it with our free, downloadable cheat sheet.
Read more

What is an SBOM?

Software providers must now meet SBOM requirements in order to qualify as US public sector vendors. Learn everything you need to know about SBOMs in this post.
Read more

13 Key Procurement KPIs You Should Track in 2023

Setting procurement KPIs is essential to track your procurement team's performance, ensuring smooth operations, and minimizing costs.
Read more

How to Write a Good Software Business Case [+ Template]

Do you think your company needs to invest in new software? In this post, you'll learn how to write a good software business case. Free template included.
Read more