Are your software subscriptions a managed expense, or a sum of renewals? For many SMEs, the SaaS bill grows through small decisions: one more tool, a few accounts opened, an option added to a contract. The result often appears nowhere on a single line.
Taking back control does not mean cancelling every online service or putting a server back in a cupboard. It means knowing how you use things, measuring what creates value and keeping real exit options.
The hidden cost: licences nobody uses
Zylo’s 2025 report estimates that 52.7% of SaaS licences bought were unused in the organisations observed. That figure does not describe every SME; it gives a good reflex: before looking for new software, look at what already exists and what is lying dormant.
A useful audit does not simply list invoices. It brings together four pieces of information: the amount actually paid, the active accounts, the business uses and the owner of each tool. You then see the duplicates, the leavers’ licences never removed, the features paid for twice and the tools that have become critical without any continuity plan being defined.
Behind the bill, an issue of dependence
The subject is not limited to price. It also concerns the ability to retrieve your data, change supplier, control access rights and anticipate a price rise. These questions become strategic when the CRM, customer documents, accounting or automations rely on a handful of vendors.
At European level, the Asterès study commissioned by Cigref in 2025 puts annual purchases of cloud software and services that benefit the US economy at €264 billion. The estimate relates to an aggregate market, not to the bill of a very small business. It does show, however, that supplier choices also raise a question of resilience and value creation in Europe.
An SME’s digital sovereignty begins with a simple question: can we explain, export and replace what we use?
SaaS, open source, European hosting: moving past the false debate
SaaS is often an excellent option: to start quickly, to benefit from very specific expertise, to absorb variations in load or to avoid technical operations the company cannot provide. The aim is not to repatriate on principle.
On the other hand, some stable, central tools deserve to be re-assessed. Open-source software, hosted with a European provider and properly maintained, can give more control over data and costs. This decision must include the full cost: migration, security, backups, monitoring, training and maintenance. An alternative is only worthwhile if it remains workable over time.
The diagnosis in five questions
- How much are we really spending? Centralise the subscriptions, including those paid by bank card or reimbursed through expense claims.
- Who uses what? Check the active accounts and administration rights, then remove obsolete access.
- What critical data flows through the tool? Classify the uses: internal documents, customer data, financial data, sensitive data.
- Can we retrieve our data? Test a readable export, document the formats and check the reversibility conditions.
- What choice do we want to keep? Keep the SaaS where it genuinely serves you; renegotiate, rationalise or look at a European or open-source solution for the rest.
Start with what is measurable
The first win is not a technical migration. It is a reliable inventory shared between management, finance, IT and the business teams. It reduces waste, secures accounts and lets you decide with facts rather than habits.
Only then do you choose. Keep a SaaS, move to a European offering, adopt an open-source tool or build a hybrid architecture: each answer can be the right one, provided it is owned, documented and reversible.
Your next renewal is an opportunity to take back control. Do you already know which licence you are funding without seeing how it is used?
Frequently asked questions about SaaS subscriptions in SMEs
How can an SME reduce its SaaS spending?
Start by inventorying all contracts, checking active accounts and identifying duplicates. Renegotiate or cancel unused licences before considering a change of tool.
Should every SaaS be replaced with open source?
No. SaaS makes sense when it provides a specialised function, quick implementation or operations the company cannot provide. Open source and European hosting are options to assess tool by tool, with their maintenance and security costs.
What is reversibility in a SaaS product?
Reversibility is the ability to retrieve your data, settings and histories in a usable format, then change supplier without halting the business. It is checked before a contract is renewed, not after a crisis.
Sources
- Zylo, SaaS Management Index, 2025 edition.
- Cigref and Asterès, La dépendance technologique aux services de cloud et logiciels américains (Technological dependence on US cloud services and software), April 2025.
