2025 Zylo SaaS Management Index

02/04/25 • 47 min

Our Guest: Ben Pippenger is the Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Zylo, a SaaS management platform that helps businesses gain full visibility into their software usage, optimize licensing, and streamline renewals.

Episode Topics:

Overview of Zylo’s SaaS Management Index annual report, which covers $40 billion of SaaS spend
The AI adoption surge in software spend - 75 percent increase in spending.
The Rising of SaaS Costs - increased by 9.3 percent year over year.
The shift from traditional seat-based pricing to usage and value-based models.
Ben’s takes on the decline of multi-year SaaS contracts in recent data.
Ben’s insight to IT’s shrinking influence over SaaS.
Increasing SaaS waste - $21 million annually on unused software licenses.
Strategies to manage and reduce rising SaaS costs effectively.
What are some hidden costs of long-tail SaaS purchases?
Ben shares vendor negotiation tactics and cost-saving strategies to optimize software investments.

Resources:
https://zylo.com/reports/2025-saas-management-index/

https://zylo.com/

https://www.saasletter.com/p/zylo-saas-management-index-2025

About Cloud Radio by Cloud Ratings:

Made for "full stack" cloud + SaaS operators, Cloud Radio is a SaaS podcast covers all aspects of the business of software.

Our host - Matt Harney - is active on Twitter @saasletter and writes "SaaSletter", an investing-oriented SaaS newsletter on Substack.

https://cloudradio.cloudratings.com/

https://twitter.com/SaaSletter

https://www.saasletter.com/

About Cloud Ratings:

Cloud Ratings is a customer outcomes-focused, data-driven software research analyst firm. We exist to allow organizations to make more confident, lower-risk software purchasing decisions.

Our Cloud Ratings Category Reports combine user reviews with verified vendor data to impartially identify leading software products. Recent report examples include: Board Management Software, Account-Based Marketing Software, Cap Table + Equity Management Software, Lead Routing Software, and Sales Training + Onboarding Software.

Built upon investigative customer interviews, our True ROI Reports quantify and provide 3rd party validation of a software product’s business value.

https://cloudratings.com/

Episode Topics:

Overview of Zylo’s SaaS Management Index annual report, which covers $40 billion of SaaS spend
The AI adoption surge in software spend - 75 percent increase in spending.
The Rising of SaaS Costs - increased by 9.3 percent year over year.
The shift from traditional seat-based pricing to usage and value-based models.
Ben’s takes on the decline of multi-year SaaS contracts in recent data.
Ben’s insight to IT’s shrinking influence over SaaS.
Increasing SaaS waste - $21 million annually on unused software licenses.
Strategies to manage and reduce rising SaaS costs effectively.
What are some hidden costs of long-tail SaaS purchases?
Ben shares vendor negotiation tactics and cost-saving strategies to optimize software investments.

Resources:
https://zylo.com/reports/2025-saas-management-index/

https://zylo.com/

https://www.saasletter.com/p/zylo-saas-management-index-2025

About Cloud Radio by Cloud Ratings:

Made for "full stack" cloud + SaaS operators, Cloud Radio is a SaaS podcast covers all aspects of the business of software.

Our host - Matt Harney - is active on Twitter @saasletter and writes "SaaSletter", an investing-oriented SaaS newsletter on Substack.

https://cloudradio.cloudratings.com/

https://twitter.com/SaaSletter

https://www.saasletter.com/

About Cloud Ratings:

Cloud Ratings is a customer outcomes-focused, data-driven software research analyst firm. We exist to allow organizations to make more confident, lower-risk software purchasing decisions.

Built upon investigative customer interviews, our True ROI Reports quantify and provide 3rd party validation of a software product’s business value.

https://cloudratings.com/

Previous Episode

Sally Duby - Sales in 2024: SaaS AE Metrics Report

Our Guest: Sally Duby is the Chief Sales Officer at The Bridge Group Inc., a sales strategy consulting firm for B2B companies looking for more from sales development, sales, and customer success.

Episode Topics:

Marketing contribution to the pipeline rose from 33% in 2022 to 40% in 2024.
Characterization of the account manager and customer success manager.
Who is responsible for renewal, upsell, and cross-sell?
Average years of experience required at hire by Annual Contract Value (ACV).
The increasing Account Executive (AE)’s average ramp time.
How tenure and ramp time affect productivity time - Median time at productivity sits at 24 months.
Increasing trend of quotas across all bands from <$5k to $250k+ by ACV.
Win rates declining from 23% in 2022 to 19% in 2024.
Decreasing trend of quota attainment among AEs from 2012 to 2024.
Common problems of clients The Bridge Group works with.
The Bridge Group playbook for improving sales.
Sally’s viewpoints on outbound sales and SDR functions.
Effective strategies for outbound sales efforts.
AI’s role in improving SDRs and AEs productivity.

Resources:

https://blog.bridgegroupinc.com/2024-ae-metrics-compensation-benchmark

About Cloud Radio by Cloud Ratings:

Made for "full stack" cloud + SaaS operators, Cloud Radio is a SaaS podcast covers all aspects of the business of software.

Our host - Matt Harney - is active on Twitter @saasletter and writes "SaaSletter", an investing-oriented SaaS newsletter on Substack.

https://cloudradio.cloudratings.com/

https://twitter.com/SaaSletter

https://www.saasletter.com/

About Cloud Ratings:

Cloud Ratings is a customer outcomes-focused, data-driven software research analyst firm. We exist to allow organizations to make more confident, lower-risk software purchasing decisions.

Built upon investigative customer interviews, our True ROI Reports quantify and provide 3rd party validation of a software product’s business value.

https://cloudratings.com/

Next Episode

2025 GTM Benchmarks

Guy Rubin is the Founder + CEO of Ebsta, a revenue intelligence platform that guides sales teams to more effective sales processes, pipeline reviews and forecast calls with Revenue Insights.

Episode Topics:

Overview of Ebsta’s 2025 GTM Benchmarks Report. Produced in partnership with Pavilion, the report covers $48 billion of pipeline across 655,000 opportunities, analysis of 240,000 minutes of seller discovery calls, and a survey of 2,000+ CROs + Sales Leaders.
Guy’s perspective on the 11x velocity gap between top and bottom sales performers – up from 4x in 2022.
Why top performers are 455% better at discovery – and what B & C players lack.
The importance of engaging 6+ stakeholders early in the sales cycle to boost win rates from 12% to 40%+.
The power of visual playbooks, AI-driven nudges, and qualification signals to drive consistency.
Ebsta’s approach to forecast accuracy.
The return of 360 sellers – handling full-cycle sales for stronger buyer relationships.
High-performing sales channels: Partner/Referral (1.3x velocity), Organic (1.2x), Outbound (1.05x), Events (0.78x), Paid (0.68x).
Investing in partner programs, communities, and warm referrals to raise win rates.
Why disqualifying non-ICP deals early boosts productivity – 24% more likely among top reps.
The human factor in sales management – helping the sales team through structure, not micromanagement.
Ebsta Client Example: the role of data-driven RevOps in aligning leadership and driving 29% revenue growth.
Why relationships still matter – even in an AI-powered B2B sales world.

Resources:
https://benchmarks.ebsta.com/2025-gtm-benchmarks

https://www.saasletter.com/p/value-selling

https://www.saasletter.com/p/sales-check-engine-light