SaaS Contract Management: Where Most Companies Lose Control
Why SaaS contracts slip out of control: click-through terms, scattered order forms and auto-renewals, and how to build a contract record that protects you.
By the MI Solutions SAM team9 min read2 exhibits
Traditional software came with a negotiated contract that someone filed. SaaS often comes with a click-through agreement accepted by whoever signed up, an order form in someone's inbox, and terms that update on the vendor's website. The result is a portfolio where many subscriptions have no contract on file at all, and therefore no recorded renewal date, notice period or price protection.
The coverage gap
Exhibit 1
Small subscriptions are individually unimportant. Together, they can add up to a large share of SaaS spend, renewing automatically on terms nobody has read.
Where control is lost
01Click-through terms
Accepted during sign-up by whoever clicked, never reviewed.
The approval workflow requires the contract or terms to be attached. See SaaS approval workflows.
At every change
New order forms and amendments go to the same record within days.
Before renewal
The owner confirms terms and usage 120 days before the notice deadline.
Annually
Check terms by reference for changes on the largest subscriptions.
How MI One helps
Frequently asked questions
Are click-through agreements binding?
Generally yes, for the organization whose employee accepted them on its behalf. Check with counsel for your jurisdiction.
What threshold should we use?
Start with every subscription over a modest annual value, and include any app holding sensitive data regardless of cost.
Who should hold the contract record?
Procurement or the SAM function, with app owners responsible for forwarding new documents.
See where your software budget goes
Bring your five largest vendors to a 30-minute call. Our SAM experts will show you where the savings usually hide, and how fast MI One can surface them.
