Standing Up SaaS Management: A People, Process & Tech Blueprint

500+ applications. Stitched-together spreadsheets. No clear owners. That’s what Ksenia Kouchnirenko inherited when she joined Verkada as VP of Enterprise Operations & Technology. In this episode, she shares how she stood up a SaaS Management program from scratch to bring visibility, accountability, and strategy to software decisions. You’ll learn what it takes to start your own program, align stakeholders across IT and Procurement, and avoid early-phase pitfalls.

Chapters:

• 00:00 – Introduction to SaaS Management
• 01:30 – Identifying Gaps in SaaS Management
• 03:34 – The Role of Procurement in SaaS Management
• 05:49 – Defining the Value of SaaS Management
• 08:21 – Importance of Visibility in SaaS Management
• 09:38 – People, Process, and Technology Framework
• 11:34 – The Role of Automation in SaaS Management
• 13:45 – Lessons Learned from Previous SaaS Management Experiences
• 16:16 – Advice for IT Leaders on SaaS Management

Episode Summary

When Ksenia Kouchnirenko stepped into her role at Verkada, she inherited 500+ applications, overlapping tools, and zero visibility. The SaaS sprawl was real—and managing it was unsustainable.

Spreadsheets ruled. Owners were unclear. Renewals were guesswork. Her first move? Stand up a SaaS Management program that prioritized clarity, accountability, and process over shiny tools.

“I think you have to be very clear on why you’re doing this,” she shared. “Because ultimately, as simple as it may seem, it will come with its own sets of hiccups”.

Ksenia didn’t try to fix everything at once. She defined a distinct Phase One to surface the kind of insights that stop stakeholders in their tracks: “Wait—we have how many apps?”

She also flipped the script on traditional business cases. Cost savings? Not the top priority.

“In my order, cost is actually third,” Ksenia said. “I think about it more from what is the employee experience? And how are we stitching these technologies?”

For her, SaaS Management is about scale, security, and experience—not just dollars.

This episode is a playbook for IT leaders ready to move from reactive to strategic SaaS Management. You’ll hear how to define your “why,” align IT and Procurement, avoid early-phase traps, and choose the right partners for the long haul.

Guest Spotlight

Name: Ksenia Kouchnirenko
What she does: VP of Enterprise Operations & Technology at Verkada
Connect with Ksenia online: LinkedIn

Episode Highlights

1. SaaS Management Starts with a Clear “Why”

Too many organizations jump in without defining what success looks like. For Ksenia, clarity is the foundation for managing something as complex as SaaS.

“I think you have to be very clear on why you’re doing this. Because ultimately, as simple as it may seem, it will come with its own sets of hiccups. And unless you truly are crisp on why you’re doing this and then orienting your teams as you build this out, you’re going to struggle. Because like I mentioned a little bit earlier, you may not have all your contracts… So being crisp on the bigger why and then also the definition of that phase one is really important.”

2. People and Process > Platform

Ksenia warns IT leaders not to fall for the trap of prioritizing tech over process. Real transformation starts with intentional operations design before bringing in technology.

“I lean heavily on the process portion of this. I think technology is an enabler. But if you’re buying the latest, greatest technology and not changing your process or not even thinking about the process and then expect the technologies to be successful, you’re going to be in for a surprise. Having done a lot of replacement strategies or gone through the spreadsheet to something more of a tech platform, you have to bring the people along on the journey of the why. Like, why are you doing this? What kind of impact are you expecting to have? What are the metrics that you will be tracking? How do you know you’ve been successful?”

3. Visibility Is About Employee Experience, Not Just Cost

Cost reduction often dominates the SaaS Management conversation. But Ksenia flips that narrative, focusing instead on experience, compliance, and risk mitigation.

“There’s the plain vanilla answer that everybody always likes to give you, which is cost. And in my order, actually, cost is the third. I think about it more from what is the employee experience? And how are we stitching these technologies? If you think about any time someone shows up… and says, here’s why you need my technology, it’s always about you’re going to make customer’s life better, employee’s life better… And then it’s harder for them—once you’re sold on that vision—how do you actually start to stitch these things together? That’s where I think employee engagement experience and actually efficiency comes into play. And so understanding how are employees experiencing this amazing tech stack that you think is so good and helpful, but is it helpful for them?”

4. Don’t Boil the Ocean

Starting small may seem like playing it safe, but it’s actually strategic. Ksenia learned to define her “aha” moment early and use that as a catalyst for broader change.

“You can’t boil the ocean, you can’t get all of your contracts, everything set up for day one or phase one. Otherwise, you’re never going to get to phase two. So making sure you think about what really matters: are you trying to get a whole understanding of your top five spenders? Let’s be clear, you probably know who they are.

Are you trying to understand your long tail? Are you trying to understand how others may be procuring software that are outside of your company’s policies? Think about where do you want to start and what are you trying to get to? Because the faster you can get to the aha moment… And you go, my God, I didn’t know I had, I’ll fill in that blank for you. 565 apps in my current world.”

5. Operationalization Is the Dealbreaker

Tool selection is just the tip of the iceberg. Ksenia emphasizes that what makes or breaks a SaaS Management strategy is how well you embed it operationally.

“You have to really think about what is operational process is going to look like when you put [a SaaS Management Platform] in… For us, the biggest aha moment and the reason why we went [with Zylo] was that you guys are gonna ingest all my contracts. I don’t need to figure out what the template’s gonna look like or what I do with them. And that’s a really significant advantage. And not just for that first implementation, but for ongoing, so that I know anytime I sign a new deal… it’s just gonna go through that process. A lot of times people get so focused on the zero to one. But that’s just the start. You still have one to 100 million plus, right? Understanding what that would look like and what you’d need from your team… that’s going to come down to the partner you select, but also how you partner with them.”

Top Quotes

• [01:37] “We were buying lots of things. It was not centralized. Everybody could go out and buy whatever they needed or wanted.”
• [04:51] “The problem with spreadsheets… is that as soon as you put the data in there, it’s obsolete.”
• [08:34] “In my order, cost is third. I think about it more from what is the employee experience?”
• [10:59] “Technology is an enabler. But if you’re buying the latest, greatest technology and not changing your process… you’re in for a surprise.”
• [14:54] “You can’t boil the ocean… Otherwise, you’re never going to get to phase two.”
• [18:04] “Be very clear on why you’re doing this… Otherwise, you’re going to struggle.”

If you’re an IT leader at the start of your SaaS Management journey, Ksenia’s story is a masterclass in turning chaos into clarity and building a strategy that actually scales.

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