SaaS Whispers: Recent Episodes
SaaS Whispers by Zluri
SaaS is seen as one of the best things that have ever happened in the world of software in terms of costs and ease of usage. But it’s not enough to embrace its advantages alone. There are two sides to a coin, and even SaaS has a lesser-known side that can harm businesses if left unattended. The dark side of SaaS involves shadow IT, security and compliance risks, and SaaS wastage. We’ve started this podcast series, “SaaS Whispers,” to focus on the inefficiencies and cost overruns posed by increased SaaS adoption and how organizations can use SaaS Management Platforms (SMPs) to mitigate these risks and make the most out of their SaaS stack. We’ll be talking to top IT leaders, CIOs, and CFOs, ITAM, and SAM experts from around the world who’ll share their experiences of managing SaaS in their organizations. We’re hoping to bring the conversations about SaaS-based risks from the shadows to the forefront of the technology community through them. Each episode will deal with topics such as SaaS Management Platforms, shadow IT, SaaS security and compliance, problems managing SaaS using spreadsheets, and a lot more.
Michele Liberman has a bachelor’s degree in computer sciences and a post-graduate degree in Information Systems Management from Liverpool University. She has been working with Smart Communications for the past 16 years in different departments, from development, through enterprise architecture, enjoying the journey from small to enterprise as the company went from software provider to SaaS service provider.
Michele runs the SaaS Operations Delivery Teams, including Infrastructure, Database and Service Reliability Engineers and believes that exemplary in-house technical teams give the company the flexibility to achieve new business strategy.
In this podcast, Michelle talks about:
- Embracing Flexibility: How Agile Companies Thrived Amidst the Pandemic
- Importance of SaaS Management in an Organization
- Future of SaaS Operations
Kenneth Corriveau leads Omnicom Media Group’s global technology operations in North America, Europe, the Middle East/Africa, Asia Pacific, and Latam. He also oversees the digital transformation initiative on a global basis.
As a seasoned professional, Ken offers three decades of success in a series of high-level roles at top-tier companies, including OMD, DDB, Tribal, The Big Idea, Bergeron Group, and Donovan Group. Ken works closely with a diverse portfolio of companies and industries.
Ken holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and Computer Science from Assumption University and several certificates from Stanford, Harvard & MIT and participates in speaking engagements across various forums.
In this podcast, Kenneth shares his views on the following:
- Cost Management and Optimisation
- Exposure to security threats due to Shadow IT
- Measures to be taken to reduce the security threats
As Chief Information Security Officer at BigID, Tyler is responsible for developing and implementing BigID’s security strategy and developing security use cases for BigID’s products. He also serves as a Board Member on Glilot Capital, GTM Capital, and Team 8’s Security Advisory Boards, as well as an advisor for several early-stage Security startups (Cider Security & Axiom).
Before joining BigID, Tyler served as the Head of Security at Relativity, building out Relativity’s security program, Calder7. He also held positions as Global Forensics Manager, Digital Forensics Incident Response consultant, and leading internal incident response investigations. He gained a variety of cybersecurity and strategy experience from Relativity, Zurich Insurance, RSM, Arete IR, and a government agency.
Tyler received a Bachelor of Arts in cybersecurity investigations from St. Ambrose University and has completed multiple graduate certificates in executive leadership and high-performance management at Cornell University. He is also a member of InfraGard’s Chicago Chapter and holds several digital forensics certifications.
Tyler shares the following points:
- Role of security in an organization
- Significance of Cyber Security
- Steps to be taken to ensure security in your organization
Amit is leading the improvement of core services and financial optimization at Wix. He has over a decade of experience with entrepreneurship, innovation, startups, and social impact.
As a serial entrepreneur and a SaaS founder turned corporate, Amit is implementing new innovative methodologies to improve SaaS management in an enterprise environment and change the employees' mindset to create a more impactful, productive, optimized, and cost-effective culture in the company.
Amit shares his opinion about the following:
- Strategies and policies for SaaS governance
- Implementation of automations in everyday life
- Zero-touch policy hiring
Torbjörn Andersson is an IT security leader with over 20 years of experience in the IT Industry. He has gained broad knowledge from consulting and supporting organizations in their security journey. He has been a senior consultant for IBM, focusing on security strategy, risk, and compliance in the Nordic region. Today he holds the position of CISO at Medius, a leading global provider of cloud-based accounts payable (AP) automation and spend management solutions with customers in over 100 countries, and processing $180 billion in annual spend through its system.
With a passion for cyber security, Torbjörn has grown and expanded his expertise from technical IT security to the depths of information security, such as the importance of risk management and building a resilient security strategy within your organization.
Scott Conn became the Chief Information Officer for the City of Modesto on May 24, 2022, where he currently puts his 40+ years of C-level private sector, Executive Consulting, and local government Information Technology (IT) experience to work. Before joining the Modesto team, Scott was a member of the IT Team at the City of Concord, fulfilling multiple positions over a 6-year span. His last role was that of IT Division Head for Public Safety.
Aside from working at the City of Modesto, Scott is an active member of the Municipal Information Systems Association of California (MISAC), serving on the Communications Committee, and is the current President of MISAC’s Northern Chapter. In that capacity, he works closely with the MISAC State Board to help influence favorable IT legislation and the future strategic development of the association and its implementation.
Scott has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Management from Santa Clara University, is a retired High School Varsity Football Head Coach and Varsity Women’s Basketball Head Coach, and has been one of the highest-rated USSF Certified Soccer Referees for all California/Nevada 18 and under leagues.
As Chief Information Security Officer of DataBank, Mark brings over 30 years of extensive information security and information technology experience in a wide range of industries and institutions.
Mark is a successful and sought-after security speaker, blogger, podcaster, and entrepreneur. He has been responsible for security and compliance solutions at Fortune 50 financial and banking institutions, health care entities, the CTO in a higher education institution, a technical operations manager in a startup as well as the role he credits for starting it all, a Cryptologist with the U.S. Navy.
In this podcast episode, Mark discusses how he got into IT and security, building a culture of trust, the steps he follows to assess new SaaS applications, and how he handles a breach.
Jeffrey Tefertiller has been a leader in IT service management for 25 years. In his experience, he's led an ITSM company, worked in-house leading process initiatives, and owns an ITSM consulting practice. In addition, he has written six books so far––everything about ITSM practices.
He is a seasoned IT professional who has successfully led geographically diverse teams, large and small. Jeffrey is a strong believer in using analytics and metrics to measure success and opportunities for improvement.
Jefferey spoke to us about the importance of the SaaS governance process and elaborated the best practices to implement to have a successful SaaS Governance. He also added the need to have SaaS management platforms in this SaaSified world. Finally, he highlighted the effectiveness of SaaS management platforms and how valuable they can be for organizations.
With over 30 years of IT experience, Howard Miller is the current CIO at UCLA Anderson School of Management. His previous roles included acting CIO and CISO at the Columbia Business School and the IT Director of Life Technologies. Having started as an entry-level programmer, Howard has been through it all and has made it to the top of the IT rung.
Howard has expertise in the design, development, and deployment of strategy and policy and has succeeded in building business processes from scratch.
In this episode, Howard talks about the importance of SaaS governance and its implementation in organizations, along with some day-to-day examples.
Jim Hussey, who started his career in journalism and research, shifted paths and became the leader of a Fortune 500 technology vendor management organization. He has vast experience in software asset management, telecom expense management, IT first line of defense, third-party risk management, and IT sourced services. Meanwhile, he has also written some fantastic books - The Survival Guide To SaaS Optimization and The SAM leader survival, which were the greatest hit among the IT heads.
He has been instrumental in developing the policies and controls for the software and worked closely with his IT sourcing partner and Chief Procurement Officer to develop a detailed workflow on how software is approved for use.
Jim spoke to us about how prevalent SaaS has become and the difficulty of managing SaaS without an automated management system. He also shared few words on how helpful SaaS was during the pandemic. Finally, he reiterated the importance of having SaaS governance and the downsides of not having a platform to monitor SaaS stack.
Sethu Meenakshisundaram and Chaithanya Yambari are the co-founders of Zluri, the SaaS management platform. Zluri is their second venture, before which they were a part of the founding team at Knolskape and helped it scale across 30 countries.
Sethu is one of the cofounders of Zluri, the SaaS management for IT teams. He leads revenue operations and customer success as part of his role. He’s passionate about quizzing, board games, and photography. His retirement plan is to operate a board game bistro in one of the touristy spots of Southeast Asia.
Chaithanya is also one of the co-founders of Zluri and leads the tech team. An avid tech enthusiast, he is often found testing various softwares and smart devices or attending conferences to update his knowledge and expertise. When not exuding his passion for technology, Chaithanya has traveled to over 28 countries across the globe already. Being professionally trained in baking, he spends his weekends trying to dabble a new recipe.
Both of them speak on why the idea of starting up arose and their experience of building Zluri. They speak about various challenges that rapid SaaS adoption can put forth and share their learnings on managing 32 million SaaS usage transactions through Zluri.
Visit us at www.zluri.com to see how we can help you get started with managing your SaaS.
David Foxen, who has been in the field of SAM since the age of 18, is the founder of SAM Beast Consulting Ltd, which focuses on helping customers implement and mature successful IT Asset Management functions. He has successfully implemented IT Asset Management, Software Asset Management, and Hardware Asset Management for many organizations. He is also an ITAM content creator for the ITAM academy, which focuses on creating content related to ITAM, SAM, and software licensing. He has helped companies save a lot of money through contract negotiations, internal audits, and optimizing existing assets.
David speaks about his passion for ITAM and SAM and how he developed an interest in the industry. He also talks about the changes ITAM has undergone in the last 12 years of his career. He also highlights how the SaaS landscape has made our lives easier and gives valuable insights into managing SaaS applications.
Visit us at www.zluri.com to see how we can help you get started with managing your SaaS.
Jeremy L. Boerger started his career in the Information Technology Asset Management (ITAM) industry, helping businesses build and rehabilitate successful software and hardware asset management practices. His strong knowledge in the field made him author the book “Rethinking Information Technology Asset Management” which iterates on best standards for ITAM teams. He goes around the globe to speak on ITAM at various conventions and symposiums. He founded Borger Consulting LLC in 2016 to help businesses realize the potential of fully functioning ITAM and SAM programs.
Jeremy speaks about his Y2K experience and the struggles he dealt with on-prem software. He also speaks about Shadow IT, the advantages and challenges of the cloud, and how ITAM has helped organizations break through the challenges.
Visit us at www.zluri.com to see how we can help you get started with managing your SaaS.
Aravind R is a versatile and seasoned IT professional with more than 25 years of industry experience. He currently heads IT for a business unit of a major multinational that has got 60K employees and $35B in revenue. He has played a significant role in taking key IT initiatives from building & managing ERPs to Transformation & Data-Driven strategies in his career.
Aravind speaks to us about how SaaS has changed the software procurement process, its advantages, and challenges that he has experienced so far. He also shares his valuable insights on the latest and best practices to manage SaaS and derive the most from these applications.
Visit us at www.zluri.com to see how we can help you get started with managing your SaaS.