The average Slovak company of 20 employees today pays subscriptions for 18 different SaaS apps, from Slack through Dropbox, MailChimp, Trello, Canva, Figma, Notion to LinkedIn Sales Navigator. Invoices from each separately, separate passwords, missing integrations, and data scattered across ten clouds. This phenomenon has a name: SaaS sprawl. And it costs more than you think.
What is SaaS sprawl and why is it a silent margin killer
SaaS sprawl is the situation when a company replaces every new need with a separate cloud tool. Individually they are cheap (9-39 EUR per month), together they form an invisible burden:
- Direct costs: on average 140-320 EUR per month per employee when you sum up all subscriptions
- Admin overload: who manages 18 admin accounts? Cancellation requests when an employee leaves, audit of permissions…
- Data fragmentation: the customer in HubSpot, their invoices in Pohoda, communication in Slack, contracts in Dropbox, you never see the full picture
- Security gap: every SaaS is another attack vector. GDPR DPA is signed 18 times
- Productivity tax: an employee switches between 11 tabs per hour. UCI research: 23 minutes to fully recover concentration after switching
Typical mix of an SK SMB with 20 people
Let’s look at a real case, a marketing agency from Bratislava. Until 2024 they used:
| Tool | Function | Monthly price |
|---|---|---|
| Excel / Google Sheets | Projects, price quotes, invoices | 20 EUR (Google Workspace) |
| Dropbox Business | Document and contract sharing | 150 EUR (20 users x 7.50) |
| Slack Standard | Internal communication | 145 EUR (20 x 7.25) |
| MailChimp Standard | Newsletter, automations | 89 EUR (10k contacts) |
| Trello Standard | Project boards | 100 EUR (20 x 5) |
| HubSpot Starter | Lead management | 180 EUR |
| Canva Pro | Graphics | 40 EUR (5 licenses) |
| Bonus: DocuSign, Zoom, LinkedIn Sales Nav | Various | 220 EUR |
| Total | 944 EUR / month = 11,328 EUR / year |
And that is just the tip of the iceberg, every tool also requires roughly 3-5 hours per month for admin, integrations, and troubleshooting.
What consolidation into one ERP/CRM system looks like
When the marketing agency moved to Modulario, it consolidated key functions into one system:
- Projects and tasks, workflows module (replaced Trello + part of Excel)
- CRM and sales opportunities, CRM module (replaced HubSpot Starter)
- Document and contract sharing, files + contracts module (replaced Dropbox)
- Invoicing and price quotes, invoicing + quotes modules (replaced Excel)
- Email marketing, integration with MailerLite / MailChimp (but many companies stay with the specialized marketing tool, consolidation does not pay here)
New monthly price (Modulario for 20 users + remaining tools):
| Item | Monthly price |
|---|---|
| Modulario (20 users, extended plan) | 480 EUR |
| Google Workspace (kept) | 120 EUR |
| MailChimp (kept, specialized) | 89 EUR |
| Zoom (kept) | 60 EUR |
| Total | 749 EUR / month = 8,988 EUR / year |
Direct savings: 2,340 EUR per year (20% less on licenses).
But that is just the start. The real savings are indirect.
Indirect savings, where the real money is
1. Admin time savings (2,600 EUR / year)
Instead of 18 admins, one central user management. Translated to cost: 2 hours per week x 52 x 25 EUR/h = 2,600 EUR.
2. Less context switching (4,200 EUR / year)
When the salesperson does not need to switch between HubSpot, Dropbox, and Excel to prepare an offer, they save 30 minutes per day. Across a team of 5 salespeople for a year: ~200 hours x 21 EUR = 4,200 EUR.
3. Fewer duplicate entries (1,800 EUR / year)
One customer entered once, not 4x. Estimated 1 hour per week per company x 35 EUR x 52 = 1,820 EUR.
4. Better data quality (hard to quantify, but real)
A single source of truth for sales reports, margin, and cash flow. Management decisions based on the right data are 10x better.
Total ROI after 12 months
| Item | EUR / year |
|---|---|
| Direct savings on licenses | 2,340 |
| Admin time savings | 2,600 |
| Context-switching savings | 4,200 |
| Duplicate-entry savings | 1,800 |
| Total savings | 10,940 EUR |
| Modulario cost (20 users, annually) | 5,760 EUR |
| Net annual savings | 5,180 EUR |
| Implementation payback | ~7 months |
That is an ROI of about 90% in the first year and 150%+ in the second.
Tip: Do not consolidate “everything under one roof” dogmatically. Specialized tools (email marketing, graphics, video conferencing) leave alone, integration there has a better price/performance ratio. Consolidate data and processes, not UX tools.
5-step consolidation plan for your company
Step 1: Audit (1 week) List all SaaS tools, prices, and users. There are usually 30% more than the owner thinks.
Step 2: Data flow map (1 week) Where is the customer recorded? Where are contracts? Where is the project? Draw on A3. You will suddenly see the duplicates.
Step 3: Selecting a central system (2-4 weeks) ERP/CRM that will cover 60-80% of functions. Do not sign without a PoC on your own data.
Step 4: Migration and parallel run (4-8 weeks) One module at a time. First CRM + documents, then projects, finally invoicing.
Step 5: Reconciliation (1 month after migration) Cancel the cancelable licenses. Watch out for automatic annual renewals!
When consolidation is not a good idea
Be critical. Consolidation does not make sense when:
- You are a specialized firm with deep needs (e.g. video production cannot replace Premiere with a generic tool)
- You have fewer than 5 employees, the overhead of consolidation exceeds the savings
- Your SaaS stack is mature and integrated via Zapier/Make and works
For most SK SMBs in the 10-50 employee range, consolidation is one of the top 3 business decisions of this decade.
Conclusion
SaaS sprawl is a silent killer of efficiency, individually cheap, cumulatively expensive. If you use 15+ tools today and feel that data is scattered, consolidating via a modern ERP will return 5,000-15,000 EUR per year and hours of team working time.
Want to find out how much specifically your company could save? Calculate it in our ROI calculator on the pricing page, check the available modules, or book a free consultation. We will prepare a tailored consolidation plan, with numbers, deadlines, and payback.