How many cloud tools does your business really use?
Most leaders think it’s five or six. Email, file storage, project management, maybe a few more. But when we sit down with Jacksonville companies, we often find dozens of accounts scattered across teams.
This is called cloud sprawl, and it’s costing businesses more than they realize.
The Problem With “Set It and Forget It”
Cloud apps are easy to start and hard to shut down. Someone signs up for a new tool, a free trial rolls into a paid plan, or a former employee’s account stays active. Multiply that by a few departments and suddenly you’re paying for software nobody uses.
But it’s not just money. Cloud sprawl also means:
- Security risks from old accounts still active (one of the most common cloud security gaps businesses overlook)
- Productivity loss when employees don’t know where files live, and greater risk that important documents go missing without a reliable cloud backup in place
- Compliance headaches from data stored in the wrong places
- Team frustration from juggling too many tools
These everyday headaches add up fast, and are exactly the kind of hidden costs proactive IT support is designed to prevent.
Real Dollars, Real Waste
A report from BetterCloud found that nearly a third of companies waste anywhere from 20-39% of their SaaS spend on unused or redundant licenses. For a mid-sized business, that can mean tens of thousands of dollars a year down the drain.
In Jacksonville, we’ve seen businesses paying for three different file-sharing platforms, while employees still couldn’t find the documents they needed.
How Cloud Cleanup Fixes It
The good news? Cloud chaos isn’t permanent. With a structured cleanup, you can:
- Eliminate duplicate tools and consolidate systems
- Remove old user accounts to tighten security
- Reclaim wasted license spend
- Simplify workflows so employees know where to find what they need
The result is a leaner, more secure cloud setup that saves money and frustration. One of the biggest wins we see is reclaiming unused Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace licenses. They’re easy to overlook during sprawl, but trimming them can save thousands per year.
In many cases, the cleanup process also reveals which processes are better handled on local systems as part of a hybrid setup, instead of getting lost in an ever-expanding cloud stack.
In fact, we often see that today’s sprawl traces back to poorly handled cloud migrations, where accounts weren’t mapped correctly and duplicate tools piled up from the start.
The Bottom Line
If your cloud feels messy, it probably is. A cleanup may uncover more savings than you expect and reduce risks you didn’t even know you had.
At DefinIT, we help Jacksonville businesses streamline their cloud services so every dollar spent actually supports growth.
👉 Learn how we help Jacksonville companies clean up their cloud
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