Streamlining SaaS for a Growing Design Practice

This design-led practice sits at the intersection of architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC). Known for its collaborative ethos and complex, cross-functional projects, the firm brings together diverse teams to deliver high-impact schemes. With rapid growth came a growing reliance on digital tools to keep everyone aligned, and as workflows stretched across departments and platforms, managing productivity software became a job in itself.

‍

Industry: Architecture, Engineering, and Construction

Organisation Size: 50–100 staff

Service Areas: SaaS Licensing, Collaboration Tools, Cloud Productivity

‍

As the practice expanded, so did the sprawl of software licences. Different teams were using different platforms, some on Microsoft 365, others on Google Workspace, with no centralised tracking or policy. Subscriptions overlapped, some tools went unused, and onboarding new staff often meant last-minute workarounds just to get them set up. Offboarding was equally inconsistent, raising concerns about access and security.

Without a clear view of who had what, or whether those tools were actually needed, leadership knew it was time for a reset. They needed to reduce waste, tighten security, and give their teams the right tools to collaborate without friction.

To bring structure and clarity to their SaaS environment, we rolled out a tailored SaaS Licensing and Management service that spanned both Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, giving the practice full visibility, simplified workflows, and secure collaboration across teams.

We helped them:

• Centralise licence management for both platforms, reducing confusion and eliminating overlap.
• Rationalise existing plans to ensure every team had the tools they actually needed (and nothing they didn’t).
• Standardise onboarding and offboarding, making it easy to set up (or revoke) access without delay.
• Configure and optimise core tools, including Teams, SharePoint, Drive, Gmail and Docs, for seamless project delivery.
• Introduce compliance and security checks to make sure nothing slipped through the cracks.
• Provide ongoing oversight, with regular reporting to keep licences aligned with real business needs.

Within just six months, the design practice moved from disjointed software chaos to a streamlined, scalable SaaS setup. Every user now has the right tools for their role, no duplicates, no gaps, no waste. Onboarding is quick and consistent, offboarding secure and reliable.

Licensing costs dropped, collaboration improved across technical and creative teams, and leadership finally has a clear picture of what’s in use, and what’s not. Most importantly, the business now has a foundation that scales with them, supporting smarter decisions and better control as they grow.