Metacore

Supporting Metacore's need for greater SaaS transparency, spend control, and scalable software governance. 

As Metacore experienced rapid growth, the number of SaaS tools used across the organization expanded quickly, making it increasingly difficult to maintain oversight of software usage, ownership, and overall spend. With teams independently selecting tools to support creative game development, the risk of overlapping subscriptions, underutilized licences, and limited spend visibility increased, making it harder to manage renewals proactively and ensure software investments matched real operational needs.

Partnering with Matrix42 SaaS Management, Metacore established a centralized, data driven approach to SaaS discovery, usage tracking, and cost reporting. With a clearer understanding of which tools were being used, by whom, and at what frequency, they were able to identify optimisation opportunities, reduce unnecessary spend, and embed SaaS management into procurement workflows. This shift helped transform SaaS governance from reactive renewal management into a more structured and scalable process that supports ongoing operational efficiency and future IT and finance planning.

The Challenge

Lack of Spend Control and Limited Tool Usage Visibility

Following a period of rapid expansion, Metacore found it increasingly difficult to maintain control over SaaS spend and gain a reliable view of which tools were actually being used across the organization. With teams independently selecting software to support creative game development, it became harder to track adoption, identify overlap, and make informed decisions about renewals and optimization.

Key challenges included:

• Fragmented visibility into SaaS usage and tool adoption: Metacore lacked a clear, central overview of which tools were actively used, by whom, and to what extent, making it difficult to distinguish essential software from low impact subscriptions.
  
• Increasing complexity in managing SaaS spend at scale: As SaaS purchases expanded across teams, tracking overall spend and maintaining clear budget ownership became more challenging, limiting the ability to make proactive, data driven decisions.
  
• Unrealized savings from underutilized or overlapping tools: Without reliable insight into actual usage, redundant subscriptions and unused licences were harder to identify, resulting in avoidable costs.
  
• Limited organization wide awareness of tools and best practices: With tool selection distributed across the organization, teams had little visibility into what others were using, reducing opportunities to share knowledge, standardize workflows, and promote internal best practices.
  

The Solution

Enabling SaaS Visibility and Control Through Usage Data

To address these challenges, Metacore deployed nearly all Matrix42 SaaS Management features, starting with a pilot of the service and then scrapping the pilot setup to rebuild a full production version. The process was straightforward, supported closely by Matrix42 SaaS Management professionals throughout.

The implementation followed a phased approach. After an initial pilot phase to validate data accuracy and integrations with Metacore’ existing systems, they quickly moved to a full production deployment. This rapid rollout was enabled by the ease of integration and the continuous support from the Matrix42 SaaS Management team, who guided the process and ensured the platform was configured to meet their specific needs and scale..

Specifically, Metacore Games used the platform to:

• Automatically discover and map SaaS subscriptions: Identifying software in use across the organization and creating a comprehensive, up-to-date overview.
• Track usage across teams and tools: Understanding who was using which applications and how frequently, enabling informed decisions beyond simple licence counts.
• Centralize cost allocation and reporting: Gaining a clear view of SaaS spend and allocating costs accurately to relevant teams or projects.

The Results

Clear Results Through Data Driven SaaS Management

Metacore successfully completed the pilot phase and achieved all defined objectives, laying the foundation for a more structured and scalable approach to SaaS management. The platform is now fully embedded in the procurement workflow, supporting ongoing optimisation of the SaaS lifecycle and renewal processes.

This resulted in:

• Reduced SaaS spend through improved visibility and optimisation: Metacore Games gained full visibility into its software inventory, enabling the identification and elimination of unused or underutilised tools and contributing to a measurable reduction in annual SaaS spend.
  
• More efficient and standardised renewal processes: By establishing a clear, repeatable process for SaaS renewals, Metacore Games significantly reduced the time and effort required to manage renewals and avoided last minute, reactive decision making.
  
• Elimination of Shadow IT: Comprehensive SaaS discovery ensured all tools in use were accounted for, reducing risk and improving governance across the organisation.
  
• Stronger decision making through user feedback: An additional benefit was the platform’s survey functionality, which enabled Metacore Games to quickly gather user feedback on tool usage and value, supporting more informed, data driven decisions.

The Future 

Building a Foundation for Ongoing Optimization and Strategic Planning