In our Martech Insider newsletter, we spotlight a notable marketing technology each month. For our first newsletter of 2020, we are featuring Beamy, which helps large organizations navigate the explosion of MarTech within their operations through continuous SaaS usage analysis and a robust governance platform. Edouard Dossot, COO & Co-founder, has kindly agreed to answer our questions.
Hello Edouard, could you introduce Beamy and its positioning in a few words?
Edouard Dossot: Beamy positions itself as a comprehensive SaaS governance platform from A to Z. This includes detecting solutions, analyzing expenses & functional scopes, and assessing GDPR/security compliance risks. Beamy also acts as an interface between our clients and software vendors, facilitating collaboration and data exchange.
What problems do you solve?
Our clients' IT, DPO, and CDO teams face a loss of control due to the explosion of implemented SaaS solutions. While our clients use hundreds of paid SaaS solutions, over 50% are not reflected in their IT & GDPR repositories. These solutions are crucial for digital transformation and often handle personal data that is not properly managed.
Beamy addresses these challenges by offering a dynamic and cross-functional governance platform for the organization, used by all teams involved in digital transformation (business units, IT, compliance, procurement, etc.).
What are the main features?
The platform is divided into four functional modules:
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Dynamic Application Repository: Continuously tracks all solutions used across departments (costs, usage, scope, personal data, contracts, business contacts, users).
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GDPR & Security Actions Module: Provides a comprehensive view of compliance and GDPR risks for each SaaS software. This tracking is enabled through digitized GDPR & security forms completed directly by vendors via our partner platform.
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Optimization Actions Module: Offers procurement and management teams optimization insights (e.g., duplicates, underutilization).
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Evolution Actions Module: Provides business units with a catalog of available SaaS solutions on the market (with personalized recommendations) and a collaborative governance workflow for new solution implementation.
Your “Killer Feature”?
Beamy has a unique continuous audit technology based on machine learning that identifies all used SaaS software, understands the actual technology assets (cost, usage, personal data, etc.), and assesses GDPR/security compliance risks. Our platform coordinates various stakeholders within a group (DPO, Innovation, IT Architect, IT Purchase, Business Contacts) with software vendors and the SaaS solutions used.
Are there interconnections with other tools?
Beamy is already integrated with clients' application repository software, including CMDB tools, IT mapping solutions, SAM solutions, and contract management systems.
What is your client onboarding process?
The initial Set-up phase lasts one to two months and involves building the application repository and setting up the platform. This is followed by an incubation period of a few months during which software vendors and key users (IT, GDPR, procurement, innovation, business) are onboarded.
The run phase then continues with the gradual deployment of governance workflows (GDPR, Security, etc.), continuous solution audits, and onboarding of new users.
How does client support work?
During the project phase, we conduct weekly follow-up meetings and steering committee sessions with the client. During the run phase, clients can contact Beamy’s Customer Success team directly via the integrated chat platform.
What are your goals for 2020?
Our goals for 2020 include:
- Continuing our commercial acceleration across various verticals with large French accounts: Retail, Luxury, Banking, Insurance, Travel, Healthcare, Automotive, Transport, Energy, etc.
- Increasing partnerships with SaaS vendors to onboard over 5,000 solutions onto our platform.
- Enhancing our product and UX to make the technology more efficient and accessible to all employees.
How do you see your market evolving?
By 2023, the number of SaaS solutions and associated expenses are expected to double. The need to manage these software solutions will continue to grow and become a priority for all companies.
Beamy aims to establish itself as an indispensable technological assistant for all digital transformation stakeholders within groups and as the coordination platform for SaaS vendors.
About Beamy:
- Founded: 2017
- Offices: One office in Paris for now
- Number of Employees: 14
- Team Distribution: Product/Tech: 6, Sales & Operations: 6, Corporate: 2
- Client Type: Large Accounts
- Main French Clients: Fnac Darty, Boulanger, ÏDKIDS, Printemps, Pimkie, Casino
- Funding: €800,000
Main Competitors?
Currently, Beamy offers a unique solution in the market. We are in a similar space to Software Asset Management or CMDB solutions that catalog software solutions within a group. However, these tools are primarily declarative and not suited for tracking a highly dynamic SaaS ecosystem (with an average turnover of +35% of the SaaS stack per year). Groups typically resort to external consultants for manual audits and business interviews.
Our approach is to automate and industrialize the audit and cataloging processes for SaaS vendors, providing constantly updated visibility into the SaaS ecosystem and its usage across different business units.
Thank you, Edouard, for your time and detailed answers.
At SaaS Advisor, we have several successful SaaS management missions with large groups and work with various market vendors. Interested in learning more? We would be delighted to present you our case studies.
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