Nintex Survey Finds Australian IT Leaders Embrace AI As SaaS Sprawl Undermines Productivity
Australian mid-market organisations are contending with a growing software sprawl crisis, with 49% juggling between 51 and 200 SaaS tools, and half adding a new tool every two to four weeks. To overcome this, Australians are turning to AI, with 92% deploying AI to detect redundant apps, automate integrations, and optimise tool usage — a rate higher than any other nation surveyed.
These findings are from the 2025 SaaS Sprawl Snapshot, a study* commissioned by Nintex, a global leader in AI-powered process automation and application development, which surveyed 2,000 IT decision-makers across four countries. The Australian findings reveal a wave of unbridled software proliferation that is slowing workflows, increasing compliance risk, and consuming IT resources at an unsustainable rate.
'In Australia, software sprawl is holding organisations back and taking the wind out of their sails. Budgets are overflowing, compliance risks are piling up, and scaling feels like sailing with a dropped anchor,' said Keith Payne, Regional Vice President, APAC at Nintex. 'Nearly every mid-market organisation knows it's a problem, but with IT teams stretched thin, fixing it can feel like trying to bail out a sinking ship with a teacup.'
While most acknowledge the problem — 93% say that addressing SaaS sprawl should be a top priority — more than half (58%) admit their current orchestration processes are ineffective. This was the highest rate across all countries surveyed, and the impact is being felt.
The vast majority (91%) report a moderate-to-major financial impact, while 41% cite rising security and compliance risks, and over a third (34%) say sprawl is directly limiting their ability to scale. Despite this, 77% place full responsibility for managing SaaS sprawl on IT teams that are often under-resourced and stretched thin, without the time, budget, or headcount to implement a cohesive strategy.
'Many local organisations are layering new software over old processes in a race to fill capability gaps with band-aid fixes,' said Payne. 'It might solve the problem of the day, but over time it's creating deeper disconnections between systems, teams, and workflows.'
While the report found that Australia leads other countries in leveraging AI to overcome software sprawl, the path to resolution will require more than just AI. The report highlights deeper systemic issues, including a lack of staff enablement. Only 34% provide training to help employees effectively use software, a critical gap that contributes to shelfware and shadow IT.
'Let's be clear, no amount of software can save a broken process,' Payne said. 'If organisations keep piling on tools without fixing the foundations, they're not transforming, they're treading water with a sinking stack.'
To learn more about how Australian organisations are addressing SaaS sprawl with AI and automation, download the full 2025 SaaS Sprawl Snapshot here.
About Nintex
Nintex, the possibility engine™, helps companies unlock the power of endless possibilities. Today more than 8,000 public and private sector organisations across 90 countries turn to the Nintex platform to automate how work gets done, remove friction from business processes, and unlock the full potential of their people. Learn more about how Nintex and its global partner network are propelling people, work, and business forward at nintex.com.
*Methodology
The research was conducted by Censuswide, with 2,000 senior information technology (IT) leaders across numerous industries in Australia, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The survey was conducted between March 27 and April 2, 2025. Censuswide abides by and employs members of the Market Research Society, which is based on the ESOMAR principles. Censuswide is also a member of the British Polling Council.
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