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When businesses talk about sustainable IT, they usually start with hardware.
Laptops, monitors, servers, data centres, recycling, repair and responsible disposal all deserve attention. Physical kit carries an environmental cost from manufacture through to end of life, so every business needs a sensible plan for what it buys, how long it keeps it, and what happens when people no longer need it.
Software often slips through the net.
A subscription doesn’t take up space in a cupboard; nobody trips over an unused Microsoft 365 seat, and a forgotten project management tool won’t sit on a shelf gathering dust. These things usually just appear as a line on a monthly invoice, attached to someone who may have left the business, a team that stopped using the tool last year, or a platform that does almost the same job as another one.
Unused software wastes money, adds admin, increases security risk and contributes to the wider demand for cloud infrastructure. If a business wants to make IT more sustainable, it needs to review its software stack with the same care it gives laptops, servers and recycling routes.
The greenest software licence is the one your team actually uses!
Software sprawl has become normal
Most growing businesses collect software one decision at a time. A marketing team buys a scheduling tool, a project team signs up for task management software, finance adds a reporting platform, and someone tests a free trial, enters card details and forgets to cancel it.
People don’t usually do this because they’re careless. They do it because they need to get work done, and because the fastest way to solve a problem often looks like adding another tool.
The problem builds over time and the business starts paying for duplicated tools, unused seats, overlapping features and old licences that nobody has reviewed properly for months.
Okta’s 2025 Businesses at Work report found that the average number of apps per customer passed 100 for the first time, reaching 101 globally. The same report put the EMEA average at 74 apps per customer, which shows how quickly software estates can expand even before a business reaches enterprise scale.
BetterCloud’s 2025 State of SaaS report found that organisations used an average of 106 SaaS tools. It’s down from 112 the year before suggessting some businesses have started consolidating, but 106 tools still give IT teams plenty to manage, secure, renew and justify.
Software sprawl grows because it lacks visibility. An unused laptop gets noticed because it’s physically there, while an unused licence can renew for months because nobody has clear ownership, usage data or time to challenge it.
That’s where sustainability and operational discipline start to overlap.
Unused licences create more than a financial problem
A dormant SaaS licence doesn’t have the same direct environmental impact as manufacturing a new device. Cancelling one unused seat won’t immediately switch off a data centre.
But software still runs on infrastructure. Cloud apps need servers, storage, backups, updates, networks, integrations, identity controls, support teams and security monitoring, and as digital demand grows, the energy question gets harder to ignore.
The International Energy Agency reported that electricity demand from data centres rose by 17% in 2025, while global electricity demand rose by 3%. The IEA also projects that global data centre electricity consumption could roughly double by 2030, reaching around 945 to 950 TWh.
That doesn’t mean businesses should panic about every app they use, but it does mean they should stop treating unused software as only a budget issue.
The Green Software Foundation describes green software as carbon-efficient software and focuses on three main ways to reduce emissions: energy efficiency, carbon awareness and hardware efficiency.
Most mid-sized businesses don’t build the software they use every day, so they can’t rewrite the code behind every platform. They can still make better choices about which tools they buy, how many licences they assign, how long they keep data, and whether one job really needs four separate platforms.
A leaner software stack can reduce unnecessary spend, shrink the number of tools IT has to support, and make the working day less messy for employees. That’s a practical sustainability win.
The security risk matters too
Unused licences can create risk as well as waste. If a user has access to a tool they no longer need, the business has one more account to manage. If a former employee still has access to a platform, the risk gets more serious. If a department bought a tool without IT knowing, nobody may have checked what data sits inside it, how access works or what happens when people leave.
Shadow IT often starts with good intentions. Someone finds an easier way to do a job, signs up for a tool and helps their team move faster. That can tell a business something useful about its approved systems, especially if the existing tool is too clunky, people don’t know how to use it properly, or the business hasn’t given teams what they need.
But when every department solves the same problem separately, the organisation loses control. A duplicated tool costs money, an unmanaged tool creates risk, and an abandoned tool can leave customer data, employee information or commercial files in a system nobody checks.
A sustainable software stack needs clear ownership. Every paid tool should have someone in the business who can explain why it exists, who uses it, what data it holds and when it renews.
Without that, the business isn’t managing the stack. It’s collecting software and hoping for the best.
Too many tools make work harder
Sustainable IT should make work easier for people, not give them another login to remember.
A messy software stack drains time in small ways. People search for files across several platforms, teams argue about which system contains the latest version, employees copy information from one tool into another because the systems don’t join up properly, and new starters face a long list of apps before they understand how the business works.
That kind of waste doesn’t always show up in a sustainability report, but it affects productivity, morale and service.
It also affects IT teams. Every extra tool can bring support questions, access requests, supplier emails, renewal dates, security checks and integration problems, and for a stretched IT manager, software sprawl can turn into a constant background load.
The most sustainable stack isn’t always the smallest one. Some businesses need specialist tools, and forcing everyone into one system can create their own problems.
The better question is whether each tool earns its place.
A useful tool supports real work, protects data, integrates properly, has active users and gives the business value. A poor-fit tool duplicates another platform, adds friction, hides data or keeps renewing because nobody has got round to reviewing it.
Renewal dates shouldn’t drive the whole decision
Many businesses review software when a renewal reminder arrives.
A better review starts earlier. IT, finance and department leads should look at usage before the renewal window gets tight, so the business has time to reclaim seats, downgrade plans, consolidate tools or speak to users about what they actually need.
Microsoft’s own guidance shows that administrators can assign and unassign Microsoft 365 licences through the admin centre, including changing the apps and services a user can access. The button itself isn’t usually the hard part; the harder part is having the right process behind it.
The business needs to define what counts as inactive use, decide who can approve a premium licence, and build a process for joiners, movers and leavers. It also needs to know whether a senior person needs an expensive licence because of their role, or whether the business assigned it years ago and never reviewed it.
Those decisions work best when IT, finance, HR and operations talk to each other. Finance sees the spend, IT sees the risk and admin, department leads know what people actually use, and HR knows when people join, move roles or leave.
A good software review brings those views together.
Start with visibility
You can’t make a software stack sustainable if nobody knows what’s in it.
A practical software inventory should show which tools the business pays for, how many licences it has, who owns the contract, when each renewal happens, what data the tool holds, and how many people use it.
It should also show where tools overlap. If three teams use three different survey tools, there may be a sensible reason: one may support customer research, another may handle employee feedback, and a third may link to a specialist system. But if nobody can explain the difference, the business has found a good place to review.
The same applies to design tools, project management software, reporting platforms, file sharing systems, note-taking apps and AI tools.
AI makes this even more pressing. Gartner forecast that worldwide IT spending would reach $6.15 trillion in 2026, with AI infrastructure growth remaining rapid. As more vendors add AI features and charge for premium capability, businesses will need stronger control over which tools people use, what data they process and whether the value justifies the cost.
Sustainable IT doesn’t mean saying no to useful software. It means saying yes with intention.
What a software sustainability review should cover
A software sustainability review doesn’t need to become a monster project:
- Start with the obvious paid tools, including Microsoft 365, CRM, HR software, cyber tools, project management platforms, design software, finance systems, communication tools and customer support platforms.
- Check who owns each tool, because a supplier relationship shouldn’t depend on one person’s inbox, especially if that person changes role or leaves.
- Review active users and remember that a person with a licence doesn’t always count as an active user. Look at real usage where the platform allows it, then speak to teams before removing access.
- Look at licence levels too. Some people need premium features every day, while others may only need basic access. A licence should match the job someone does now, not the job they did two years ago.
- Review renewal dates before they catch the business by surprise. A simple renewal calendar gives teams enough time to check usage, challenge spend and make better decisions.
- Look for duplicate tools, but don’t assume all duplication is bad. If two tools do the same job for the same people, the business should know why both exist.
- Check data retention as part of the same process. Old projects, forgotten recordings, duplicated files and abandoned workspaces all add weight to the stack, while better retention rules can reduce storage, improve security and help people find the information they need.
- Connect the review to onboarding and offboarding too. Joiners should get the tools they need for their role, not a copied bundle from the last person in the team. Leavers should lose access quickly, and the business should reclaim or reassign their licences.
Quarterly reviews like this, clear ownership and simple reporting can turn software sustainability from a clean-up exercise into normal IT management.
The greenest licence earns its place
Businesses already understand that hardware needs responsible management. They know they shouldn’t buy devices without a plan, leave old kit in cupboards or dispose of equipment without secure wiping and proper recycling.
Software needs the same discipline.
Unused licences, duplicated tools and unmanaged subscriptions may not look like waste, but they still drain budget, attention and energy. They give IT teams more to secure and support, make work more complicated for employees, and add to the wider digital demand that every business now has to take seriously.
The answer isn’t to strip the software stack back until people can’t do their jobs. That would help nobody.
The answer is to make sure every tool has a purpose, an owner and a clear reason to stay.
The greenest software licence isn’t the cheapest one, the newest one or the one with the longest feature list. It’s the one your team uses properly.
If your business wants to make sure your tech and software stack is sustainable, IT Naturally can help you review what you have, reduce unnecessary waste and build a more practical approach to IT.
Get in touch with our friendly team to talk about making your systems work better for your people, your budget and the planet.