Shelfware

What is shelfware?

Shelfware is a category of software waste that covers licenses a company pays for but does not use. The name comes from boxed software left unopened on a shelf. In SaaS, shelfware takes three forms: seats bought but never assigned, seats assigned to people who stopped logging in, and plans or tiers priced above what the team actually uses.

Key takeaways

• Shelfware is software a company pays for but does not use, named after boxed licenses that stayed unopened on the shelf.
• Shelfware in SaaS takes three forms: unassigned seats, seats held by inactive users, and plans or tiers above actual usage.
• Shelfware is detected by comparing seats bought, seats assigned and seats active for each application, using a defined inactivity threshold.
• Shelfware is the diagnosis and license reclaim is the remediation: finding unused seats saves nothing until they are removed or downgraded.

How shelfware is detected

• Seats bought: the contracted quantity, read from the contract, the order form or the vendor's billing page.
• Seats assigned: the accounts that exist in the application's admin console, or in the identity provider group that grants access.
• Seats active: the accounts with a sign-in or real activity within the chosen window, taken from SSO logs or the application's own usage data.
• Inactivity threshold: a rule such as no sign-in for 60 or 90 days, adjusted for tools used monthly or seasonally, like expense or year-end closing tools.
• Plan fit: a check of which paid features are actually used, to spot teams on an enterprise tier that only need the basic one.

Shelfware vs license reclaim: where does detection stop?

Shelfware is a state, license reclaim is an action. A shelfware report lists the seats that cost money without being used. License reclaim removes those seats, reassigns them to new joiners or lowers the plan, and then reduces the quantity in the contract. Between the two sits a step that is often skipped: confirming with the app owner that the seat is not needed, for example for a manager who reads reports once a quarter.

Timing decides the saving. On a monthly plan, a removed seat stops costing money the following month. On an annual contract, the quantity is often fixed until renewal, so reclaimed seats only lower the bill if the count is reduced before the renewal date or the seats go to new hires in the meantime.

Examples and use cases

A 300-person company pays for 320 seats of a design tool. The admin console shows 270 assigned accounts, and SSO logs show that only 190 of them signed in during the last 90 days. That is 50 seats never assigned and 80 seats held by inactive users, including 12 people who have already left and whose access is still open. Before the annual renewal, the IT team reassigns 15 seats to new hires, removes the leavers' accounts and asks the vendor to lower the quantity to the active count plus a small buffer.

Corma runs this comparison for each application: it keeps an inventory of apps, licenses and costs, shows which licenses are unused and supports license reclaim before the renewal date.

Related concepts

• License reclaim
• License management
• Software license optimization
• Software metering
• SaaS spend management
• Corma SaaS subscription management to cut software costs

FAQ

What is shelfware in SaaS?

Shelfware in SaaS is any paid seat, plan or tier that is not used: licenses never assigned, accounts of people who stopped signing in, and subscriptions above the features a team needs.

How do you identify shelfware?

Compare three numbers per application: seats bought, seats assigned and seats active within a set period. The gap between bought and active is the shelfware, to be confirmed with the app owner before anything is removed.

What is the difference between shelfware and license reclaim?

Shelfware is the problem, license reclaim is the fix. Reclaim removes, reassigns or downgrades unused seats, and the saving only appears once the contract quantity goes down.

Is an inactive account always shelfware?

No. Some tools are used once a month or once a year, and some accounts are needed for admin or audit access. Set the inactivity threshold per application and confirm with its owner before removing a seat.

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