New Rippling Report Highlights Software Sprawl as Major Resource Drain for HR, IT & Finance Departments

SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Rippling, the leading business software platform, releases a new survey demonstrating the staggering impact that software tool sprawl has on IT, HR, and Finance departments. According to the Rippling State of Sprawl Report, fragmented technology stacks place a significant burden on organizations, requiring substantial investments of time and budget and leading to inefficiencies, frustration and waste.
According to the Rippling State of Sprawl Report, fragmented technology stacks place a significant burden on organizations, requiring substantial investments of time and budget and leading to inefficiencies, frustration and waste.
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The report surveyed 750 managers and above across HR, IT and Finance departments and found 85% of respondents use more than three software tools just in their own departments. The vast majority said this sprawl requires more than two full time employees just to manage, integrate and troubleshoot those software tools.
Key insights from the State of Sprawl Report include:
Teams are overburdened with basic administrative tasks: Over 75% of IT and HR teams and 70% of finance teams spend at least 25% of their time on admin tasks—and 75% want to spend more time on strategy.
Pain from clunky software is universal: Majority of Finance, HR, and IT leaders say administrative tasks are as painful as stepping on Legos and as tedious as matching socks, while data inconsistencies make them want to bang their heads against the wall.
Wishing for a magic fix: Nearly 7 in 10 leaders across IT (66%), HR (73%), and Finance (64%) wish they could wave a magic wand and delete half their apps.
Unused licenses lead to waste: More than half of IT and HR teams, and nearly 80% of Finance teams, believe a significant portion of their software licenses go unused.
However, the report also found several positive bright spots with 72% of leaders across Finance, HR and IT saying their teams work well across functions. Respondents also expressed a desire to spend more time on strategic work rather than admin tasks.