Detecting and Pruning Underused Tools: Metrics, Dashboards, and Playbooks

Are your tools costing more than they deliver? A metrics-first approach to end tool sprawl

Tool sprawl—dozens of SaaS subscriptions, internal microapps, and one-off automations—creates hidden drag on engineering velocity, increases attack surface, and bloats budgets. If your teams complain about confusion, duplicated functionality, or endless integrations that break, you’re feeling the symptoms. This playbook shows how to detect underused platforms using measurable metrics, build dashboards that drive decisions, and run a practical sunset playbook for consolidation or retirement—integrated with CLI, CI, chatops, and webhooks so automation closes the loop.

Why a metrics-driven strategy matters in 2026

In 2025–2026 the landscape accelerated: AI-driven microapps and low-code tooling exploded inside business units, and many teams began building cheap, ephemeral tools (“vibe-coded” apps) instead of centralizing functionality. Vendors responded by bundling features and offering multi-product suites, but that increased the permutations of overlap. Finance teams demand cost optimization, security teams demand fewer integrations, and product teams demand faster workflows. The result: decisions on consolidations can no longer be purely qualitative.

Instead, organizations need a repeatable, measurable process: define key metrics, instrument sources (SSO, billing, API telemetry), visualize usage and overlap, then act with automation. That reduces negotiation friction at renewal time and enables safe, auditable decommissions.

Core metrics to detect underused tools

Start with a small set of metrics you can compute reliably from existing systems. Each metric answers a single question—combine them to build a score that informs decisions.

1. Utilization Rate

What fraction of licensed users actively use the tool?

• Formula: active_users_30d / licensed_seats
• Threshold: < 20% flags low utilization for enterprise SaaS; < 10% for internal microapps
• Data sources: SSO logs, product events

-- PostgreSQL example (event logs table: events(user_id, tool, ts))
SELECT
  tool,
  COUNT(DISTINCT user_id) FILTER (WHERE ts > now() - interval '30 days') AS active_30d,
  licensed_seats,
  (COUNT(DISTINCT user_id) FILTER (WHERE ts > now() - interval '30 days')::float / licensed_seats) AS utilization
FROM tools
LEFT JOIN events USING (tool)
GROUP BY tool, licensed_seats
ORDER BY utilization;
  

2. Cost per Active User (CPA)

How much are you paying per active user? This is the simplest cost optimization metric.

• Formula: monthly_subscription_cost / active_users_30d
• Use: rank tools by CPA to expose high-cost low-utility items

3. Feature Overlap / Redundancy Index

Which tools duplicate functionality? Compute overlap by mapping features to tools, then calculate Jaccard similarity between tool pairs.

-- Example: features table (tool, feature)
-- Jaccard between tool A and B = |features(A) ∩ features(B)| / |features(A) ∪ features(B)|
WITH features_set AS (
  SELECT tool, array_agg(feature) AS feats FROM features GROUP BY tool
)
SELECT a.tool AS tool_a, b.tool AS tool_b,
  (cardinality(array_cat(array_remove(a.feats, NULL), array_remove(b.feats, NULL))) - cardinality(array_remove(array(SELECT unnest(a.feats) INTERSECT SELECT unnest(b.feats)), NULL)))::float
  / cardinality(array_cat(a.feats, b.feats)) AS jaccard
FROM features_set a CROSS JOIN features_set b
WHERE a.tool < b.tool
ORDER BY jaccard DESC;
  

4. Integration Fan-out

How many systems depend on this tool? High fan-out means higher cost to retire; low fan-out and low utilization is a fast win.

• Count inbound/outbound integrations (API calls, webhook targets, connected apps in SSO)
• Flag tools with many upstream dependents even if utilization is low—these require migration planning

5. Engagement Depth

Active users alone miss depth. Track events per active user (median & 90th percentile) and session lengths for web apps. A tool used by a small team intensely may be high-value.

6. Renewal Risk & Contract Window

Combine utilization and CPA with contract renewal dates. A low-utilization tool up for renewal is a high-priority candidate for sunsetting or renegotiation.

Instrumenting telemetry: where to pull data from

To compute the metrics above, source data from several places and centralize it in a telemetry store or data warehouse.

• SSO / Identity providers (Okta, Azure AD) — active logins, last login timestamps, group membership
• billing systems — subscription cost, seats, add-ons
• Product analytics (PostHog, Amplitude, Mixpanel) — feature events, session info
• API gateways & logs — request counts, error rates
• Integration registries — webhooks, connected apps, OAuth tokens
• Asset inventory — internal microapps hosted on platform teams, container registries, lambda functions

Centralize events into a data warehouse (BigQuery, Snowflake) or an observability backend (Prometheus for metrics, Tempo for traces) and normalize a small schema: events(tool, user_id, event_type, ts), billing(tool, month, cost, seats), integrations(tool, target, direction).

Dashboards that turn metrics into decisions

Create two layers of dashboards: an executive roll-up and an operations console for engineers and finance.

Executive Dashboard (single-pane KPIs)

• Total annual SaaS spend vs. projected savings from consolidation
• Number of tools flagged for review this quarter
• Top 10 high CPA tools
• Renewals within 90 days and their utilization scores

Ops Dashboard (actionable panels)

• Utilization distribution across tools with filters by team and business unit
• Feature overlap heatmap (pairwise Jaccard matrix)
• Integration graph showing fan-out and downstream dependents (click to expand)
• Activity timeline (DAU/WAU/MAU) and API call trends
• Alerts panel: newly flagged tools, failed data exports, pending decommission tasks

Implement dashboards in tools your org already trusts (Looker, Grafana, PowerBI). Use embedded links to drill into an asset's deprovision checklist and migration history.

Automating decision workflows: CLI, CI, chatops, webhooks

Manual playbooks fail. Tie your dashboards to workflows so a flagged tool triggers automated steps, approvals, and execution. Below are practical integrations.

1. Chatops-driven approvals

When a tool falls below thresholds, create a chat message in Slack/Teams with buttons for approve/reject. Use a bot (Bolt, Hubot, or a simple webhook) to record votes and trigger downstream automation.

-- Example Slack notification payload (simplified)
POST /api/chat.postMessage
{
  "channel": "#tool-governance",
  "text": ":warning: Tool 'AcmeSurvey' flagged: utilization 8%, CPA $120. Approve sunset?",
  "attachments": [{"text":"Actions","fallback":"Approve or Reject","callback_id":"sunset_acmesurvey","actions":[{"name":"approve","text":"Approve","type":"button","value":"approve"},{"name":"reject","text":"Reject","type":"button","value":"reject"}]}]
}
  

2. CLI utilities for batch operations

Create a small CLI (Go/Python/Node) that wraps common vendor APIs to export data, revoke tokens, and trigger invoice stop. Example usage:

# Export user data and revoke API keys
pasty-tools export --tool acme-survey --out /tmp/acme-export.json
pasty-tools revoke-keys --tool acme-survey --confirm
  

3. CI integration for migration and tests

Automate migrations behind feature flags and run smoke tests in CI before cutting over. Example GitHub Action snippet:

name: Migrate AcmeSurvey to InHouseForm
on: workflow_dispatch
jobs:
  migrate:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - name: Run migration
        run: |
          ./scripts/migrate_acme_to_inhouse.sh --dry-run
      - name: Run smoke tests
        run: ./tests/smoke_inhouse_form.sh
      - name: Toggle feature flag
        run: ./scripts/toggle_flag.sh inhouse_form true
  

4. Webhooks and event-driven cleanup

Use webhooks to notify internal systems when a tool enters a decommission state (e.g., tool.sunset.initiated, tool.sunset.completed). Subscribe CI/CD pipelines to block deployments that depend on sunset tools.

-- Example webhook payload
POST /events
{
  "event": "tool.sunset.initiated",
  "tool": "acme-survey",
  "initiator": "jane.doe@example.com",
  "timestamp": "2026-01-10T15:07:00Z"
}
  

Practical sunset playbook: step-by-step

Below is a prescriptive, automated-friendly playbook you can adopt. Each step lists automation touchpoints.

Phase 0 — Discovery (days 0–7)

• Run automated scans to compute utilization, CPA, overlap, and fan-out.
• Create a prioritized list (score = weighted sum of metrics).
• Open governance tickets via ticketing API (Jira/Trello) for tools above threshold.

Phase 1 — Assessment (days 7–21)

• Owners complete a standard assessment form (auto-generated link in chatops message).
• Run data exports via CLI: user data, audit logs, retention policy summary.
• Identify downstream dependents and required migrations; estimate effort.

Phase 2 — Decision Gate (days 21–30)

• Stakeholder meeting (auto-scheduled) to approve sunset, pause, or consolidate.
• If approved: create migration epic and schedule migration window aligned with renewals.

Phase 3 — Migration (30–90 days)

• Automate data exports to canonical storage (S3/Bucket) using CLI jobs and verify hashes.
• Run CI jobs to migrate integrations and run regression suites.
• Use feature flags to switch consumers, with canary rollouts and rollback hooks.

Phase 4 — Decommission (day 0 after migration success)

• Revoke API keys and OAuth tokens via automated scripts.
• Remove service accounts and webhooks, then archive the data.
• Cancel billing subscriptions following contractual rules (auto-submit cancellation ticket).
• Emit tool.sunset.completed webhook and close the governance ticket.

Phase 5 — Post-mortem and archive (30 days after)

• Run a post-mortem on migration blockers, lessons learned, and actual savings.
• Record the tool as archived in the CMDB and adjust renewals calendar.

Sample automation snippets and templates

Below are short, copy-pasteable examples to jumpstart integration.

Slack approval callback handler (Node.js/Express sketch)

const express = require('express');
const app = express();
app.use(express.json());
app.post('/slack/actions', (req, res) => {
  const payload = req.body;
  const action = payload.actions[0].value;
  const tool = payload.callback_id.split('_')[1];
  if (action === 'approve') {
    // Emit webhook to workflow engine
    fetch('https://ci.example.com/workflows/sunset', {method: 'POST', body: JSON.stringify({tool})});
  }
  res.status(200).send();
});
app.listen(3000);
  

Safe revoke pattern (curl + jq)

# list keys
curl -sS "https://api.vendor.com/keys?tool=acme" -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" | jq '.'
# revoke
curl -X POST "https://api.vendor.com/keys/revoke" -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" -d '{"key_id":"abc"}'
  

Case: How metrics led to a fast $120k saving

Example: A mid-size SaaS org tracked 140 vendor subscriptions. Using the metrics above they flagged 18 tools with utilization < 12% and CPA > $100. One marketing tool—bought before central procurement—had 27 licensed seats, 2 active users in 30 days, monthly cost $7,500. That tool also duplicated two existing vendor features (Jaccard 0.78). After stakeholder approval and a 6-week migration to the central vendor, the company cancelled the subscription and saved $90k annually and eliminated 4 integrations. The ROI of the effort (engineering + change mgmt) was 6x in under 9 months.

Advanced strategies and predictive signals (2026)

As of 2026, machine learning and LLM-based analysis help prioritize candidates for sunsetting:

• Predictive churn: models that detect declining engagement trajectories earlier than threshold-based alerts
• Auto-clustering: group tools by feature similarity and ownership to discover consolidation lanes
• Contract-aware optimization: combine predicted utilization with contractual termination economics (notice period, IRR on migration cost)

These approaches require careful governance and bias checks—models must be explainable to procurement and legal teams.

Governance: embed periodic reviews and living inventories

Create a lightweight governance loop that scales:

• Monthly automation: recompute utilization scores and auto-open tickets for tools that cross thresholds
• Quarterly tool council: product, security, procurement, finance, and platform review flagged tools
• Maintain a single source of truth (SSoT) for tool inventory that includes owner, renewal dates, and migration notes

Make the SSoT accessible via an API so scripts can query tool metadata during deployments and pre-merge checks.

Security, compliance, and data retention

When sunsetting, never skip data governance:

• Export user data and audit logs per retention policy before deletion
• Ensure exports obey PII and encryption standards
• Log key revocations and archive them with tamper-evident hashes
• Coordinate with InfoSec on orphaned OAuth clients and service accounts

Pro tip: Use immutable archival (S3 + Glacier) and store SHA256 checksums in your CMDB. That makes future audits painless.

Actionable takeaways and checklist

• Instrument SSO logs, billing, and analytics into a central warehouse this week.
• Compute a small set of metrics (utilization, CPA, overlap, fan-out) and rank tools.
• Build an ops dashboard and a single executive KPI pane for renewals & savings.
• Automate approvals via chatops and hook decommission flows into CI and webhooks.
• Run a pilot: pick 3 low-risk tools to sunset in 90 days and measure hard savings vs. migration cost.

Final thoughts: treat tool sprawl like technical debt

Tool sprawl is a form of technical debt that compounds over time. A metrics-driven approach turns subjective debates into objective prioritization, and automation ensures decisions are executed safely and repeatably. In 2026, with microapps proliferating and budgets under scrutiny, the teams that win are the ones who measure, visualize, and automate the lifecycle of every tool in their estate.

Next step — start a 30-day discovery

If you want a fast path: instrument one identity provider and one billing source into a data warehouse, compute the utilization and CPA for your top 20 spend items, and schedule a governance meeting. Need a starter template—CLI scripts, Slack message, and dashboard JSON exports? Sign up for a guided audit or download our Sunset Playbook Kit to run your first pilot in 30 days.

Related Reading

• Serverless Data Mesh for Edge Microhubs: A 2026 Roadmap for Real‑Time Ingestion
• The Evolution of Site Reliability in 2026: SRE Beyond Uptime
• Edge Auditability & Decision Planes: An Operational Playbook for Cloud Teams in 2026
• Password Hygiene at Scale: Automated Rotation, Detection, and MFA
• Audit Your Toolstack in 90 Minutes: A Practical Guide for Tech Teams
• Device Maintenance & Security: Keeping Your Insulin Pump Safe in an Era of Connected Health
• Provenance Playbook: Authenticating Antique Sapphire Jewelry Like a Curator
• How sea transport will change packaging for organic produce (and what to look for)
• TSMC, Nvidia and the Qubit Supply-Chain: How Chip Priorities Influence Quantum Hardware Roadmaps