Your organization’s software is only as good as what your staff actually gets out of it. If your team is dissatisfied with your current governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) platform, a software satisfaction score can reveal whether the problem is a tool misfit or underutilization. While dissatisfaction could stem from a poor fit, sometimes teams have the right tool but are leaving valuable features unused.
If you mistake platform inadequacy for underutilization, you risk wasting your organization’s budget. You might replace a tool that instead needs better adoption or keep renewing software that will never fully meet your organizational needs. To make the right choice, you need to measure the satisfaction with your software.
Key Takeaways
- Software satisfaction scores help organizations identify whether dissatisfaction comes from tool misfit or underutilization.
- To distinguish between poor-fit software and underutilization, assess factors like feature fit, ease of use, and vendor support.
- Building a software satisfaction score involves selecting key performance indicators, surveying users, and calculating average scores.
- Use satisfaction scores to inform switching decisions by analyzing individual factor scores and user feedback.
- Address issues with reconfiguration and training before deciding to switch platforms for better resource management.
Table of Contents
How to Distinguish Poor-Fit Software From Underutilization
At first glance, software misfit and an underused tool can look identical, because both leave your team unhappy. The difference becomes clear when you separate what a tool can do from how your team uses it. Here’s a quick overview of the key differences.
| When Is Software the Problem? | When Is Underutilization The Problem? |
| Core workflows require manual workarounds, no matter how skilled the user is. | Your team still manages tasks manually, though the platform supports GRC automation. |
| The platform lacks the essential governance, risk, and compliance features your organization needs. | The platform has features your organization needs, but your team lacks the skills to use them. |
| You can’t configure workflows to match existing GRC processes. | Your team hasn’t configured available workflows to match your GRC processes. |
| The platform doesn’t integrate with systems that feed your GRC processes. | Your team has not used available integrations to connect to the systems you already use. |
| The platform can’t scale with growing GRC requirements. | Team members use only a small portion of the platform’s capabilities, even as GRC needs expand. |
How to Build Your Software Satisfaction Score
For years, customer-facing teams have tracked Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) scores to gauge how happy users are with a product or an interaction. Software satisfaction score borrows this CSAT score discipline for internal teams, helping you gauge customer experience with your GRC platform and understand your user’s complete customer journey so you can separate a genuine software problem from an adoption gap.
Follow these steps to build a framework for tracking your internal software satisfaction score.
Step 1: Pick Key Performance Indicators
Identify the factors that matter most to your team’s experience with the GRC platform. Focus on areas that reveal whether dissatisfaction comes from the software or from how your team uses it, looking at:
- Feature fit: Assess whether the platform offers modern GRC capabilities your organization needs.
- Ease of use: Check whether your team members complete routine GRC tasks without unnecessary complexity. A difficult-to-use tool erodes customer experience, impacts daily work and even employee retention. According to a 2026 Pega survey, 64% of workers report that their current workplace technology erodes productivity or slows them down. Thirty-six percent would consider leaving if their tech needs are not met.
- Workflow fit: Examine if your current tool lets you configure workflows to match how your organization approaches GRC.
- Vendor support quality: Evaluate how efficiently your vendor delivers service quality and resolves issues, directly influencing your team’s ability to use the platform effectively.
- Workaround frequency: Measure how often your team routes around your current platform to complete routine tasks. Atlassian’s 2025 research found that knowledge workers and executives already spend a quarter of their workweek just searching for information. Tracking workarounds can show whether your platform is creating unnecessary work.
Step 2: Survey Actual Users
Collect ratings from people who use the platform. While you can also ask for input from administrators, firsthand user experience gives you more direct insights into how the platform performs.
Step 3: Rate Each Scoring Factor on a 1–5 Scale
Ask users to rate each scoring factor on the same scale, such as 1–5, and leave space for comments. Here’s an example of how to define each score to keep ratings consistent:
| Score | Meaning |
| 1 | Very dissatisfied |
| 2 | Dissatisfied |
| 3 | Neutral |
| 4 | Satisfied |
| 5 | Very satisfied |
Step 4: Calculate the Average Software Satisfaction Score by Team and Factor
For each factor, average every team member’s rating into one team-level score. For example, if five people on your third-party risk management team rate Feature Fit 3,4,3,5, and 4, that team’s Feature-Fit score will be (3+4+3+5+4)÷5=3.8. Repeat separately for all factors so you can identify the specific factors dragging satisfaction down.
To get the overall software satisfaction score, add the team-level scores for all factors and divide the total by the number of factors.
Step 5: Track Satisfaction Scores Quarterly
Repeat the survey every quarter using the same scoring factors and scale. Then, compare the scores to see if the platform is drifting toward a genuine misfit or improving as configuration and training catch up.
Reading the Score: What Counts as a Switch Signal
You should use the software satisfaction score to inform your switching decision. Look at individual factor scores and user comments to understand what’s driving satisfaction up or down.
Here’s a framework to help you interpret satisfaction scores and decide what counts as a switch signal.
| Score Factor | Satisfaction Score | Score Meaning | What to Do |
| Feature Fit | 1–2/5 | Your platform lacks the capabilities essential to your GRC processes. | Evaluate whether another platform provides the capabilities your team needs. |
| 3/5 | The platform meets some needs but may have capability gaps. | Check for underutilized features and whether they can address the gaps. | |
| 4-5/5 | Your GRC tool provides the capabilities your team needs. | Monitor as your GRC requirements change. | |
| Ease of use | 1–2/5 | Users struggle with routine GRC tasks. | Check if training, configuration, or workflow changes can improve ease of use before considering a replacement. |
| 3/5 | Users experience some friction but can generally complete their work. | Identify difficult tasks and determine whether training can improve them. | |
| 4-5/5 | Users can complete routine tasks without significant difficulty. | Monitor for changes in user experience. | |
| Workflow Fit | 1–2/5 | Platform doesn’t support your team’s GRC processes effectively. | Check if you can reconfigure workflows or if the limitation is platform-based. |
| 3/5 | Some workflows fit while others require adjustments or workarounds. | Identify the processes that cause the most friction. | |
| 4-5/5 | The platform supports your GRC process well. | Review workflow needs as processes change. | |
| Vendor Support Quality | 1–2/5 | Your team struggles to get useful or timely support. | Check recurring issues and the vendor’s ability to resolve them. |
| 3/5 | Customer service meets some needs but is inconsistent. | Identify recurring support gaps and discuss them with the vendor to assess their impact on customer retention. | |
| 4-5/5 | Your team receives the customer support it needs to resolve issues and use the platform effectively. | Monitor how the vendor maintains a seamless customer experience and builds customer loyalty through responsive support. | |
| Workaround Frequency | 1–2/5 | Your team frequently works outside the platform to complete routine tasks. | Identify what’s driving the workarounds. |
| 3/5 | Your team needs workarounds for some tasks. | Determine whether configuration or training could reduce workarounds. | |
| 4-5/5 | Your team rarely resorts to workarounds. | Monitor for new sources of unnecessary work. |
Turn Your Software Satisfaction Score Into a Modernization Roadmap
From the problems you’ve discovered, prioritize remediation based on effort and risk. Start with issues you can address without replacing the platform, such as reconfiguration, retraining, and an updated support agreement.
These fixes are generally cheaper and faster, and making them can reveal whether dissatisfaction stems from an adoption issue or a software misfit. Strong customer support during these phases builds customer loyalty and retention. Reserve switching platforms for genuine misfits affecting high-impact processes.
Onspring offers a no-code platform that your team can reconfigure without developer support. You can:
- Set up workflows as your GRC processes change
- Automate routine tasks to cut manual work
- Scale without new procurement
- Connect existing systems via built-in integrations
Download the Onspring vs. Archer Head-to-Head comparison today to compare capabilities and see if switching makes the most sense for your team.
