Today’s surge in SaaS adoption can be attributed to one main factor: efficiency. We are now in an era where customized tools are available for nearly every aspect of modern business, making it extremely convenient for your employees to embrace these tools without adhering to the official IT approval and acquisition procedures.
However, this shift has also broadened the attack surface, leading to increased security and governance challenges that are primarily handled by IT and security departments. IT security leaders require scalable solutions for identifying SaaS applications and managing the expanding attack vectors.
Simultaneously, finance teams aim to reduce technology expenditure (rather than workforce salaries or headcount), focusing on easily manageable issues like unused or excessively deployed SaaS licenses, which Gartner approximates to be around 25% of all SaaS subscriptions.
The essential query is – where can you decrease your exposure to SaaS risks (and expenses) without affecting efficiency? This is the essence of efficient SaaS management, where Nudge Security proves to be an invaluable resource.
Uncover the current workforce tool usage
To quote an old adage, you can’t protect what you can’t perceive; hence, the primary step towards managing SaaS security is obtaining a comprehensive inventory of the technologies actively deployed and by whom.
Nudge Security swiftly discovers and classifies all SaaS applications ever utilized by any member of the organization upon starting a trial. For each identified application, you’ll access details such as the initial user, user lists, authentication methods, and more, aiding in a prompt assessment of an app’s usage and the implementation of security measures like MFA and SSO.
Evaluate redundancy in similar tools
Knowing that your organization utilizes three different project management platforms is one thing, but prior to reducing SaaS proliferation by cutting down applications or licenses, understanding who employs which platform and for what purpose is crucial.
Nudge Security simplifies this process. Each app in use within your organization is visually represented on a Venn diagram showcasing user overlaps among similar applications. By interacting with the diagram, you can view the list of users common across every combination of applications. The size of a circle indicates the number of accounts linked to that application. Armed with this information, you can identify heavily used essential tools versus those that could be phased out.
Moreover, with Nudge Security, you have the option to send reminder messages to users through Slack or email (aptly named “nudges”) to inquire about the ongoing need for a specific application, streamlining the process of identifying necessary accounts without resorting to extensive spreadsheets.
Analyze and contrast vendor security profiles
Beyond assessing an application’s popularity among your staff, considering the security standards of SaaS providers plays a critical role in deciding where to trim down your SaaS portfolio. Nudge Security assists in this aspect by furnishing a security profile for each SaaS vendor utilized by your organization, as well as others you wish to explore. This data facilitates quicker and simpler completion of outsourced risk evaluations.
The vendor profile presents information on the provider’s security initiatives, MFA protocols, SSO availability, breach track record, and more, aiding you in comparing similar vendors and ensuring the selection of providers aligning with your security and compliance prerequisites.
Analyze SaaS expenditure data
Nudge Security also offers the functionality to input expense data for each application, enabling you to gauge the relative cost of alternatives and identify opportunities to efficientlyminimize SaaS expenditure. Although financial or procurement systems might possess SaaS spending information, they lack the insight into usage and protection. Nudge Security consolidates data on usage, spending, and security all in one place, making it easier for you to evaluate and prioritize chances for consolidation.
Consistently control SaaS expansion
Similar to tidying your wardrobe, maintaining your SaaS portfolio organized can be challenging. With Nudge Security, you can circulate a list of authorized applications to your employees so they can effortlessly locate and request access to the tools they require.
Furthermore, you can initiate alerts to inform you about the introduction of new applications and automatically request explanations from users to comprehend why they require the app and how they intend to use it. When new apps are introduced, you can also encourage users to propose a corresponding authorized application or justify why they must use a different one.
An expandable technique for SaaS regulation
In numerous organizations, the approach to SaaS management is compartmentalized, with finance responding to one dataset, IT security examining another, and everyone speculating on the most frequently utilized applications. With Nudge Security, you can guarantee that risk, expense, and efficiency are all considered when evaluating and scheduling technology consolidation.
Commence a 14-day trial now at www.nudgesecurity.com/getting-started
About Author
