SaaS management challenges enterprises need to handle, even with a CASB

Many enterprises are using cloud access security brokers (CASB) as a first layer of security when using SaaS applications. A Cloud access security broker is a cloud-hosted software or on-premises software/hardware which act as an intermediary between cloud software tools and users. The CASB can be seen as a policy enforcement point, consolidating different types of security policies and applying them to everything your business accesses in the cloud - no matter what type of device is attempting to access it, including unmanaged smartphones, personal laptops, IoT devices, etc.

Being the first layer for SaaS tools adoption, the CASB provides solutions for detecting incidents, prevention of data loss and more.

But, even with such security solutions in place, organizations are still faced with numerous challenges when many SaaS software tools are being used by employees. ‍

What are some of the key SaaS management challenges?

Efficient SaaS apps discovery

Thanks to the ease of onboarding SaaS apps and expensing their cost by employees, the SaaS inventory of organizations is growing at unprecedented rates. With hundreds of cloud tools to manage, organizations need an automated solution for efficient SaaS discovery of all tools - both the ones approved by IT, and the ones IT is completely unaware of.

Having reliable usage statistics as a basis for SaaS decisions

The average organization is renewing several licenses every business day. But, how many of those licenses are actually used, how many are completely abandoned and to what extent are the upgrade features used? Having centralized and reliable usage statistics for all tools in the organization’s SaaS stack will allow it to take informed decisions regarding the renewals.

Optimization of SaaS spend

SaaS is indeed increasing the productivity and innovation of the employees, and the organization as a whole. But, this productivity increase should also be mapped against the real cost of the applications. Seeing the ROI for each SaaS application can be used as a basis for applying considerable SaaS cost optimizations.

SaaS Vendor Management

Onboarding new SaaS is easy. But, it should only be done based on information - information on the availability of similar apps in the organizations, on already existing employee account for this same app, on historical data of the usage and cost of this app and so on. When information about SaaS usage is available and easy to access and analyze, the SaaS purchasing process will ensure cost- and functionality-efficiency.

Managing SaaS during the onboarding and offboarding of employees

When new employees are joining the company, they need to get access to numerous SaaS apps, to ensure their high productivity right from their first days with the organization. And the list of SaaS apps they need to be given access to depends on their department and role in the organization. 

Likewise, when employees are leaving the company, they should have their access to SaaS apps discontinued and licenses terminated or reassigned. This SaaS offboarding process should take place within shortest terms, to ensure the company is not threatened by eventual data breach from the former employees.

Efficient SaaS onboarding and offboarding requires that the organization maintains a reliable, up-to-date list of SaaS applications per employee role, at any time.

Updating the SaaS inventory stack

It is easy to add new SaaS to an organization’s inventory stack, but rarely is there any procedure for reviewing and approving new SaaS additions. When SaaS get abandoned, there is frequently no process ensuring any data used by the app has been identified, transferred or backed up.

Hence, organizations need efficient processes that would cater for any changes to the organization’s SaaS stack.

By using Viio, all those SaaS management challenges described above can be handled by organizations in an efficient, automated manner, saving huge IT time and wasted SaaS expense. Find out more - in a personalized demo.