What is SaaS Governance? Frameworks for Managing Cloud Applications

Cloud-based software has greatly changed the way business works today. With collaboration tools, project management software, and accounting applications, Software as a Service (SaaS) enables companies to act fast and work remotely. 

Nevertheless, this accessibility brings along one more factor that negatively influences the performance of organizations: uncontrolled software proliferation. When departments and/or employees decide on purchasing apps independently, businesses experience increasing costs, data isolation, and significant security risks.

The introduction of a controlled SaaS governance framework is the solution to this problem. Through this approach, organizations are capable of having full visibility, ensuring protection of critical data, and making sure that each software subscription is beneficial for them.

Key Principles of SaaS Governance Implementation

SaaS governance is an overall set of policies, controls, and administration activities that enable organizations to efficiently manage their cloud software portfolio. 

As SaaS management involves such operational activities as provisioning of users and license tracking, governance is the level of policy above that.

The implementation of governance in the cloud decides who has the right to approve new subscriptions, sets security and privacy requirements, and specifies compliance criteria for apps.

Components of a Good SaaS Governance Model

A complete SaaS governance model can provide structure in the organization’s cloud governance via the following interlinked components:

• Application Discovery & Visibility: Keeping track of all cloud applications being utilized within the organization, including unauthorized applications, also known as Shadow IT.
• Identity and Access Governance: Implementation of RBAC and SSO measures to limit access to only those tools that are relevant to specific job roles of employees.
• SaaS Policy Management: Setting up written policies related to software purchase and acquisition, usage of data, vendor security evaluation, and appropriate application usage.
• Financial and License Optimization: Monitoring metrics about subscriptions to weed out duplicate tools and get enterprise-level discounts.
• Compliance and Risk Monitoring: Ensuring that all external software vendors comply with industry standards such as GDPR, HIPAA, and SOC 2 to avoid any risks of data exposure.

The Key SaaS Governance Models

Businesses typically design their governance of software based on one of three models of administration:

• Centralized Model

  All purchases of the software, along with its security assessment and approval, are done by an appointed IT or procurement department.

• Decentralized (Federated) Model

  Every department has independence to assess and purchase the tools they need according to general rules of the company. This approach allows for innovations and quick decisions, although security is more difficult to maintain consistently.

• Hybrid Model

  Compromise between centralized and decentralized models when IT controls business-critical applications (identity management and storage, etc.), and departments have defined boundaries to select special tools for themselves.

Major Advantages of SaaS Policy Implementation

Creating a well-disciplined process around cloud software brings important strategic and financial benefits:

• Shadow IT Prevention: Helps eliminate any unauthorized and potentially dangerous applications that were bought on departmental or personal credit cards.
• Effective Cyber Security: Protects the company’s information by making sure that all utilized cloud applications meet high standards of encryption and authentication.
• Cost Optimization: Identifies duplicate licenses and unused licenses in order to use this money for more important projects.
• Effective Regulatory Compliance: Keeps the information about existing applications up to date for easy internal auditing and compliance with data protection laws.

Practical Approaches to Cloud Governance

In order to create a long-term strategy, it is crucial to think about the following recommendations:

• Define the Policies Initially: Create clear rules on how you can request, evaluate, and approve the new applications.
• Deprovisioning Automation: Implement automatic deprovisioning of users when they leave the company based on HR data.
• Regular Software Stack Auditing: Evaluate your software portfolio once per quarter to check user engagement, cost-efficiency, and vendor stability.

Conclusion

The importance of knowing about SaaS governance cannot be overstated for organizations that use modern cloud-based software. Having an effective SaaS governance policy allows you to strike a balance between speed, innovation, crucial security, SaaS policy management, and financial management. 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)