Software as a Service (SaaS) has created an environment where people can access apps from anywhere at any time. SaaS adoption has liberated organizations worldwide. SaaS apps provide the tools to innovate, improve productivity, and reduce costs. However, the proliferation of SaaS apps has made the management of applications, data, and workflows challenging. SaaS is, by default, a decentralized method of provisioning digital work tools. This decentralization lies at the heart of SaaS Management challenges.

Nowadays, as organizations juggle hybrid workforces, global teams, and complex tech stacks, the decentralized nature of SaaS has exposed gaps in security, compliance, and operational oversight. Managing SaaS applications effectively is no longer a back-office concern, it’s a frontline business imperative. SaaS Management is the practice of controlling, securing, and optimizing the SaaS stack within an organization.

Here, AccessOwl dives into SaaS Management, to explain why it’s needed and the type of specialized tools available to help manage and secure SaaS apps.

What is SaaS Management?

A 2023 study from ITAM found that 32% of wasted IT budget was due to SaaS apps. The same report also noted that software asset management (SAM) programs — including SaaS Management tools — save companies millions of dollars.

SaaS Management goes beyond just keeping wayward apps under the umbrella of an organization. Centralized SaaS app management provides organizations visibility into which apps are being used, and by whom. They also offer governance capabilities needed to ensure that security and privacy policies are correctly applied and that access and authorization controls are enforced across the broader company network.

In today's regulatory environment, SaaS Management also supports compliance mandates by enforcing access policies, monitoring data flows, and automating governance across a sprawling app landscape.

Without a proactive SaaS Management strategy, organizations risk financial loss, compliance penalties, and security incidents.

Life without SaaS Management

SaaS applications are often easy to acquire, low in cost, and fast to deploy. This convenience can lead to fragmented app ecosystems that operate outside IT’s visibility and control. The result?

• Unmonitored SaaS apps spread across departments

• Sensitive data shared through unknown or unvetted platforms

• Inconsistent access controls and poor user offboarding practices

• Duplicate licenses and wasted subscriptions

Organizations that neglect SaaS Management face real risks:

• Increased security vulnerabilities due to unmanaged access and unknown apps

• Compliance failures tied to unauthorized data handling or storage

• Operational inefficiencies from redundant tools and overlapping functionalities

• Financial waste from underutilized SaaS subscriptions

SaaS Management mitigates the risks of an out-of-control SaaS app portfolio, while maintaining the benefits of SaaS apps.

Core Components of SaaS Management

To develop an effective SaaS Management strategy, an organization should include the following essential elements:

Visibility and discoverability

You can’t secure or optimize what you don’t see. SaaS Management starts with complete visibility, knowing every app in use, who is using it, and what data it touches.

Advanced SaaS Management platforms use automated discovery tools to detect known and unknown SaaS apps. This discoverability supports security audits, data governance, and access control enforcement. In hybrid environments, visibility is the first defense against shadow IT risks.

Centralize data

Decentralized SaaS usage leads to decentralized data — a governance nightmare. SaaS Management platforms centralize oversight of app usage, access permissions, and data flows.

This centralization supports:

• Policy enforcement across the SaaS ecosystem

• Unified audit trails for compliance reporting

• Streamlined access reviews and identity governance

Centralized SaaS Management reduces the risk of data leakage and ensures that security policies are consistently applied, even across distributed teams and third-party collaborators.

Insight and security

Modern SaaS Management isn’t just about knowing what apps are in use, it’s about continuous risk assessment. SaaS Management platforms provide real-time insights, including alerts for unusual access patterns, compliance violations, and potential security threats. These insights allow IT and security teams to act quickly, enforcing policies and preventing data exposure before incidents escalate.

Perform bulk control across the SaaS ecosystem

Manual SaaS management is inefficient and prone to errors. SaaS Management tools enable bulk actions such as revoking user access, adjusting permissions, or removing redundant apps across multiple platforms. Automation of these controls helps organizations respond swiftly to risks and scale their SaaS oversight without overwhelming IT resources.

Automation

As SaaS ecosystems grow, onboarding and offboarding processes become more complex. Automating these tasks is critical.

Automation reduces human error, ensures compliance with internal policies, and accelerates user onboarding without compromising security.

Problems identified by the actionable insights from the SaaS Management tool are used to drive automation. For example, some SaaS Management tools allow administrators to automatically provision and deprovision users, change access rights, and instantly respond to access requests.

Do you need specialized tools to perform SaaS Management?

Relying on manual tracking via spreadsheets was once common, but today it’s a liability. Spreadsheets are static, quickly outdated, and prone to human error. Specialized SaaS Management Platforms (SMPs) offer:

SaaS management tools are designed to manage and control SaaS apps, eliminate SaaS sprawl, and provide SaaS vendor management. Unlike spreadsheets, SaaS Management tools are dynamic and real-time by design. Spreadsheets are snapshots of an environment that require manual updating on a regular basis.

SaaS is too dynamic, and the risks too high, for spreadsheets to suffice in 2025.

Where do IAM and IGA Fit With SaaS Management?

SaaS applications often house sensitive data and critical workflows. Managing who accesses these apps, when, and how is the shared domain of SaaS Management, Identity Access Management (IAM), and Identity Governance and Administration (IGA).

Users, roles, departments, and permissions complicate managing access to SaaS apps. App security management must align with security policies and regulatory compliance requirements, which is a challenging mix to optimize. Identity is used to create a perimeter for distributed SaaS apps.

A SaaS Management Platform (SMP) provides visibility across the SaaS app portfolio. This visibility helps monitor data workflows, access events, and user behavior. Identity governance and administration (IGA) and identity and access management (IAM) tools are used alongside an SMP to enforce identity security. Together, they enable organizations to:

• Monitor and govern app access in real time

• Automate identity lifecycle processes

• Enforce least privilege access and zero-trust principles

• Provide audit-ready evidence of identity governance

IAM and IGA platforms integrate with SaaS Management tools to close security gaps and streamline identity governance across complex app ecosystems.

Employee onboarding and offboarding

Timely user onboarding ensures productivity, while prompt offboarding protects against unauthorized access. SaaS Management platforms automate these processes to prevent gaps in access control.

A serious oversight at Highland Council demonstrates the importance of timely, effective de-provisioning. The council failed to deprovision almost 600 ex-employee accounts. The result was that almost £800,000 ($1.1 million) was paid out to ex-employees.

IGA tools are used to automate and enforce the provisioning and de-provisioning of user accounts across your SaaS environment.

Enforcing least privilege access

Organizations change constantly. Employees switch departments, roles evolve, and projects come and go. Automated identity access request workflows ensure that permissions are updated in real time, reducing bottlenecks and compliance risks.

Automation of identity and access requests

Employees move between departments and join or leave organizations. When that happens, the employee may need new access rights to reflect their new role. Automating access requests speeds up this process.. It also prevents human error that could lead to unauthorized access and accidental or malicious data exposure.

How does SaaS Management help meet regulatory compliance?

SaaS Management has become increasingly complex as sanctioned and Shadow IT apps proliferate. Visibility across your app landscape is essential to managing access and enforcing security measures like MFA and least privilege access. Automation of identity management processes adds the layer of control needed to carefully manage a disparate app portfolio.

With compliance costs and penalties increasing, SaaS Management is a key component of regulatory strategy.

The rise of AI-driven SaaS tools

In 2025, AI-powered SaaS applications have become mainstream, bringing both innovation and new governance challenges. SaaS Management platforms now help monitor:

• How AI tools access and process sensitive data

• Usage of AI within SaaS apps for tasks like automation, analytics, and decision-making

Governance of AI-driven SaaS is no longer optional. Managing these tools ensures organizations avoid AI bias risks, data leakage, and regulatory violations.

SaaS Supply Chain Risk Management

Third-party SaaS vendors represent critical supply chain links, and attack vectors. The SolarWinds breach and recent supply chain attacks exposed the need for SaaS supply chain oversight. SaaS Management now extends to:

• Assessing third-party vendor security postures

• Monitoring SaaS-to-SaaS integrations for vulnerabilities

• Ensuring contractual compliance with security and data protection terms

Supply chain risk management is a growing priority for SaaS governance in a world of interconnected cloud services.

Conclusion: SaaS Management is Essential in 2025

SaaS applications empower business innovation but introduce significant management, security, and compliance challenges. In 2025, SaaS Management isn’t just about cost savings , it’s about protecting data, enforcing governance, and enabling scalable growth. By leveraging SaaS Management platforms with integrated IAM, IGA, and automation features, organizations can confidently navigate the risks and rewards of the SaaS era.