Employees at SMBs are increasingly embracing cloud computing and SaaS solutions, as well as generative AI tools like ChatGPT are contributing to the trend. According to Gartner, SaaS expenditure continues to grow annually by 15%-20%, with organizations maintaining an average of over 125 different SaaS applications, costing $1,040 per employee each year.
However, according to the same report, 25% of this software is typically underutilized or over-deployed, contributing to a scenario where "shadow IT" constitutes 40% of IT expenditures.
Here, shadow IT refers to the use of IT systems, software, applications or services within an organization without the explicit approval, knowledge or control of the organization's IT department. It typically occurs when employees or departments within a company independently acquire and implement technology solutions to meet their specific needs, often bypassing the standard IT procurement and security processes.
To provide deep visibility into an organization’s growing SaaS environment and mitigate that shadow IT concern, Auvik, a provider of cloud-based network management software, announced Auvik SaaS Management, or ASM. ASM is designed to provide IT professionals with greater security, operational efficiency and cost management capabilities as organizations become more dependent on SaaS.
In terms of security, ASM addresses concerns related to shadow IT, user access and software-plus-account inventory management, with a focus on critical event alerting. ASM has analyzed 25 million security logs, leading to 2.9 million SaaS security recommendations.
For effective management, ASM provides invaluable insights into application, client, employee and account lifecycles across all business applications.
ASM also places an emphasis on discovery, which presently oversees 2.6 million business applications for its users. By constructing an organization's SaaS inventory based on employee workflows, ASM empowers elevated SaaS management, reduced IT risks, elimination of wasted SaaS licenses and more efficient routine SaaS operations. To date, ASM has successfully discovered over 125,000 applications.
Additionally, ASM expedites time to value through its Quickscan feature, granting customers access to historic data and rapid identification of online SaaS applications adopted within the past 30 days.
“Auvik’s core competency in network management places us in an ideal position to understand the challenges organizations face when transitioning to hybrid work,” said Doug Murray, CEO, Auvik. “Many of the same organizations grappling with network monitoring and management are coping with shadow IT, making SaaS management a natural extension of Auvik’s product suite as we evolve from a single product company to a platform approach.”
ASM follows a monthly per-user licensing model and is readily available for implementation.
Edited by
Alex Passett
