5 Key Reasons to Monitor Your SaaS Apps in 2024

Introduction

In today’s business landscape, companies rely more than ever on SaaS (Software as a Service) applications to run daily operations. From email to project management, these tools make everything more efficient—until they become a blind spot. The truth is, you can’t optimize what you can’t see, and what you don’t see is costing you money. Without proper monitoring, businesses end up paying for unused licenses, and waste significant amounts of time trying to manually track access and usage.

Imagine this: Sarah from marketing left the company months ago. But as it turns out, she still has access to your CRM, where she can view client data and sales reports. Meanwhile, your finance department continues to pay for unused licenses across several applications, including hers. No one noticed because no one was looking.

This scenario is all too common. Without regular monitoring, companies face significant risks—data breaches, unnecessary costs, and insider threats. The solution? Proactive monitoring of your SaaS environment to ensure you’re not leaving the door wide open.

1. Ex-Employees: The Silent Risk in Your SaaS Apps

89% of ex-employees still have access to at least one SaaS application after leaving a company, according to ITProPortal. Let that sink in for a second. Almost 9 out of 10 former employees could be lurking in your systems, holding the keys to sensitive customer data, trade secrets, and other critical information.

A real-world example of this happened to Tesla, where an ex-employee stole thousands of files related to the company’s Autopilot system. The former employee had access to confidential information and took it with him when he left to join a rival company. This incident not only cost Tesla millions in research and development but also exposed how critical it is to properly manage offboarding and revoke access immediately auditing and monitoring your SaaS environment is the only way to close this gap and prevent these silent threats from compromising your business.

2. Cost Savings: Are You Paying for Apps No One Uses?

SaaS tools are meant to streamline processes, but over time, they can become a drain on your budget. Studies show that companies waste up to 50% of their SaaS budget on unused, overlapping or underutilized applications.

Take Adobe Creative Cloud, for example. Your marketing team may have a full license for every designer and content creator, but how many of them are actually using it? In many cases, companies keep paying for licenses long after they’re needed. Worse yet, SaaS contracts often renew automatically, leaving you stuck with extra costs for the year.

By regularly monitoring app usage, companies can identify underutilized, overlapping or unused licenses and reallocate resources, potentially saving hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.

Imagine how much more efficient your budget could be if you knew exactly who was using what, and for how long.

3. Shadow IT: The Invisible Threat

Imagine your marketing team decides to start using a project management tool that IT has never heard of—because they purchased it directly with a credit card. Shadow IT, the use of unapproved SaaS applications, is becoming a bigger problem as departments bring in tools without the knowledge or oversight of the IT team.

According to Gartner, 30% to 40% of IT spending happens outside the control of the IT department. That means countless SaaS tools may be floating around your company’s ecosystem, many of them unmanaged and unmonitored. These applications often contain critical business data and could become backdoors for breaches.

If you’re not regularly monitoring SaaS applications, you have no idea what shadow apps are in use, who is using them, or what kind of data is being stored.

4. The Security Layer: 2FA/MFA Can Make All the Difference

Cybersecurity isn’t just a technical issue—it’s a financial one. The average cost of a data breach is rising, with some incidents costing companies upwards of $6 million. Many of these breaches could have been prevented by enforcing simple security measures like Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) or Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA).

Here’s the problem: When businesses don’t monitor their SaaS apps regularly, they can easily miss whether critical security features like 2FA/MFA are enabled. Without these protections, former employees or cybercriminals with compromised passwords can still gain access to sensitive data, leaving your company exposed to a breach.

Even worse, in the event of a breach, companies risk losing their cyber liability insurance if they’re found to have been negligent in enforcing basic security practices. Imagine the double blow—not only dealing with the fallout of a breach but also facing the possibility of losing insurance coverage that could protect your company from financial disaster.

By regularly monitoring your SaaS environment, you can ensure that 2FA/MFA is active on all critical accounts, reducing the risk of a costly breach and ensuring compliance with your insurance requirements.

5. AI Tools: Who’s Watching What They Access?

With the rise of AI-driven tools, it’s easier than ever to boost productivity, but have you stopped to think about the access they require? AI tools that summarize documents, manage calendars, or generate reports often request permissions to view or control critical business data. The problem? Many companies don't track what these tools have access to—or what data employees are inputting into them.

Imagine an AI tool that has access to your company’s Google Drive or OneDrive. It could read confidential reports, access sensitive customer information, and even pull financial data. Employees might not realize the risks of feeding AI prompts with critical company information.

Without proper monitoring, these tools can become a massive security risk, exposing sensitive data in ways you can’t see until it’s too late.

How Regular Monitoring Protects You on All Fronts

Regularly monitoring your SaaS applications isn’t just about catching unused licenses or ensuring employees have moved on—though both are crucial. It’s about maintaining visibility over every aspect of your SaaS ecosystem to ensure:

• Ex-employees and unapproved apps don’t have access to sensitive company information.
• You’re saving costs by removing unused licenses.
• Security protocols like MFA are fully enforced to prevent breaches.

Without regular monitoring, you leave your business exposed to unnecessary costs and security vulnerabilities. The longer you go without it, the higher the risk.

Enhance Your SaaS Visibility Effortlessly

Now that you’re aware of the risks and costs associated with unmonitored SaaS apps, you might be looking for a solution to gain better control and visibility. Fortunately, FrontierZero offers the tools you need to track SaaS access, giving you clear insights into who has access to what, without the complexity of manual audits.

FrontierZero provides a comprehensive view into your SaaS environment, allowing you to quickly spot access issues, detect inactive accounts, and ensure your resources are being used effectively. With our platform, your business can avoid unnecessary costs while staying secure.

By using FrontierZero, you can:

• Monitor employee and ex-employee access: Instantly see who still has access to your company’s apps and take action as needed.
• Identify cost savings: Detect underused licenses, helping you reallocate resources and reduce waste.
• Ensure security practices: Gain visibility into whether critical security features, like MFA, are enabled across your apps.

Why wait? Start your free trial today and experience the benefits of complete SaaS visibility and control with FrontierZero.