Also subscribed to this app? I found a SaaS I didn't know I was using! What is app discovery?

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Do I know exactly all the SaaS applications my company uses? As businesses today adopt a large number of SaaS applications, it is becoming increasingly difficult to accurately understand all the apps being used. In particular, as the number of apps that each team subscribes to independently or personally uses has increased, “Did I subscribe to this app too?” There are times when the question arises. Failure to identify all SaaS applications used by enterprises causes problems such as cost waste, increased security vulnerabilities, and operational inefficiency as the so-called “shadow IT” increases. This is especially IT departmentwith Finance team, and the need to manage and optimize the enterprise SaaS environment CIO, CTO, IT personnelIt's an important challenge for

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The key strategy for solving these problems is'App Discovery (App Discovery)It's'. It's a technology that helps you discover and transparently manage all SaaS apps in use within an organization, while simultaneously reducing costs and improving security.

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This article defines what app discovery is, why app discovery is important, and how to discover shadow IT through app discovery on Megazone Pop. Read this article to get the insights you need to start or improve SaaS management!

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What is App Discovery (App Discovery)?

App discovery is a feature that automatically discovers all SaaS applications in use within an organization. This process identifies not only administrator-approved apps, but also unapproved shadow IT. It is a function to discover SaaS that is used without permission through OAuth and SSO, and check who is using what application and what license. App discovery is a core feature included in the SaaS Management Platform (SMP) that helps IT and management teams gain complete visibility into the SaaS environment.

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Why is app discovery important?

Gartner Magic Quadrant for SaaS Management PlatformsAccording to, a SaaS management platform (SMP) will help organizations solve complex problems such as overspending, lack of visibility, and increased security risks caused by the use of SaaS applications throughout their business, and the SMP market was predicted as follows.

• By 2027, organizations that fail to centrally manage the SaaS lifecycle will be 5 times more vulnerable to cyber incidents or data loss due to incomplete visibility into SaaS usage.
• By 2027, organizations that fail to gain visibility into SaaS usage and are unable to adjust the SaaS lifecycle will overspend 25% or more on SaaS due to unused permissions and unnecessary and redundant accounts.
• By 2027, more than 50% of organizations will use SMP to centrally manage SaaS applications, up from less than 10% in 2024.

If you look at the SMP market forecast by Gartner above,”visibility','Central managementYou can see that the keyword 'is being repeated. In other words, they see 'App Discovery', which is a feature that detects approved and unauthorized SaaS usage, as an essential feature that SMP must provide.

Another Gartner Peer InsightsAccording to a survey of 157 tech leaders, identification of unused subscriptions (49%), least privileged access (49%), and visibility (49%) received the most responses as “the most valuable features in SMP.” This shows that the 'App Discovery' feature is also being emphasized. Why is this emphasis on the 'App Discovery' feature? Why is 'App Discovery' important?

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1. Shadow IT management

In many organizations, employees use SaaS apps that aren't officially approved. This Shadow ITIt is said that it can be a major cause of security incidents and regulatory violations. App discovery helps control shadow IT by identifying all apps used within an organization. This plays an important role in reducing the risk of data breaches and meeting compliance requirements such as GDPR and HIPAA.

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2. Cost optimization

SaaS application subscription costs tend to accumulate. In particular, teams or departments often subscribe to duplicate apps that provide the same functionality. App discovery provides an opportunity to reduce costs by finding unused or duplicated SaaS licenses.

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3. Improve operational efficiency

It provides an accurate list of SaaS apps required during the employee onboarding/offboarding process to prevent permission management mistakes, and uses usage data to identify apps that are being used inefficiently.

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4. Business decision support

Data from App Discovery provides important insights to improve SaaS strategies. This allows organizations to choose better tools and build the optimal SaaS mix.

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5. Increased security and data protection

Unauthorized SaaS risks exposing corporate data to an insecure environment. App discovery enhances data security and tracks the status of all SaaS to prevent security incidents.

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Using the 'App Discovery' feature in Megazone Pops

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'App Discovery' provided by Megazone Pops

Megazone Pops uses the 'App Discovery' feature to enable an organization's administrator to transparently view all SaaS applications used across the organization. You can identify and control SaaS usage, such as how much of what SaaS employees use, and the apps that need to be managed by the organization.

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Add an app discovery source

To proceed with app discovery, it is necessary to add a source with information on employees' SaaS usage. The administrator can add multiple app discovery sources, and the added sources can be unlinked at any time. Even if you unlink a source, apps previously found from that source will not be deleted, but you can no longer obtain information to discover apps from that source.

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App Discovery Source Sync

When added as an app discovery source, data is periodically synchronized from that source, and newly discovered apps are added to the list of discovered apps based on discovery evidence.

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Discovered apps

Apps discovered from an app discovery source are added to the list of discovered apps. An app may be found as a duplicate from multiple sources, but if it's the same app, it's displayed as one. You can perform the following actions on discovered apps:

• Ignore: Even if an app is found again, it won't be added to the list of discovered apps.
• Add an app instance: Add the app as an app instance in the workspace.
• Connect an app instance: Link the app to an existing workspace app.

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Number of discoveries

The number of app discoveries is measured using the following criteria:

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Google Workspace: Number of consents to provide OAuth information

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If users of an app are found to be duplicates through multiple sources, the number of duplicates found is excluded and measured. For example, if a person named Hong Gil-dong agreed to provide information is found in source A and source B for an app called A, the number of discoveries in app A is not measured by 2, but by 1, which is a number excluding duplicates.

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Ignored apps

Apps discovered from an app discovery source but set to be ignored by the administrator are managed as an ignored apps list. If it's a type of SaaS that doesn't need to be checked or managed at the organization level, you can set it to [Ignore]. Ignored apps don't appear in the list of discovered apps, even if found from a discovery source. If you want to track that app again, you can [Unignore]. If you unignore, it will appear in the list of discovered apps from the next sync.

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At the end

App discovery secures visibility into SaaS usage Cost optimization, Enhanced security, Operational efficiencyIt provides three core values. By clearly understanding all SaaS in use within the organization, IT and finance teams can make smarter decisions, and security teams can comply with regulations and reduce risk.

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Especially now that digital transformation has accelerated and SaaS applications have become an essential tool for business success, it's difficult to properly manage an organization's IT environment without app discovery. Clear visibility into the SaaS environment is needed to solve shadow IT problems, eliminate redundant costs, and enhance data protection.

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Businesses can use app discovery to properly put the first button in SaaS management. Furthermore, based on this, advanced strategies such as license optimization, user onboarding and offboarding automation, and application standardization can be adopted.

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As the SaaS landscape becomes more complex and rapidly changing, app discovery will become even more important. Now is the time to uncover hidden SaaS within your organization and start managing SaaS efficiently and securely. Let's start this journey together using Megazone Pops!

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