If I were asked to design a way to bring shadow SaaS usage under control in a remote, cloud-native organization, I’d avoid a full Zero Trust rebuild and instead apply SASE-driven visibility and identity enforcement.
The idea is simple: discover what’s in use, classify the risk, and make sure every tool ends up under a measurable control path — integrated, proxied, or at least monitored.
1. Understanding the Problem
Shadow SaaS appears wherever teams need speed.
Tools get adopted without security review, creating unmanaged identities, exposed data flows, and inconsistent offboarding.
Typical issues:
- No SSO/MFA or direct IdP integration
- Orphaned accounts and shared credentials
- Hardcoded API keys or service accounts
- Untracked data transfers between SaaS tools
- Little visibility into OAuth grants and usage scope
These risks don’t stem from bad intent — they’re the byproduct of autonomy and cloud convenience.
The goal isn’t to block SaaS; it’s to make secure usage effortless and visible.
2. My Approach
The workflow I designed follows a simple, repeatable logic:
1. Discover → 2. Assess → 3. Integrate → 4. Enforce → 5. Monitor
Each SaaS application moves through this process, landing on the strongest control it supports.
1. Discover
Gather evidence of SaaS activity from multiple angles:
- DNS / proxy logs — outbound connections to known SaaS domains
- Financial data — expense records revealing subscriptions
- IdP logs — OAuth grants and unrecognized applications
The result is a living inventory of both sanctioned and unsanctioned tools.
2. Assess
Once identified, applications are ranked by:
- Integration depth (how embedded they are in workflows)
- Usage metrics (number of active users, data exchanged)
- Data sensitivity (PII, credentials, source code, etc.)
This forms a risk matrix to prioritize which SaaS apps need attention first.
3. Integrate
If the app supports SAML, OIDC, or SCIM, integrate it with the existing IdP (e.g., Okta, EntraID).
This enables consistent SSO, MFA, and automated provisioning/deprovisioning.
If the app lacks native IdP support:
- Wrap it behind Cloudflare Access as an identity-aware reverse proxy.
- Users authenticate through the IdP, and Cloudflare enforces policy before reaching the SaaS.
- Traffic and identity are logged for auditing.
This maintains identity-centric access control even for legacy or non-standard apps.
4. Enforce
For SaaS that can’t be proxied, shift enforcement to the network edge using Cloudflare’s Secure Web Gateway (SWG) and CASB:
- Detect and classify new SaaS tools in real time
- Apply data loss prevention (DLP) rules to uploads/downloads
- Block or alert on access to high-risk services
- Maintain a record of sanctioned vs. unsanctioned use
This ensures that even unintegrated tools are still visible and governed.
5. Monitor and Review
Each cycle feeds back into the inventory and risk matrix:
- Are new SaaS apps appearing?
- Did integrations drift or break?
- Are DLP or policy exceptions increasing?
Automation ties everything back to the IdP lifecycle — access is provisioned, adjusted, or revoked based on HR or identity events.
3. Control Hierarchy
Every SaaS tool ends up somewhere on this spectrum:
| Control Level | Example | Control Method |
|---|
| Integrated | Supports SAML/SCIM | IdP SSO + Lifecycle |
| Proxied | No native SSO | Cloudflare Access (Identity Proxy) |
| Monitored | Public SaaS / cannot proxy | Cloudflare SWG + CASB (DLP, alerts) |
There’s always some measurable control — never an invisible app.
4. Why SASE Fits This Problem
Traditional IAM focuses on login events, not continuous usage.
SASE extends enforcement to where access actually happens — between the user and the SaaS platform.
Key advantages:
- Identity and network policies combined at the edge
- Real-time SaaS discovery and traffic inspection
- Global consistency for distributed teams
- Works with existing IdP — no architectural rebuild
This model gives the organization visibility and control without forcing every SaaS tool to support modern identity standards.
5. Implementation Path
A realistic rollout would look like this:
- Pilot: onboard a few key SaaS tools via Cloudflare Access, validate experience.
- Visibility Expansion: deploy SWG for outbound monitoring and CASB for automated discovery.
- Policy Enforcement: apply DLP and access controls for higher-risk categories.
- Automation: integrate SASE events with IdP and HR systems for lifecycle triggers.
- Continuous Review: feed findings into the risk matrix and adjust policies.
6. Measuring Progress
Practical metrics to track maturity:
- % of SaaS with SSO + MFA
- Reduction in unmanaged SaaS month-over-month
- Mean time to revoke access after offboarding
- Number of SaaS apps with DLP policies applied
- Coverage of CASB discovery reports
7. Outcome
A SASE-driven model provides a realistic way to bring shadow SaaS under governance:
- Continuous discovery and classification
- Identity-aware control for non-integrated tools
- Network-level DLP and monitoring for everything else
- Unified logging for compliance and forensics
This approach doesn’t attempt a full Zero Trust transformation — it builds toward it, one SaaS tool at a time, ensuring visibility, control, and gradual improvement without disruption.