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11/06/2026 10:36 pm
TL;DR: SaaS management tools are being positioned as a way to discover shadow IT, track app usage, and automate onboarding and offboarding across SaaS estates, according to Zluri. The real governance issue is that app visibility and access control still break down when identities, contracts, and approvals are spread across too many systems.
NHIMG editorial — based on content published by Zluri: SaaS Management Best Alternatives to Intello in 2026
By the numbers:
- Zluri says it uses five discovery methods to find 100% of SaaS apps in an organisation.
Questions worth separating out
Q: How should teams govern SaaS sprawl without losing access visibility?
A: Start by building a single inventory that merges SSO, finance, API, and browser discovery into one ownership model.
Q: Why do SaaS management tools matter to identity governance programmes?
A: They expose the application layer where identities are granted, used, and often left behind.
Q: What breaks when onboarding and offboarding are handled separately from SaaS administration?
A: Accounts and permissions remain active after users move roles, leave teams, or stop using an application.
Practitioner guidance
- Map all SaaS discovery sources to one ownership model Reconcile SSO, finance, API, browser, and desktop discovery into one inventory with a named business owner for each app.
- Tie onboarding and offboarding to lifecycle events Connect joiner, mover, and leaver workflows to SaaS deprovisioning so access revocation happens when the role changes, the contract ends, or the app is retired.
- Use usage data to drive renewal decisions Review active usage before renewing SaaS licenses, then remove duplicate, underused, or orphaned apps from the renewal queue.
What's in the full article
Zluri's full article covers the operational detail this post intentionally leaves for the source:
- Detailed feature-by-feature comparisons of six SaaS management alternatives and where each fits.
- Vendor-specific notes on discovery methods, workflow automation, and licence optimisation capabilities.
- Product-level pros, cons, and customer rating snapshots for each tool in the comparison.
- Implementation-oriented descriptions of how each platform handles audits, spend control, and app visibility.
👉 Read Zluri's comparison of Intello alternatives for SaaS management and access control →
SaaS management, shadow IT, and the identity governance gap?
Explore further
12/06/2026 6:49 am
Shadow SaaS is an identity governance problem before it is a software problem. When organisations cannot see which apps are in use, they also cannot reliably govern who has access, how that access was granted, or when it should be removed. That makes SaaS discovery a prerequisite for lifecycle control, not a reporting feature. Practitioners should treat hidden applications as hidden identities in disguise.
A few things that frame the scale:
- Only 5.7% of organisations have full visibility into their service accounts, according to Ultimate Guide to NHIs.
- 96% of organisations store secrets outside of secrets managers in vulnerable locations including code, config files, and CI/CD tools.
A question worth separating out:
Q: How do you know whether SaaS visibility is actually improving control?
A: Look for fewer orphaned apps, faster removal of unused licenses, cleaner ownership records, and consistent revocation at leaver events. If reporting improves but stale access remains, the programme is measuring inventory rather than control.
👉 Read our full editorial: SaaS management and shadow IT expose identity governance gaps
