Application Sprawl Explained: The Hidden Risk of Ungoverned Apps in 2025

Read full article here: https://www.sailpoint.com/blog/why-most-applications-remain-ungoverned/?utm_source=nhimg

Here’s a sobering reality every CISO must face: Most enterprises actively govern fewer than 50 applications, while thousands more operate unchecked. That means 95% of your application landscape remains outside proper identity and access governance.

This isn’t a minor oversight. It’s a full-blown application sprawl crisis.

The Governance Gap No One Can Ignore

When a security leader asks, “Who has admin access to our customer database?” and the answer takes three days and even then comes back uncertain, you’re experiencing application sprawl in action.

Despite investments in security programs, most organizations have:

• Visibility gaps – they know apps exist but lack ownership clarity.
• Manual bottlenecks – governance processes that collapse at scale.
• Compliance blind spots – business-critical apps left outside reviews and controls.

Dashboards and visibility platforms confirm the scope of the problem but stop short of offering a systematic way forward. Knowing you govern only 5% of your estate isn’t enough, you need a model to close the 95% gap.

From Crisis to Control: The SailPoint Approach

SailPoint Accelerated Application Management goes beyond documenting the sprawl. It transforms it into a governable system with three core capabilities:

1. Application Visibility – Continuous discovery of your complete landscape: ownership, usage, and risky access, so you can prioritize what matters.
2. Quick Compliance – Zero-touch onboarding through Express Setup. Get critical apps governed fast with streamlined access reviews, least privilege enforcement, and automated workflows.
3. Deep Governance – As your program matures, unlock full lifecycle automation, provisioning, AI-powered task delegation, and self-service access.

This isn’t just tooling, it’s a solution backed by expert-led services that deliver immediate wins: rapid app discovery, prioritized remediation, and integrated reporting for audit readiness.

Strengthened by SailPoint + Savvy

The acquisition of Savvy, a leader in application visibility and intelligence, expands SailPoint’s ability to identify where identity risks hide. Together, SailPoint and Savvy give enterprises unmatched depth in discovery and automation, turning sprawl from an unmanaged liability into a governed, secure ecosystem.

The Bottom Line

Application sprawl is solvable. The difference between organizations stuck at 5% coverage and those reaching full-scale governance isn’t budget, it’s approach.

Stop just seeing the risk. Start governing it, faster, smarter, and at scale.