It’s not uncommon for businesses to rely on dozens of different business applications to manage operations, communication, customer relationships, finance and more. Although these tools can enhance productivity and streamline workflows, they also bring an underappreciated risk: security vulnerabilities.
Let’s explore why having too many business applications can be a liability and how strategic consolidation can protect your organization.
Read: Optimizing Business Applications for Efficiency and Growth
The Problem: Application Overload and Security Risks
Imagine trying to secure a house with hundreds of doors and windows, each with its own lock and key. That’s akin to the challenge IT and security teams have with application spawl. Here’s how it can lead to security risks:
- Increased attack surface: Every new application adds another potential entry point for cyber criminals, increasing the likelihood of a breach. The more apps you have, the harder it is to maintain visibility and control over your digital environment, as each one must be secure, updated and monitored.
- Inconsistent security policies: Different applications have varying security standards, configuration requirements, permission settings, update cycles and compliance requirements. Applying and enforcing consistent security policies across a vast and diverse application landscape is difficult and can lead to gaps and inconsistencies that attackers can exploit.
- Shadow IT: Employees often download or subscribe to new applications with IT’s knowledge or approval to solve specific problems quickly. Although well-intentioned, these shadow IT solutions introduce unvetted applications with unknown security postures into your IT environment, creating blind spots and compliance risks.
- Unmanaged data sprawl: When data is stored across multiple systems that don’t integrate, it creates data silos. This makes it difficult to track where sensitive information lives, who has access and how it’s protected, and this fragmentation increases the likelihood of data leaks or unauthorized access.
- Complicated user access management: Managing user access and permissions across numerous applications can be complex. This can lead to over-privileged accounts, orphaned accounts belonging to former employees and a lack of visibility into who has access to what data, significantly increasing the risk of insider threats and unauthorized data access.
The Solution: Consolidate and Simplify
The good news is that there’s a powerful solution to combat the security risks of application spawl: consolidation. This strategic approach involves inventorying, evaluating and streamlining your application portfolio to reduce redundancy, complexity and risk. Here’s how business application consolidation can bolster your security:
- Audit your application stack: Start with a comprehensive inventory of all applications in use across your organization. Understand their purpose, usage levels and existing security controls.
- Identify redundancies and risks: Identify redundant tools, underused licenses and platforms that don’t meet security or compliance standards. Assess the risks associated with each application. Adopt secure, all-in-one solutions where possible.
- Identify core business needs: Work with your staff to define what functionality is truly essential. Focus on platforms that are secure, integrated and aligned with your overall business objectives.
- Prioritize and plan: Prioritize consolidation efforts based on risk and business impact. Develop a phased rollout plan to minimize disruption. When consolidating, ensure that the remaining applications are securely integrated to allow for seamless data flow and consistent security controls.
- Implement strong governance: Establish clear policies and processes for approving and onboarding new applications to prevent further sprawl.
- Enforce access controls: Use identity and access management (IAM) solutions to simplify and secure login processes. Implement multi-factor authentication (MFA) and the Principle of Least Privilege (PoLP). Regularly review user permissions.
- Continuously monitor and optimize: Application management is an ongoing process. Regularly review your business applications and make adjustments as your business needs and the threat landscape evolve.
Don’t Let Application Sprawl Be Your Undoing
In an era of increasingly sophisticated cyber threats, managing a sprawling business application portfolio is no longer sustainable – it directly threatens your organization’s security. By strategically consolidating your tools and strengthening governance, you empower your organization to operate smarter and safer.
If you’re not sure where to start with your business application consolidation, consider partnering with an award-winning managed service provider (MSP) like Thriveon. Our Fractional CIO will help you assess your IT environment, select the right tools and guide you through a smooth consolidation process, ensuring you can safeguard your company effectively.
Schedule a meeting today for more information.