The application sprawl crisis: Why 95% of your apps remain ungoverned

Here's a sobering statistic that should concern every CISO: Most enterprises manage thousands of applications but actively govern fewer than 50. That means 95% of your application landscape operates outside proper security oversight.

This isn't just a numbers problem. It's a fundamental crisis in how organizations approach application security at scale.

When your CISO asks "Who has admin access to our customer database?" and it takes three days to get a maybe-accurate answer, you're witnessing the application sprawl crisis in real time. Organizations have built sophisticated security programs while losing track of the very assets they're trying to protect.The gap between discovery and governance has become a chasm. Security teams know applications exist but lack systematic frameworks to secure them. The result is a digital environment where most business-critical applications remain vulnerable to security gaps and compliance failures.

The root cause isn't lack of effort. It's structural limitation. Manual governance processes that work for dozens of applications collapse under the weight of hundreds or thousands. Coordination between overloaded application owners and IT teams creates bottlenecks that prevent systematic scaling.Meanwhile, visibility-only platforms have emerged to document the problem with sophisticated dashboards and intelligence reports. They excel at showing you exactly how many ungoverned applications you have, but they're surprisingly quiet about systematic solutions.

The SailPoint solution: From crisis to control

SailPoint Accelerated Application Management addresses the crisis at its source - the inability to systematically scale governance. Our solution doesn't just identify the 95% gap; it systematically closes it. There are three capabilities that drive results –

• Application Visibility continuously discovers your complete landscape, ownership, user activity, and risky accessand helping you prioritize what needs attention.
• Quick Compliance features zero-touch onboarding via Express Setup. Get critical apps governed fast with streamlined access reviews, least privilege enforcement, and automated workflows with no delays.
• Deep Governance unlocks advanced automation as programs mature with automated provisioning, full identity lifecycle management, self-service requests, and AI-powered task delegation.

We don’t just give you tools. We provide a full expert-led solution that delivers fast wins from day one: 

• Continuous discovery and risk prioritization, backed by our experts 
• Zero-touch app onboarding via express set up 
• Core compliance features like access reviews and least privilege enforcement 
• Integrated reporting and audit readiness in our Identity Security Cloud 

The application sprawl crisis is solvable. The difference between organizations stuck at 5% coverage and those achieving comprehensive governance isn't budget or technology. It's approach.Application sprawl doesn't have to mean chaos and risk. Get immediate visibility, quick compliance wins, and scalable governance powered by smart automation.

Stop just seeing the risk. Start acting on it—faster and smarter.

Learn more: SailPoint Accelerated Application Management.