Shadow IT discovery tools
Discover hidden SaaS apps and gain the visibility you need to reduce risks, eliminate waste, and strengthen security.
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Capabilities of Auvik’s shadow IT discovery tool
From detecting unauthorized applications to streamlining employee offboarding, our shadow IT discovery tool delivers the visibility and control you need to tackle your biggest challenges. Explore these real-world scenarios to see the platform in action.
Identify unauthorized apps on the network
When employees bypass IT approval to get work done quickly, you’re left with unauthorized applications hiding across your network. Different departments often procure similar solutions independently, creating expensive overlap.
Auvik’s shadow IT discovery tool tackles these challenges through multiple detection methods working simultaneously. Browser extension monitoring tracks web-based applications by analyzing login activities, while cloud-driven SaaS app and identity provider monitoring captures applications accessed by your users anywhere.
Get instant insights from Auvik with our Quick Scan functionality to capture retroactive application usage from the past 30 days. Direct integration with identity providers like Google Workspace and Microsoft Entra ID allows our platform to pull applications immediately after setup. With access to our database of 125,000+ applications, our shadow IT discovery tools automatically identify and categorize every discovered tool, while flagging duplicate applications when teams independently procure overlapping solutions.
No credit card required
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Track SaaS usage trends over time to support governance — without disrupting end users
Effective governance starts with understanding how your applications are actually used over time — not just knowing they exist. Without detailed usage analytics, critical decisions are made on incomplete data.
Auvik’s shadow IT SaaS monitoring runs silently in the background, tracking application usage without disrupting users. Continuous analysis reveals consistent interaction patterns, highlighting frequently accessed applications and those with high visit counts. Dashboards offer a complete view of license utilization across your entire application landscape.
This ongoing usage analysis powers our shadow IT detection. Automated reports support governance decisions, while executive summaries deliver high-level insights and clear recommendations. Our Client Dashboard continuously evaluates your app inventory, offering actionable insights to help you optimize your software portfolio based on real usage data.
No credit card required
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Provide the insights needed to assess and respond to shadow IT risks
Security incidents involving unauthorized applications create serious blind spots that traditional tools often miss. When issues arise, having detailed historical data showing which shadow applications were accessed — and by whom — is essential for effective incident response, auditing, and governance. Auvik’s shadow IT discovery software captures and centralizes usage and security-related events across all SaaS applications through enhanced logs that include URLs, IP addresses, browser details, and timestamps. Automated detection highlights risky behaviors such as shared account usage and unapproved tool access, providing IT teams with the visibility needed to manage shadow IT effectively.
Built-in monitoring also identifies unauthorized AI applications that bypass security policies and flags inactive accounts that may pose compliance risks. Auvik centralizes logs to enable thorough activity analysis and monitors vendor security incidents with comprehensive risk assessments. Our security recommendation engine offers automated guidance based on analyzed data across your shadow IT environment, helping you govern, optimize, and respond swiftly to incidents based on real-world usage and risk factors.
No credit card required
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Spot shadow IT risks tied to employee onboarding and offboarding
Employee transitions create security gaps when shadow applications remain invisible to your standard processes. New hires bring new applications into the workplace, while departing employees may retain access to tools your IT team never discovered. Auvik’s shadow IT discovery tool addresses these challenges through automated workflows that maintain complete visibility into application footprints. Complete shadow application landscapes of outgoing employees become visible through our system’s comprehensive analysis, ensuring no access gets missed during departures. You can generate pre-built access inventories documenting exactly what departing employees accessed and when.
Real-time access monitoring tracks unusual activity, like risky shared accounts that may persist after departures, while monitoring extends to applications accessed with personal credentials. Additionally, our deep SaaS integrations identify unused licenses after departures and provide the data you need to cancel them, ensuring you can eliminate license waste while maintaining consistent policy alignment across all discovered applications.
No credit card required
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Get started with Auvik SaaS Management
Book your free demo and get started with:
- A free trial of Auvik SaaS Management (no credit card required)
- A custom demo & pricing overview
- A free SaaS inventory scan
Book your free demo
Learn more about shadow IT at Auvik
What is shadow IT, and why is discovering it important?
Shadow IT refers to any software applications that your employees shouldn’t be using because they don’t have approval or oversight from the IT department. When these unauthorized tools start multiplying across your organization, they can create serious security vulnerabilities, compliance gaps, and unexpected costs, exposing you to data breaches and regulatory violations.
Can Auvik block or restrict unauthorized apps directly?
Auvik does not block applications directly. Blocking creates friction and frustration for employees. Instead, it provides you with detailed visibility and insights, so you can make informed decisions about which applications to allow, restrict, or eliminate through your existing security policies and procedures.
Does Auvik require installation on every device to detect shadow IT?
Installation on every device isn’t necessary with our system, but it is recommended. SSO integration analysis identifies shadow applications across your environment and can provide an initial Shadow IT risk profile. You can then deploy desktop agents with our browser extension across your devices for enhanced visibility.
Can Auvik identify which users or departments are using unauthorized applications?
Auvik tracks exactly who accesses which applications and when they use them, allowing you to generate detailed user access reports and comprehensive inventories showing application usage by individual employees or entire departments. This visibility helps you understand usage patterns and quickly identify policy violations across your organization.
What types of cloud applications can Auvik detect?
Our system identifies virtually any SaaS, cloud, desktop, or business application through our extensive database of 125,000+ applications. Whether your employees are using unauthorized file sharing tools, communication platforms, AI applications, or productivity software, our shadow IT discovery capabilities automatically detect and categorize these tools.
Can Auvik help reduce the costs associated with shadow IT?
Auvik allows you to uncover significant cost-saving opportunities because you can identify duplicate applications across departments, discover unused licenses draining your budget, and highlight chances to replace shadow tools with existing approved software. Plus, our system provides the usage data you need to eliminate unnecessary subscriptions and optimize spending.
Does Auvik provide alerts for unusual or risky shadow IT activity?
Our platform continuously monitors for concerning behaviors, such as shared account usage and the introduction of new unapproved applications. When employees bypass security policies or access potentially dangerous applications, our shadow IT discovery tool automatically flags these activities and sends you real-time alerts.
How does Auvik integrate with existing IT and security tools for shadow IT management?
Direct integration with identity providers like Google Workspace and Microsoft Entra ID allows our platform to pull application data immediately after setup. You can also leverage our comprehensive APIs and reporting capabilities to feed shadow IT insights into your existing security tools and workflows, making discovery part of your broader IT management strategy.