How Consulting Firms Can Finally Control Their SaaS Footprint

Martin Snyder
Sep 12, 2025
4 min read

Consultancies run on speed, clients, and billable hours—which is exactly why SaaS sprawl gets out of hand. Waldo Security discovers every SaaS app, tenant, account, and OAuth connection in minutes (including shadow and AI tools), enforces SSO/MFA guardrails, right-sizes risky permissions, automates offboarding, and exports audit-ready evidence—so you can move fast and stay client-safe. Start with Instant SaaS Discovery, then keep auditors and clients happy with our SaaS Compliance Overview.

Why consulting firms struggle more than most

Every project spawns new tools. Client-preferred apps, vendor sandboxes, and “temporary” tenants pile up. The average org already runs about 101–106 apps, so without guardrails, portfolios explode. (Okta, BetterCloud)
Credential-driven attacks love unmanaged apps. In Verizon’s 2025 DBIR, stolen credentials dominate Basic Web App Attacks—exactly what happens when side tenants and personal accounts sit outside SSO/MFA. (Verizon)
Shadow AI accelerates risk. The average organization now uses ~9.6 genAI apps, with many adopted ahead of policy—think plug-ins inside docs, chat, and code tools pulling snippets to third-party models. (Netskope)
Foundational guidance is clear. CISA’s Cloud Security Technical Reference Architecture keeps hammering the basics: inventory + least privilege + logging as bedrock for cloud/SaaS. (CISA)

The consulting-specific blind spots we keep seeing

Duplicate client tenantsPilots turn into production in a separate tenant with default settings and local passwords. No one “owns” it; everyone assumes someone does.
Guest sprawl across workspacesClients, contractors, and subcontractors accumulate permissions (often editor or admin). Offboarding misses them between project phases.
OAuth consents with persistenceA “Sign in with …” click plus offline_access issues refresh tokens that keep renewing access—surviving password changes and laptop swaps.
Browser-level AI and extensionsAI assistants inside office suites and IDEs quietly exfiltrate notes, contracts, and code via personal accounts.
Evidence at the end, not the beginningRFPs, security questionnaires, and SOC 2 audits demand proof—right when your team is busiest.

A pragmatic control plan (that won’t slow delivery)

1) Build a living inventory (your source of truth)

Correlate IdP sign-ins, email/collab logs, DNS/proxy, browser extensions, and expense data. Tag each app/tenant with owner, project/client, data sensitivity, SSO/MFA status, admin count, and OAuth scopes. This aligns to CISA’s “see first, then control” guidance. (CISA)

With Waldo, this takes minutes—no spreadsheets, no one-time exports.

2) Make SSO real (not just a slide)

Enforce SSO + MFA for high-risk apps first—client data, HR/finance, code, legal. Alert on password logins to apps that should be behind SSO. Verizon’s data shows this closes the most-abused path. (Verizon)

3) Govern OAuth like production change

Restrict end-user consent to verified publishers and low-risk scopes; require admin approval for tenant-wide or write scopes.
Hunt and kill broad + persistent grants (*.ReadWrite.All + offline_access).This is where many SSO bypasses live.

4) Control guests and link sharing

Expire guest access by default; time-box elevated roles; disable public links in sensitive areas and restrict external domains.

5) Tame shadow AI without killing momentum

Allowlist genAI apps by verified publisher; coach users in-line when they’re about to paste sensitive content; monitor org usage over time. Netskope’s numbers make the case to govern, not just block. (Netskope)

6) Automate offboarding across the long tail

HR event → remove access everywhere (including tokens) → transfer ownership → store proof. Consulting firms churn project teams; automation prevents “zombie” access.

7) Turn controls into reusable evidence

Stream SaaS audit logs to your SIEM; export monthly packets: SSO/MFA coverage, admin changes, OAuth diffs, offboarding timestamps, sharing exceptions. Clients and auditors love reproducible proof.

What “good” looks like in a consulting context

Per-client views: Filter your inventory and evidence by client/project for quick due-diligence responses.
Fast-lane onboarding: Publish a 24-hour approval path for known-good vendors and scopes; block the obvious “no’s.”
Owner of record: Every tenant/app has an internal owner (and a client owner if applicable).
Quarterly drift checks: New apps, new admins, new public links, new high-privilege grants—reviewed with action items.

With Waldo, you can export client-specific packets from the SaaS Compliance Overview and keep your control posture clear during RFPs and audits.

A 30-day rollout you can actually finish

Week 1 — See it

Run discovery; tag owners, clients/projects, auth method, admins, scopes, sensitivity. Flag apps with usage or spend but no SSO.

Week 2 — Stabilize it

Enforce SSO/MFA on top-risk apps; remove stale admins; restrict user consent; revoke unused persistent tokens.

Week 3 — Seal egress

Disable public links by default; time-box guest roles; allowlist genAI tools and coach in-line.

Week 4 — Prove it

Wire SaaS logs to SIEM; enable drift alerts (new apps/admins/public links/high-privilege grants). Export the first monthly evidence pack—plus per-client subsets for active engagements.

KPIs partners and clients will respect

Unknown → Known: % of traffic/spend tied to inventoried apps (target +10 points in 90 days).
SSO coverage: % of high-risk apps enforcing SSO/MFA.
OAuth health: # of high-privilege grants with offline_access; % reduced month-over-month.
Guest hygiene: # of external identities with admin/export roles; % time-boxed.
Evidence freshness: % of artifacts updated in the last 30 days.

Bottom line

Consulting firms win on speed and trust. The way to keep both is simple: see everything, shrink the blast radius, and keep the receipts. Industry data says portfolios are big, credential abuse is common, and genAI adoption is rising—so control has to be continuous, not episodic. (Okta, Verizon, Netskope)

If you want that without the heavy lift, we built it: get your truth map with Instant SaaS Discovery and turn it into clean, reusable proof via the SaaS Compliance Overview.