Access to SaaS tools accumulates faster than it is removed. Roles change, partners complete projects and trial accounts remain active. A quarterly review reduces this invisible stock of risk without requiring a large security program.
Build a complete application inventory
Combine information from SSO, the password manager, financial charges and questions to teams. Tools missing from the official inventory are often the hardest to review. Record the service owner, data type and critical integrations.
Ask for a justification for each role
Do not simply ask whether access is still needed. Ask which specific task requires each role and whether it can be done with fewer privileges. Least privilege becomes practical when linked to real work.
Check inactive and external users
Prioritize former employees, previous partners, shared accounts and users without recent activity. Verify service accounts separately, because disabling them without understanding their purpose may interrupt a critical workflow.
Close recovery gaps
Examine MFA, recovery emails, phone numbers and ownership of the main administrator account. A secure everyday account can be bypassed through an old recovery email. Maintain at least two controlled administrators and an emergency access procedure.
Record the decision
For every exception, keep who approved it, why, until when and with which compensating control. Silently keeping access is not a decision. An expiry date forces the team to revisit the risk.
Measure completion
Track the proportion of applications reviewed, accounts removed, administrator privileges reduced and owners still unidentified. Success is not the spreadsheet but the actual implementation and verification of changes.
The quarterly SaaS review is an original access framework developed by DigitalNow.