Guide to SaaS Compliance Software—Tools, Risks & Best Practices

Though SaaS compliance can look like a policy issue, the primary concern is actually visibility. According to Zylo’s 2026 SaaS Management Index, the average large enterprise (10,000+ employees) has 696 applications in its portfolio. In addition, 46% of those applications are considered to have Poor or Low risk scores. These applications sprawl across decentralized teams, meaning IT, SAM, and Procurement teams have little insight into what tools are in use, where data flows, or whether security standards are being met. 

This guide to SaaS compliance software gives you a practical framework for getting compliance under control. You’ll learn how to: 

• Map regulatory obligations
• Evaluate vendor security posture
• Select compliance software that scales with your environment
• Build processes that keep you audit-ready throughout the application lifecycle

Whether you’re prepping for your first SOC 2, managing GDPR across a global portfolio, or navigating AI-related compliance concerns, you’ll find actionable guidance grounded in real-world enterprise data.

What Is SaaS Compliance?

SaaS compliance refers to meeting regulatory, security, and contractual requirements when using cloud-based software applications. This includes adhering to data privacy regulations, security standards, industry-specific mandates, and license terms that govern how your organization stores, processes, and protects information within SaaS environments.

At its core, SaaS compliance ensures your software portfolio aligns with both external legal obligations and internal governance policies. It spans data protection frameworks such as GDPR and HIPAA, security certifications such as SOC 2 and ISO 27001, financial reporting standards, and license compliance requirements that prevent unauthorized software use or incurring overage penalties.

Why SaaS Compliance Matters

SaaS compliance protects your organization from regulatory fines, security breaches, and operational disruptions. Nearly half of the applications in the average portfolio carry Poor or Low Cloud Confidence Index ratings, introducing significant security and compliance risks. Without structured oversight, organizations face data exposure, contract violations, and audit failures that can result in financial penalties and reputational damage.

Compliance also enables business growth by establishing trust with customers, partners, and regulators. Organizations with strong governance frameworks can pursue new markets, demonstrate data stewardship, and respond confidently to audits.

Key Types of SaaS Compliance

There are several types of SaaS compliance organizations must prioritize, including:

• Data privacy compliance
• Security compliance
• Financial and reporting compliance
• License compliance

Data Privacy Compliance

Data privacy compliance governs how your organization collects, stores, processes, and shares personal information through SaaS applications. These regulations protect individual rights and establish accountability for data handling practices, with enforcement agencies imposing steep penalties for violations.

Relevant Regulations (GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA)

• The GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) applies to any organization that processes the personal data of EU residents, regardless of where the company is located. It requires explicit consent for data collection, grants individuals the right to access and delete their information, and mandates breach notifications within 72 hours. Violations can result in fines up to €20 million or 4% of global annual revenue.
• CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act) gives California residents rights over their personal information, including the ability to know what data is collected, request deletion, and opt out of data sales. Organizations must provide clear disclosures and maintain processes for handling consumer requests.
• HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) protects health information in the United States. Any SaaS application that handles protected health information must comply with HIPAA’s Privacy Rule, Security Rule, and Breach Notification requirements. Business associate agreements are required with vendors who process this data on your behalf.

Security Compliance

Security compliance ensures SaaS applications meet industry-recognized standards for protecting sensitive data, maintaining system integrity, and demonstrating enterprise readiness. Frameworks like SOC 2 and ISO 27001 provide objective criteria that help organizations assess vendor security posture before adoption and throughout the application lifecycle.

Standards and Frameworks (SOC 2, ISO 27001, PCI DSS)

• SOC 2 (Service Organization Control 2) evaluates how well a SaaS vendor protects customer data based on five trust principles: security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy. SOC 2 Type II reports demonstrate that controls operate effectively over time, making them essential for enterprise procurement decisions.
• ISO 27001 is an international standard for information security management systems. Certification shows that a vendor has implemented comprehensive security controls, conducts regular risk assessments, and maintains ongoing compliance through internal and external audits.
• PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) applies to any organization that stores, processes, or transmits credit card information. Compliance requires network security controls, encryption, access restrictions, vulnerability management, and regular security testing.

Financial and Reporting Compliance

Financial compliance ensures accurate accounting for SaaS spend, proper revenue recognition, and adherence to procurement policies. To maintain compliance, organizations must:

• Track all software assets
• Maintain contract records
• Report expenditures in alignment with internal controls and external audit requirements

SaaS sprawl complicates financial compliance when applications are purchased outside formal procurement channels. According to the 2026 Zylo SaaS Management Index, 81% of SaaS spend now originates from lines of business rather than IT. As a result, financial records are fragmented or incomplete, making it difficult to maintain audit-ready documentation.

“Building a library of all your applications should be number one on your list. You want to confidently say to auditors, ‘This is my list of certified applications.’”

— Jennifer Clark, Global IT Asset Manager at Hyatt

License Compliance

License compliance prevents unauthorized software use, ensures adherence to vendor contract terms, and avoids costly true-up penalties during audits. Organizations must track license entitlements, monitor active users, and maintain documentation to verify that deployments remain within contracted limits.

According to Zylo’s 2026 SaaS Management Index, enterprises waste an average of $80.6M annually on unused SaaS licenses, with a median of $62.8. This license waste reflects both underutilization and inadequate license management processes. Organizations that maintain license positioning year-round avoid true-up costs at renewal and reduce spend by rightsizing entitlements based on actual usage.

Why Compliance Matters: Benefits and Risks of Non-Compliance

Compliance protects your organization from legal, financial, and operational consequences while enabling growth through customer trust and market access. 

Benefits of Compliance vs. Risks of Noncompliance in SaaS Environments

Protecting Data Security and Privacy

Compliance frameworks establish baseline security controls that protect sensitive data from unauthorized access, breaches, and misuse. Organizations that implement these controls reduce their exposure to security incidents and data loss.

In 2025, IBM’s Cost of a Data Breach Report found that the global average cost of a data breach reached $4.4M. Organizations with stronger governance experience faster detection and containment, which drives down breach costs. However, 97% of organizations lacking AI governance policies reported AI-related security incidents. Together, these figures demonstrate how quickly new technology can introduce risk when compliance practices lag behind adoption.

Legal, Financial, and Reputational Risk Avoidance

Non-compliance exposes organizations to regulatory fines, legal action, and reputational damage that can disrupt business operations and erode customer confidence. Today, AI is a prime concern. According to the Zylo’s 2026 SaaS Management Index, 93% of IT leaders express varying levels of concern about company data exposure through AI tools. Meanwhile, 43% cited exposure of sensitive company data as their biggest AI concern.

Regulatory enforcement has intensified across jurisdictions, and penalties for violations continue to escalate. Organizations that fail to meet data privacy obligations face fines, mandatory breach notifications, and legal liability. Reputational harm from compliance failures can result in customer attrition, lost deals, and diminished brand trust that takes years to rebuild.

“Playtime is over. We can’t afford to let AI grow unchecked. Structure is what keeps speed from turning into risk.”

— Jez Back, Cloud Economist and Global Offer Leader at Capgemini

Business Growth, Customer Trust, and Market Access

Compliance enables business growth by demonstrating your organization’s commitment to data protection, security, and operational integrity. Customers, partners, and prospects increasingly evaluate vendor compliance posture before entering agreements, making certifications and audit readiness competitive differentiators.

Organizations with strong compliance programs can:

• Pursue regulated industries
• Expand into new geographies
• Respond confidently to customer security questionnaires

Compliance also streamlines procurement processes by:

• Reducing due diligence cycles
• Accelerating contract negotiations with enterprise buyers
• Supporting documented security and privacy controls required for approval

Challenges and Complexities of SaaS Compliance

Traditional governance models often struggle to address:

• The complexity of the regulatory landscape across jurisdictions
• Shared responsibility model (vendor vs. customer responsibilities)
• Continuous vs. one-time compliance—why it’s ongoing
• Decentralized ownership drives shadow IT and poor visibility
• Data fragmentation complicates governance and compliance tracking
• Inadequate identity and access management enables unauthorized access
• Dynamic environments create SaaS sprawl

The Complexity of the Regulatory Landscape Across Jurisdictions

Regulatory requirements vary across industries, geographies, and data types, creating a complex compliance environment that requires continuous monitoring and adaptation. Organizations operating globally must navigate:

• Overlapping frameworks
• Conflicting requirements
• Evolving regulations that change enforcement standards over time

For example:

• GDPR governs EU resident data regardless of where your company operates.
• CCPA applies to California residents with different consent and disclosure requirements.
• Healthcare organizations managing patient data must comply with HIPAA in the United States, while financial services firms must comply with PCI DSS for payment processing.

Each framework carries distinct audit expectations, documentation requirements, and penalty structures.

Shared Responsibility Model (Vendor vs. Customer Responsibilities)

SaaS compliance operates under a shared responsibility model. Vendors secure the underlying infrastructure and application, while customers manage data governance, access controls, and compliance configuration. This division creates gaps in accountability when organizations assume vendors handle all compliance obligations or fail to understand which controls require customer implementation.

Vendors may achieve SOC 2 certification or ISO 27001 compliance. Still, these certifications do not absolve customers of their responsibility for data classification, user provisioning, or policy enforcement. As a customer, you must evaluate vendor security posture, review audit reports, and implement internal controls that align with your compliance obligations.

Continuous vs. One-Time Compliance—Why It’s Ongoing

Compliance is not a one-time review—it is an ongoing operational discipline. Regulations evolve, vendors release updates, and business needs shift, requiring continuous monitoring to stay aligned.

SaaS applications change frequently, introducing new features, pricing models, and data flows that can impact your compliance posture. According to the 2026 Zylo SaaS Management Index, organizations add an average of nine applications per month, creating a constantly evolving portfolio.

Without continuous oversight, applications that were compliant at purchase can drift out of alignment as vendors introduce AI capabilities, modify data handling practices, or change contract terms.

Decentralized Ownership Drives Shadow IT and Poor Visibility

Decentralized SaaS ownership creates compliance blind spots when business units purchase applications outside formal review channels. Our data shows that IT now manages just 15% of spend and 13% of applications. Meanwhile, shadow IT makes up 45% of applications in the average tech stack.

As a result, teams have limited visibility into:

• What tools are in use
• Where data is stored
• Whether applications meet security and compliance standards

Data Fragmentation Complicates Governance and Compliance Tracking

Data fragmentation occurs when sensitive information is spread across multiple SaaS applications without centralized visibility or consistent governance. When organizations lack a unified system of record, compliance tracking becomes significantly more difficult.

Fragmented data environments make it harder to:

• Track how sensitive data moves across applications
• Enforce consistent access controls
• Demonstrate regulatory adherence during audits

Limited visibility into application usage compounds the issue. Organizations often do not know which tools store sensitive data, how that data is classified, or whether vendors meet compliance requirements. According to the 2026 Zylo SaaS Management Index, 76% of IT leaders discovered AI-powered features or applications operating without IT’s awareness—highlighting how quickly unmanaged tools can create new, untracked data pathways that increase compliance risk.

Inadequate Identity and Access Management Enables Unauthorized Access

Identity and access management gaps create compliance risks when organizations fail to enforce authentication standards, manage user provisioning, or regularly review access privileges. According to the 2026 Zylo SaaS Management Index, only 21% of applications are protected by single sign-on, indicating that authentication controls remain inconsistently applied across SaaS portfolios.

Without centralized identity management, organizations face an elevated risk of account compromise, data leakage, and unauthorized access to sensitive information. Employees who leave the organization may retain access to applications, former contractors may maintain credentials, and shared accounts may bypass audit trails that track user activity.

Dynamic Environment: SaaS Sprawl and Vendor Updates Create Ongoing Challenges

SaaS sprawl and rapid vendor updates create a dynamic compliance environment that requires continuous monitoring:

• Applications constantly enter and exit the portfolio
• Vendors introduce new features with minimal notice
• Pricing models shift toward consumption-based structures that alter data processing relationships

On average, the size of the average portfolio grows by 34%. This velocity makes it difficult to maintain compliance when governance processes cannot keep pace with adoption.

The Best Practices for SaaS Compliance

For effective SaaS compliance, follow these five best practices:

1. Map out applicable compliance obligations
2. Risk assessment and readiness
3. Implement security controls and monitoring
4. Automate compliance processes
5. Maintain documentation and evidence for audits

1) Map Out Applicable Compliance Obligations (Based on Geography, Industry, Data Types)

Start by identifying the regulatory, security, and contractual obligations that apply to your organization based on geography, industry, and data types. By conducting this assessment, you establish the compliance baseline that informs vendor evaluation, risk management, and governance policies.

For example:

• Organizations processing EU resident data must comply with the GDPR
• Healthcare companies managing protected health information must comply with HIPAA
• Financial services firms handling payment card data must meet PCI DSS standards
• Companies operating in California must address CCPA obligations.

Each framework carries specific requirements for data handling, breach notification, audit documentation, and vendor management.

2) Risk Assessment and Readiness

Conduct regular risk assessments and gap analyses to:

• Evaluate your current compliance posture
• Identify vulnerabilities
• Prioritize remediation efforts

Through these assessments, examine application security, data flows, access controls, vendor certifications, and internal governance processes.

Audit readiness requires:

• Maintaining a complete application inventory,
• Documenting ownership and approval workflows
• Tracking vendor compliance certifications

3) Implement Security Controls and Monitoring

Implement technical, administrative, and access controls that enforce compliance requirements across your SaaS portfolio. Controls should address:

• Identity and access management
• Data classification
• Encryption
• Network security
• Monitoring capabilities that detect unauthorized activity

Consider implementing:

• Single sign-on to enable centralized authentication and simplify access management by consolidating user provisioning and deprovisioning.
• Role-based access controls to limit privileges to only what users need to perform their jobs, reducing exposure from compromised credentials.
• Monitoring tools to track application usage, detect anomalies, and provide audit trails that document user activity.

4) Automate Compliance Processes

Automate compliance workflows to reduce manual effort, improve accuracy, and scale governance as your SaaS portfolio grows. Compliance software centralizes vendor assessments, tracks certifications, monitors regulatory changes, and generates audit reports that demonstrate your adherence to security and privacy requirements.

SaaS Management Platforms like Zylo provide visibility into application inventory, risk scoring, renewal timelines, and usage data that support compliance oversight. These platforms integrate financial, identity, and application data into a single system of record, enabling IT, Procurement, and Security teams to manage compliance at scale across decentralized environments.

5) Maintain Documentation and Evidence for Audits

Maintain comprehensive documentation that proves compliance during audits, including:

• Application inventories
• Vendor certifications
• Risk assessments
• Approval workflows
• Data processing agreements

By having audit-ready documentation, you can demonstrate governance discipline and reduce the time and cost associated with compliance reviews.

Organizations should centralize contract records, track vendor security posture, and document changes to the SaaS portfolio over time. This creates a defensible audit trail that shows compliance obligations were understood, controls were implemented, and monitoring occurred throughout the application lifecycle.

SaaS Compliance Software Tools to Consider

Compliance software automates vendor assessments, tracks certifications, monitors regulatory requirements, and generates audit reports that demonstrate adherence to security and privacy standards. The following list includes the top software provides that helps organizations manage compliance at scale.

How Leading SaaS Compliance Tools Compare

While these aplatforms share common capabilities in audit automation and control monitoring, they differ in governance scope, privacy depth, and SaaS lifecycle visibility.

What These Tools Do Well

Vanta, Drata, and Secureframe automate:

• Control monitoring
• Audit evidence collection
• Certification workflows

OneTrust expands beyond audit automation into:

• Privacy governance
• Regulatory intelligence
• AI risk management

What They Don’t Solve

Most compliance automation tools assume:

• You already know every SaaS application in use.
• Ownership and renewal data are centralized.
• Shadow IT and expensed apps are controlled.

For IT and Security leaders, this assumption is risky. If unknown applications exist outside formal review channels, compliance automation platforms can only monitor what they are connected to.

SaaS Compliance Software #1 — Vanta

About Vanta: Vanta automates security and compliance workflows for organizations pursuing SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, and GDPR, among 35+ frameworks. The platform continuously monitors security controls, collects audit evidence, and streamlines certification processes.

Features and Competitive Advantages:

• Automated evidence collection reduces manual audit preparation by integrating with 400+ cloud infrastructure, identity providers, and SaaS applications.
• Continuous monitoring tracks control effectiveness over time, providing real-time visibility into compliance posture.
• Pre-built policy templates and frameworks accelerate certification by providing audit-ready documentation aligned with SOC 2, ISO 27001, and other standards.
• Vendor risk management capabilities evaluate third-party security posture through automated questionnaires and continuous monitoring.

SaaS Compliance Software #2 — Drata

About Drata: Drata provides compliance automation for SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS, and 30+ additional frameworks. The platform simplifies audit preparation by continuously collecting evidence, monitoring controls, and tracking compliance status across cloud and SaaS environments.

Features and Competitive Advantages:

• Automated evidence collection integrates with 300+ tools to streamline audit preparation and reduce manual work.
• Personnel monitoring ensures employees complete security training, acknowledge policies, and maintain compliant access privileges.
• Vendor risk management tracks third-party compliance through automated assessments and certification monitoring.
• Dashboard reporting provides real-time compliance status and audit-readiness metrics to stakeholders.

SaaS Compliance Software #3 — Secureframe

About Secureframe: Secureframe simplifies compliance for SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, PCI DSS, GDPR, and 20+ additional frameworks by automating evidence collection, monitoring security controls, and managing audits through a centralized platform.

Features and Competitive Advantages:

• Automated compliance workflows reduce audit preparation time by continuously collecting evidence from 300+ cloud infrastructure, identity providers, and SaaS application integrations.
• Risk management capabilities identify vulnerabilities, track remediation efforts, and provide audit-ready documentation.
• Vendor risk assessments evaluate third-party security posture through questionnaires and certification tracking.
• Policy and training management ensures employees acknowledge security policies and complete required training programs.

SaaS Compliance Software #4 — OneTrust

About OneTrust: OneTrust is an AI-ready governance platform for privacy, risk, data, and compliance. The platform supports data discovery, consent management, vendor management, and regulatory intelligence across global frameworks, including GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA, SOC 2, and ISO 27001. OneTrust’s growing emphasis on AI governance that sets it apart from more narrowly focused compliance automation tools.

Features and Competitive Advantages:

• Data discovery and classification identify sensitive information across SaaS applications, databases, and cloud environments.
• Privacy management automates consent tracking, data subject requests, and breach notification workflows.
• Vendor risk management evaluates third-party compliance through assessments, contract reviews, and certification tracking.
• Regulatory change management monitors evolving compliance requirements and updates workflows to reflect new obligations.

Zylo: Foundational SaaS Compliance Layer

SaaS Management Platforms like Zylo complement compliance tools by providing the complete application inventory, ownership data, usage insights, and renewal visibility required to enforce governance at scale. While compliance tools automate audit workflows and track certifications, Zylo helps organizations:

• Discover sanctioned and unsanctioned SaaS across AP, expense, SSO, and admin data
• Centralize ownership, spend, contract, and renewal visibility
• Provide governance enforcement across decentralized purchasing

Compliance automation ensures controls are monitored, while SaaS Management ensures every application is in scope.

“Zylo has helped us with the ability to establish a methodical and reliable framework for SaaS governance. The Zylo platform provides us with a complete view of our software spend and associated products.”

— Ash Rai, Former Director of Software Asset Management and Vendor Relations at Adobe

Building a SaaS Compliance Framework for Your Organization

Your organization’s SaaS compliance framework should include:

• A step-by-step approach
• Clear definition of roles and responsibilities
• Incorporate compliance into business strategy and culture

Take a Step-by-Step Approach to SaaS Compliance

A SaaS compliance framework formalizes accountability, risk evaluation, policy standards, monitoring, documentation, and ongoing review across a growing application portfolio.

Step 1: Conduct a Compliance and Risk Assessment

To establish a foundation for governance priorities, organizations begin by mapping regulatory and contractual obligations to their SaaS portfolio to identify:

• Applications handling sensitive data
• Control gaps and exposure
• Vendors that fail to meet security standards

Step 2: Establish Application Inventory and Ownership

A centralized inventory—capturing ownership, contracts, spend, and usage—creates accountability. Each application should have a defined stakeholder responsible for access, renewals, and compliance artifacts.

Step 3: Define Policies and Intake Standards

Documented policies establish consistent requirements for security reviews, data classification, vendor risk evaluation, access controls, and contractual safeguards. Intake workflows operationalize these standards before new tools are adopted.

Step 4: Monitor Control and Maintain Audit Evidence

Continuous monitoring integrates with identity systems, cloud infrastructure, and SaaS applications to track control effectiveness and vendor certifications. Automated evidence collection supports sustained audit readiness.

“We couldn’t keep absorbing surprises. Governance gave us control, but more importantly, it gave us foresight.”

— Siroui Mushegian, CIO at Barracuda

Step 5: Centralize Reporting and Documentation

Centralized records—such as inventories, risk assessments, certifications, approval logs, and data processing agreements—support internal reporting and provide auditors with defensible proof of governance.

Step 6: Conduct Ongoing Reviews

Regular reassessment ensures controls remain aligned as SaaS portfolios evolve, vendors introduce new capabilities, and regulatory expectations change. Without structured review cycles, applications that were compliant at adoption can fall out of alignment due to feature updates, AI integrations, contract changes, or shifting data flows. Continuous review prevents control gaps and governance misalignment from developing over time and sustains audit readiness.

Defining Roles and Responsibilities

Clear roles and responsibilities ensure compliance accountability across IT, Procurement, Legal, Security, and business teams. Each function contributes distinct capabilities that together create a comprehensive governance framework:

• IT manages application discovery, identity and access management, and technical security controls.
• Procurement enforces contract standards, negotiates vendor terms, and ensures data processing agreements align with compliance requirements.
• Legal evaluates regulatory obligations, reviews vendor contracts, and provides guidance on data protection frameworks.
• Security conducts risk assessments, monitors threats, and enforces security policies across the SaaS portfolio.
• Business units own applications, manage user access, and ensure tools align with operational and compliance needs.
• Third-party vendors share responsibility for compliance under the shared responsibility model. Vendors secure infrastructure and application layers, while customers manage data governance, access controls, and policy enforcement.

Incorporating Compliance into Business Strategy and Culture

Compliance must extend beyond IT and Security to become part of organizational culture, where every team understands its role in protecting data, managing risk, and adhering to governance standards. Achieving this requires:

• Executive sponsorship
• Clear communication
• Accountability mechanisms that reinforce compliance as a business priority

Organizations that integrate compliance into procurement workflows, onboarding processes, and performance metrics create governance discipline that scales with growth. Training programs ensure employees understand compliance obligations, while dashboards provide visibility into risk, audit readiness, and governance outcomes.

Emerging Trends and the Future of SaaS Compliance: 2026 and Beyond

SaaS compliance is evolving in response to new regulations, advanced technology, and shifting vendor strategies that introduce complexity and risk.

Evolving Regulations

Regulatory frameworks are expanding to address AI, data privacy, and cross-border data transfers, creating new compliance obligations that organizations must navigate. Governments worldwide are introducing legislation that governs AI transparency, algorithmic accountability, and automated decision-making.

• EU AI Act, which went into effect as of August 2, 2025, classifies AI systems by risk level and imposes requirements for transparency, human oversight, and conformity assessments. High-risk AI applications face strict compliance obligations, including documentation, testing, and ongoing monitoring. More high-risk system requirements to come in 2026 and 2027
• The California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) expands CCPA by introducing new consumer rights, stricter data minimization requirements, and enforcement authority for California’s Privacy Protection Agency. In January 2027, CCPA’s Automated Decision-Making Technology regulations will begin to be enforced.
• State-Level Privacy Laws continue to proliferate across the United States, with Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, and other states enacting legislation that creates fragmented compliance requirements for organizations operating nationally.

Organizations must monitor regulatory changes, assess how new laws impact their SaaS portfolios, and update governance frameworks to reflect evolving obligations.

The Shift Toward Unified, Future-Proof Compliance Frameworks

In 2026, mature organizations are standardizing on unified control frameworks to bring structure and discipline to fragmented compliance efforts. Rather than managing regulatory obligations in silos, they anchor governance in a single control architecture that maps across multiple standards and jurisdictions.

Instead of maintaining separate programs for SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR, and HIPAA, these organizations design controls once and apply them across frameworks. The result is reduced operational drag, less audit fatigue, and a compliance model built to scale as regulations expand and enforcement intensifies.

Increased Automation and Compliance Technology

As SaaS portfolios expand and AI adoption accelerates, automation is becoming central to how organizations maintain oversight. Modern compliance environments rely on real-time integrations across cloud infrastructure, identity systems, financial data, and SaaS applications. Controls are monitored continuously, and compliance posture adjusts dynamically as applications, configurations, and regulations evolve.

Governance functions are converging as well. FinOps, ITAM, Security, and Compliance teams are aligning around shared data and unified platforms as cost management, risk oversight, and regulatory accountability increasingly intersect—particularly under AI-driven and consumption-based pricing models.

A SaaS Management Platform plays a foundational role in this evolution by providing visibility into application inventory, ownership, usage, and contract terms. Enterprise-scale compliance requires governance that extends across decentralized purchasing channels and adapts as the portfolio changes.

Checklist for SaaS Compliance Readiness

Use this checklist to evaluate your organization’s SaaS compliance readiness and identify gaps that require remediation.

Inventory of SaaS Tools and Data Flows

Maintain a complete inventory of all SaaS applications, including:

• Application name and vendor
• Contract terms and renewal dates
• Application owner and business unit
• Data types processed (e.g., personal data, payment information, health records)
• Data residency and storage locations
• Integration points and data flows between applications

Data Classification and Access Control Audit

Conduct regular audits that verify:

• Sensitive data is classified and labeled according to organizational policies
• Access controls align with role-based permissions and least-privilege principles
• Single sign-on is enforced across applications handling sensitive data
• User provisioning and deprovisioning workflows operate effectively
• Former employees and contractors no longer retain access to applications

Security Controls and Policies Review

Review security controls to ensure:

• Applications meet security standards (e.g., SOC 2, ISO 27001)
• Vendor certifications are current and audit reports are reviewed
• Encryption protects data in transit and at rest
• Multi-factor authentication is enabled for applications with privileged access
• Security policies address password management, device security, and remote access

Compliance Documentation and Audit Evidence

Centralize documentation that proves compliance, including:

• Application inventory with ownership and approval records
• Vendor security certifications and audit reports
• Data processing agreements and business associate agreements
• Risk assessments and gap analysis findings
• Incident response plans and breach notification procedures

Regular Review and Monitoring Schedule

Establish a cadence for ongoing compliance oversight:

• Quarterly risk assessments to identify new vulnerabilities
• Monthly reviews of application inventory and ownership
• Ongoing monitoring of vendor security posture and certifications
• Annual audits to validate controls and prepare for external reviews
• Continuous tracking of regulatory changes that impact compliance obligations

Ready to Strengthen Your SaaS Compliance Software Strategy?

SaaS compliance software protects your organization from legal, financial, and operational risk while reinforcing customer trust and market credibility—especially as SaaS portfolios grow and AI adoption accelerates. Sustaining that protection requires centralized visibility, defined ownership, and continuous governance across every application to maintain audit readiness at scale.

Zylo provides the system of record that strengthens audit readiness by delivering complete visibility into applications, ownership, spend, and contracts. Learn how Hyatt’s software asset management team stays audit-ready and maintains compliance with Zylo. Or request a demo to see how enterprise SaaS governance supports compliance at scale.