Auvik SaaS Management (ASM) provides a single view of SaaS and desktop applications across your organization. It combines data from your identity provider, browser activity, and the desktop agent to show which applications are in use and who is using them.
Note: to view installed applications, the ASM agent must be version 2.7.1 or later. Devices on earlier versions continue to report only desktop applications detected through usage. To update, run your deployment script.
How ASM Discovers Applications
ASM combines data from multiple sources to provide visibility into the applications across your organization:
- Identity provider: Connect Microsoft Entra ID, Google Workspace, or Okta to bring application sign-in activity into ASM.
- Browser activity: ASM detects web and browser-based applications through browser activity.
- Desktop agent: The ASM agent runs silently on managed devices to identify installed applications, track usage, and associate applications with users and devices.
Types of Applications ASM Tracks
- Desktop applications: applications being actively used on managed devices. The installed applications scan adds software that is installed but hasn’t been used.
- SaaS applications: traditional applications used on both the desktop and in the browser.
- Business applications: web-based tools employees rely on to do their jobs, including portals, line-of-business tools, and other third-party SaaS tools, and more.
When ASM Starts Tracking an Application
ASM begins tracking an application after one of the following:
- Single sign-on: once your identity provider integration is set up
- Web login: a sign-in to an application using a username and password
- File behavior: a user downloads a file from a web-based application
- Consistent interaction: a user accesses a web application on most days of a week, or visits it a significant number of times
- Active application: a desktop application actively used on a device
- Installed application: an installed apps scan runs to detect installed applications across devices
Understanding Your Application Inventory
Here is how to find application details on your client tenant.
Discovered Applications
From the left panel, click Applications → Select Discovered
This table shows your application inventory: applications detected through user activity (SaaS apps and desktop apps that have been used) and applications found by the installed applications scan. The “Sources” column shows how the application was discovered, whether via one or more sources. This table highlights application categories and risks that are automatically set for each application as part of our inventory, usage trends, SSO and MFA coverage. Click any application to view more details of its category, users, and devices where it’s installed if it’s a desktop app. You can view preset views such as “shadow AI” or “recently discovered apps” or create your own custom views to share with your team. This table gives you the flexibility of classifying the applications based on their lifecycle stage, setting a business owner, and setting a streamlined process for application detection and discovery for a fully automated experience to keep track of your full software stack.
Installed Applications
From the left panel, click Applications → Select Installed
Installed applications visibility gives you a complete inventory of the desktop software installed on your managed devices, whether or not anyone has ever opened it. The installed applications view lists all versions detected for each application and the devices associated with it.
Note: to view installed applications, the ASM agent must be version 2.7.1 or later. Devices on earlier versions continue to report only desktop applications detected through usage. To update, run your deployment script.
User-Level Application View
From the left panel, click Identities & Assets → Select Users
This table lists the users in your environment. Click into a user to see the applications used & account details.
Device-Level Application View
From the left panel, click Identities & Assets → Select Devices
This table shows devices with active ASM agents installed and applications installed on each device. Click into the number of applications for a full list of applications and versions installed.
Getting the Most Out of Application Visibility
- Make sure you enable all Auvik data collection methods for the end-to-end application view: identity provider integration, browser extension, and desktop agent.
- Use application categories, risk ratings, and usage trends to prioritize your review. Classify applications to better organize your application stack.
- Create and share custom views of Discovered Applications with your team. Tag applications and add notes to keep the inventory organized and capture useful context.
- Use ASM reports and exports to support audits, QBRs, and software cleanup projects.
- Filter the Discovered Applications table by Installed App and Desktop Activity sources to compare installed applications with those in use. Turn off Exclude installed-only applications to see the full picture.
- In the Installed Applications table, review application versions to find older releases, then export the device list to help plan updates.
- Check the software installed on new devices to confirm it meets your standards.
- Look for installed applications with no recorded usage before license reviews and renewals.
- Extend application visibility with direct integrations for many applications such as Microsoft Entra ID, Google Workspace, Adobe, and more. These integrations unlock capabilities such as license insights, underused license identification, and user provisioning. Learn more: SaaS Ops Integrations
- Review your client dashboard for valuable insights and a snapshot of key application activity. Learn more: Understanding Insights in Your SaaS Dashboard
Need Help?
If you have questions about any insight or need help interpreting your data, please contact Support or reach out to your Auvik Customer Success Manager.