Jay Srinivasan
We started Stitchflow to solve a specific issue - IT teams have a massive visibility problem.
Modern IT environments are riddled with gaps and inefficiencies due to a lack of visibility caused by fragmented tools and complex configurations in each tool.
IT teams have to manage 10s to 100s of tools including Core IT tools such as Okta, JAMF, Active Directory, company-wide tools such as Slack, Zoom and Office365, and function specific SaaS tools like Salesforce, Asana, and Airtable. And core tools in particular have complex configurations - intricate webs of employees, contractors, apps, groups, and channels. This results in a mesh that’s incredibly hard to decipher, and hence, gaps abound.
In other articles, we’ve provided specific details around the gaps caused by visibility (also summarized in the table below).
In this article, we take a look at existing potential solutions to IT visibility, their pros and cons around visibility, and the gaps that they address versus miss.
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As we delve into the landscape of available solutions, we’ve identified four primary categories of tools that can assist with visibility issues.
This includes essential IT tools like Okta, Azure AD, JAMF, and Slack.
Pros: Many of these tools offer reasonable reporting capabilities for their own tool so you have visibility into the environment within the tool
Cons: First, the robustness of reporting varies widely between tools, with some tools being quite weak. Additionally, the reporting is often more around audit vs. understanding relationships. Second, no individual vendor is incentivized to provide visibility beyond their core product, so any analysis that requires multiple tools is not served. This becomes a critical issue when attempting to verify data across different platforms.
Performance against visibility gaps
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These are specialized tools addressing specific IT use cases, such as identity governance (like Okta IGA or Lumos) and SaaS license management (like Productiv).
Pros: They come with a user interface specifically designed for their intended use case.
Cons: Their utility is restricted to the specific use case they address, making them less versatile for broader visibility needs. Specific to the identity governance use case, tools are usually more focused on access certification vs. access gap visibility. Integrating multiple such tools for each visibility gap is costly and still leaves visibility gaps.
Performance against visibility gaps
Tools like Okta Workflows or Bettercloud that enable the creation of automated actions based on certain triggers.
Pros: They are excellent for automating processes that are well-defined and consistent
Cons: Automation does not equate to visibility. These tools aren't designed for gap identification and can be complex to set up and modify. Additionally, they lack mechanisms to verify the successful execution of workflows.
Performance against visibility gaps
Custom-built solutions within an organization, ranging from simple spreadsheets to more sophisticated SQL databases with BI interfaces.
Pros: Tailored to the specific needs of a business, these can offer detailed and relevant insights.
Cons: However, they require significant resources to develop and maintain. The complexity of APIs and the continuous investment needed for upkeep make them a challenging option for many organizations.
Performance against visibility gaps
In exploring these options, it becomes evident that each has its own set of advantages and limitations. Despite the availability of these tools, a comprehensive solution to the visibility problem in IT environments remains elusive. The challenge is not just in finding tools that can provide data, but in integrating and interpreting this data in a meaningful way that identifies and remediates the gaps inherent in modern IT infrastructures.
Unlike existing IT solutions, Stitchflow is purpose built to give IT teams 360 visibility across their entire environment.
Stitchflow automatically applies over 100 checks across user access, drift in enrollment between groups, apps and channels, device health, compliance checks, and unused apps. Stitchflow identifies exactly what needs to be fixed, enables remediation in bulk, and then automates maintenance so gaps are addressed as soon as they are found.
20+ IT teams from incredible companies have been using Stitchflow since May and are seeing daily value - hours saved every week in spreadsheets, quick identification of gaps in their environments, and the ability to rectify painful issues in bulk.
Stitchflow’s free trial is commitment-light, requiring no set-up; All you have to do is authenticate into your tools and Stitchflow generates a gap analysis. You can instantly address issues and have confidence in the continuous correctness of your IT environment going forward. You can get a demo or try out Stitchflow by signing up below!