Catching the Hot Potato – Building Effective Application Governance Models

Hot Potato – Who Should Own Application Governance in Entra ID? (Part 4 of 4) 

In the first three parts of this series, we explored the application governance challenge in Entra ID, the stakeholders involved, and the risks of unclear ownership. Now, in this final blog of our four-part series, let's focus on practical solutions to help your organization effectively manage application governance.

ICYMI Hot Potato Series: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

Models for Collaborative Application Governance 

Full disclosure - no single approach works for every organization. Don’t be surprised if you must hybridize multiple models to find your perfect fit. With that understood, let’s review several governance models that have proven effective. Consider these options: 

The Center of Excellence Model 

This model creates a dedicated cross-functional team that owns application governance: 

Core team composition: 

• Specialist from the IT team 
• Security analyst from the cybersecurity team 
• Compliance specialist 
• Business relationship manager 

How it works: 

• The team establishes governance standards and processes 
• They review and approve application requests 
• They conduct periodic reviews of existing applications 
• They serve as the central point of contact for application governance questions 

Best for: Large organizations with complex governance needs and sufficient resources to staff a dedicated team. 

The Federated Governance Model 

This approach distributes governance responsibilities across teams with clear accountability: 

Key roles: 

• Identity team: Owns authentication protocols and credential management 
• Cybersecurity team: Owns risk assessment and security monitoring 
• Business units: Own business justification and user access reviews 
• IT operations: Owns application lifecycle management 

How it works: 

• Clearly defined responsibilities for each team with documented handoffs 
• Regular cross-team governance meetings 
• Shared tools and dashboards for visibility 
• Executive sponsorship to ensure collaboration 

Best for: Organizations with strong, well-established teams that prefer to maintain their autonomy while collaborating effectively. 

The Hybrid Ownership Model 

This model combines centralized standards with distributed execution: 

Structure: 

• Central governance committee establishes policies and standards 
• Designated application owners in each business unit handle day-to-day governance 
• IT provides tools and technical oversight 

How it works: 

• Centralized policies ensure consistency 
• Local ownership ensures business context 
• Regular reporting and auditing maintain accountability 
• Escalation paths exist for complex scenarios 

Best for: Organizations seeking balance between standardization and business unit flexibility. 

Recommendations by Organizational Size 

Implementation strategies should be tailored to an organization's size and maturity: 

For Smaller Organizations (< 1,000 employees) 

Start with these essential steps: 

1. Designate a single accountable owner for application governance, even if part-time 
2. Create a simple application inventory with basic metadata (owner, purpose, access level) 
3. Implement a basic approval workflow for new applications 
4. Schedule quarterly reviews of all applications and their permissions 
5. Document application lifecycle procedures for onboarding and offboarding

Focus on fundamentals and gradually increase sophistication as your organization grows. 

For Mid-sized Organizations (1,000-5,000 employees) 

Build on the essentials with: 

1. Establish a governance committee with representatives from IT, cybersecurity, and business units 
2. Implement tiered governance based on risk (higher scrutiny for applications accessing sensitive data) 
3. Deploy monitoring tools to track application behaviors and anomalies 
4. Create application owner training to ensure consistent governance practices 
5. Develop integration with change management processes 

Balance formality with flexibility to support business needs. 

For Large Enterprises (5,000+ employees) 

Implement comprehensive governance: 

1. Create a dedicated application governance team with specialized expertise 
2. Establish detailed governance policies aligned with corporate standards 
3. Implement automated workflows for application requests and approvals 
4. Deploy advanced monitoring and analytics for continuous assessment 
5. Integrate governance with enterprise architecture and procurement processes 

Focus on scalability, consistency, and automation to manage complexity. 

Technology Enablers for Application Governance

Several tools can support effective application governance: 

Native Microsoft Tools 

• Entra ID App registrations dashboard: Core management interface for application registrations 
• Entra ID Conditional Access: Control access to applications based on context 
• Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps: Monitor application behavior and detect anomalies 
• Entra ID Privileged Identity Management: Manage elevated application permissions 
• Microsoft Purview: Integrate application governance with broader compliance efforts 
• Microsoft Sentinel SIEM platform: Aggregate application security logs for analysis 

Additional Governance Technologies such as ENow’s App Governance Accelerator Solution 

• Application cataloging: Maintain a comprehensive inventory beyond Entra registrations 
• Workflow automation tools: Streamline application requests and approval processes and ongoing app governance through automated owner reviews. 
• API security platforms: Monitor API usage between applications 
• CASB solutions: Control cloud application usage and data movement 

Technology alone won’t solve your governance challenges, but the right tools can significantly enhance your governance capabilities.

Best Practices for Establishing Clear Ownership 

Regardless of your chosen model, these practices help establish effective governance: 

Executive Sponsorship 

Secure leadership support by: 

• Quantifying governance risks in business terms 
• Highlighting efficiency gains from proper governance 
• Connecting governance to strategic initiatives 
• Establishing executive-level reporting on application risks (AppGov Score improvements can be super helpful here) 

Without executive backing, governance initiatives frequently stall when they encounter resistance. 

Clear Documentation 

Create these essential documents: 

• Application governance policy with clear ownership definitions 
• Standard operating procedures for application lifecycle events 
• Role and responsibility matrices (RACI) for governance activities 
• Decision frameworks for application approvals 

Documentation ensures consistency as teams change over time. 

Integrate Processes 

Connect application governance with related processes: 

• Change management for application modifications 
• Identity lifecycle for user access to applications 
• Vendor management for third-party applications 
• Risk management for ongoing evaluation 

Integration ensures governance doesn't become an isolated activity. 

Stakeholder Engagement 

Maintain active stakeholder involvement through: 

• Regular governance steering committee meetings 
• Application owner communities of practice 
• Clear value demonstration of governance controls 
• Simplified processes for business stakeholders 

Governance succeeds when stakeholders see value rather than obstacles. 

Continuous Improvement 

Regularly enhance your governance approach: 

• Collect metrics on governance effectiveness 
• Solicit feedback from application owners 
• Update processes based on lessons learned 
• Benchmark against industry standards 
• Adapt to evolving regulatory requirements 

Governance is a journey, not a destination. 

Measuring Governance Effectiveness 

Establish metrics to track your governance progress: 

Security metrics: 

• Percentage of applications with permission review in the last 90 days 
• Number of applications using outdated authentication protocols 
• Time to remediate excessive application permissions 

Operational metrics: 

• Average time to approve new application requests 
• Percentage of applications with designated owners 
• Number of applications decommissioned quarterly

 Compliance metrics: 

• Percentage of applications with completed security reviews 
• Number of compliance findings related to applications 
• Documentation completeness for high-risk applications

Regular measurement helps demonstrate progress and identify areas for improvement. 

Application governance doesn't have to be a game of hot potato. With clear ownership models, appropriate processes, and the right technology, organizations can transform application governance from a chaotic challenge to a strategic advantage. 

Start your application governance journey with these steps for success: 

1. Assess your current governance state using the warning signs from Part 1 in this series 
2. Identify the governance model that best fits your organization's culture and structure 
3. Secure executive sponsorship for your governance initiative 
4. Implement basic governance processes even as you develop the full program 
5. Continuously measure and improve your approach 

Remember, effective application governance isn't about creating bureaucracy. It’s about enabling innovation securely. By establishing clear ownership and streamlined processes, you'll help your organization confidently leverage cloud applications while properly managing the associated risks. 

The hot potato stops here. 

Stop Playing Hot Potato with Your Entra ID Application Governance 

 

The Challenge Is Clear... 

Is your organization struggling with unclear application governance ownership in Entra ID? Do you lack visibility into your enterprise application security posture? Are stakeholders pointing fingers when application governance issues arise? 

 

Measure What Matters 

 

AppGov Score provides you with a comprehensive metric that quantifies your application governance health quickly.  

• Share risk gaps with leadership for executive support 
• Identify high-risk app governance areas to focus on (enterprise apps, registrations, tenant settings) 
• Track improvement over time with objective measurements based on Microsoft’s recommended practices and Microsoft Security & Identity MVPs and SMEs.  
• Convert technical risks into business impact metrics 

Use AppGov Score as a starting point to make a proactive plan for better application governance in Entra ID!  

 

→ [Get Your Free AppGov Score Now]