The SailPoint Reality Check
SailPoint is a core component of identity governance in many large enterprises. It’s widely adopted for managing access certifications, provisioning workflows, and policy enforcement—and for good reason. It’s proven, scalable, and deeply embedded in audit processes.
But even with SailPoint in place, we consistently see a familiar pattern emerge: visibility gaps, especially in systems outside the provisioning path.
It’s not going anywhere.
But if you’ve run identity programs long enough, you already know what comes next.
Even with SailPoint humming in production, the backlog creeps in.
Sometimes, before go-live is even complete.
You start with the crown-jewel systems. But pretty soon, the list of “we’ll get to it later” apps begins to grow:
- Internal tools built in-house – no off-the-shelf connectors
- Acquired teams running niche SaaS that no one owns
- Cloud services that operate outside your connector library
- And of course, that one finance app audit always flags – but never quite fits the roadmap
Then the inevitable question lands:
“Can we see all access… everywhere?”
And that’s where things start to break.
It’s a Visibility Problem—Rooted in IGA’s Design
SailPoint delivers on what it was designed to do: provision access, enforce policies, and manage certifications. And in that role, it’s a proven leader.
But identity has evolved. Cloud sprawl, shadow IT, and app-level permissions have pushed governance needs far beyond what traditional IGA systems were built to see. The result? Gaps—not because SailPoint failed, but because visibility wasn’t the original charter.
That’s where Veza comes in:
To give teams the visibility they never had, but always needed, without replacing the systems they’ve already invested in.
It’s the nature of modern IT: fragmented systems, decentralized teams, and too many cloud apps without native connectors. Legacy ERPs. Custom-built tools. Niche SaaS from acquired teams. Even mission-critical apps running in production – completely outside the provisioning path.
You can’t govern what you can’t see.
SailPoint does the heavy lifting: provisioning, policies, certs.
Veza delivers the missing visibility: actual permissions, in near real time, across all apps – connected or not.
Not to replace.
Not to compete.
But to augment what’s already working – and make it work everywhere else.
A Real-World Visibility Wake-Up Call
Here’s a real scenario from a large enterprise in a regulated space.
They had SailPoint Identity Security Cloud deployed across their major systems – solid provisioning, certification campaigns, and audit coverage. But during a SOX audit, a new admin account popped up in Salesforce.
Not a misfire.
Not a provisioning delay.
An account created directly in-app, completely outside SailPoint’s view.
Technically, Salesforce was “connected.”
But like many cloud platforms, it allowed local users, shadow admins, and role drift – paths that bypass governance workflows.
And Salesforce was just the start.
The team found over 100 high-risk apps with partial or no integration.
Finance systems. Customer data platforms. Engineering tools with sensitive IP.
The problem wasn’t IGA.
The problem was scope.
And it was creating governance gaps.
Enter Veza: Real-Time Visibility Across the Stack
This is where Veza steps in – not to displace SailPoint, but to augment it.
At a security-focused enterprise in a heavily regulated vertical, SailPoint was already in place, handling provisioning, policies, and certification campaigns. But cloud complexity was catching up. There were growing blind spots in apps where provisioning alone couldn’t tell the full story.
Veza closed the gap.
- Who has access?
- How did they get it?
- And where does it violate policy?
Within the first hour of deploying Veza, they uncovered:
- Admin access paths that bypassed SailPoint
- Permission changes made directly in-app
- SoD violations hiding in plain sight
And they didn’t stop at insight.
From Insight to Action: Scaling Without the Wait
Rather than wait on custom connectors or PS resources, the team moved fast.
With Veza, they brought 20 of their most critical systems – Salesforce, Snowflake, Workday, and more – into scope for near real-time, entitlement-level visibility across:
- Permissions
- Identity relationships
- Policy violations
No-code onboarding. No custom connectors. No delays.
And this was just phase one.
Their long-term vision?
170+ apps governed by Veza’s visibility layer – enabling access reviews, SoD enforcement, and control across even the most disconnected environments.
Because in a world where audit never sleeps, visibility can’t be optional.
From Blind Spots to Governance Coverage
Disconnected apps aren’t just a workflow issue – they’re a security liability.
- Dormant access that survives offboarding
- Orphaned accounts with lingering admin rights
- Non-human identities with no owner, no lifecycle, and no review
- Secrets and credentials with an unknown blast radius
These are the blind spots that evade traditional IGA, even when SailPoint is fully deployed.
With Veza, this org turned visibility into action:
- Ran User Access Reviews across apps like Snowflake, AWS S3, and Workday
- Discovered over-provisioned accounts and shadow IT access
- Enforced SoD controls across SaaS, cloud, and infra
- Tracked effective permissions across users, roles, and entitlements – not just group membership
And they did it without waiting on six-month connector cycles or ripping out their IGA stack.
The result?
The IAM team reduced audit fire drills, reclaimed time, and delivered the one thing leadership always asks for but rarely gets: A real-time, cross-system view of access risk.
For Security Teams, This Is Identity Maturity
Identity maturity isn’t just a nice-to-have.
It’s the difference between passing the audit and failing under scrutiny.
It’s not about having every app integrated.
It’s about having answers when the board – or the breach report – comes calling:
- Who has access?
- How did they get it?
- Does it violate policy?
With SailPoint, you’ve built a strong governance foundation – provisioning, certifications, and policies.
With Veza, you take that foundation further:
- Near real-time visibility into permissions across SaaS, IaaS, and disconnected systems
- Access reviews enriched with actual entitlements, not just theoretical roles
- Policy enforcement for SoD, least privilege, and privileged access – even in apps SailPoint doesn’t touch
- Faster onboarding of shadow and custom apps – no-code, no delay
This is the identity stack the modern security team needs: Policy + Visibility. Provisioning + Context.
Not rip and replace.
Augment and accelerate.
Because “identity maturity” isn’t just knowing who got provisioned.
It’s knowing who slipped through and what that exposure costs.
SailPoint keeps your policies in place.
Veza ensures they’re working everywhere.
Together, they don’t just check the compliance box.
They earn you time back, reduce audit fire drills, and give leadership the confidence that governance is real, not theoretical.
Let’s Get You Started
- Explore Veza’s Privileged Access Monitoring
See how Veza helps security teams gain real-time visibility into permissions across SaaS, cloud infrastructure, and on-prem systems—without waiting on connectors.
Enforce SoD policies. Uncover shadow access. Close the governance gap.
Learn More
- A Practical Guide to Avoiding the Pitfalls of IGA
Choosing the right Identity Governance and Administration (IGA) tools is crucial for effective access management. This guide helps you evaluate your options and steer clear of outdated, static, or surface-level IGA solutions.
Download the Guide
About the Authors
This article was developed in collaboration between Matthew Romero, Technical Product Marketing Manager at Veza, and Quoc Hoang, Principal Product Manager for Competitive Intelligence at Veza.
Quoc brings over a decade of experience in competitive intelligence, having built deep market awareness and go-to-market insights at leading enterprise software companies including Okta, OpenText, and Dell EMC. His background spans win/loss analysis, sales enablement, and strategic research across identity, content services, and cybersecurity, making him an essential voice when dissecting the competitive forces shaping the identity security market.
At Veza, Quoc leads the charge on competitive strategy, uncovering patterns in the identity ecosystem and translating them into actionable intel that informs product development, positioning, and field readiness. His analytical rigour and market intuition help teams anticipate moves before they happen – and build stronger plays as a result.
Matthew complements this lens with a practitioner-focused marketing perspective, ensuring that identity-first security narratives resonate across audiences – from technical implementers to business stakeholders. Together, they connect macro-level market shifts to the on-the-ground challenges identity leaders face every day.
Connect with the authors:
Quoc Hoang – LinkedIn
Matthew Romero – LinkedIn
