Netskope Study Reveals Key Stats on Mobile Usage of Cloud Apps in the Enterprise

Nearly half of all cloud app activities and more than one-third of all data leakage policy violations occur on mobile devices

• Organizations have 579 cloud apps in use on average, an overwhelming 88.7 percent of which aren’t enterprise-ready
• More than one-third of all cloud data leakage policy violations occur on mobile devices

LOS ALTOS, Calif. – Oct. 29, 2014 – Netskope, the leader in safe cloud enablement, today announced findings from its October 2014 Netskope Cloud Report™, a quarterly report that monitors cloud app usage trends. The report highlighted the increased prevalence of mobile cloud app usage in the enterprise and found that the vast majority of cloud apps are still not enterprise-ready. Additionally, data revealed that nearly half of all cloud app activity now occurs on mobile devices.

Based on aggregated, anonymized data from the Netskope Active Platform, which provides discovery, deep visibility, and granular control over any cloud app, the report’s findings are based on tens of billions of cloud app events seen across millions of users between July and September 2014. Enterprises are continuing to adopt cloud apps at a fast pace, with an average of 579 cloud apps per organization in Q3, up from 508 the previous quarter. Additionally, 88.7 percent of apps are not enterprise ready, scoring a “medium” or below in the Netskope Cloud Confidence Index^™.

“There’s a veritable storm of corporate activity across a wide variety of cloud apps, and it’s increasingly happening on mobile devices and often from remote locations,” said Sanjay Beri, CEO and founder of Netskope. “This makes it even more difficult for IT to keep tabs on sensitive corporate and customer data on user-owned devices, especially when you consider that the majority of these apps aren’t enterprise-ready. The data here indicate that, while IT is increasingly aware of the ‘shadow IT’ problem, it continues to underestimate actual app usage, and the associated risks, by a considerable margin.”

10 Cloud Apps Enterprise Users Are Most Likely to Access from a Mobile Device

The report identified the top 10 cloud apps accessed from mobile devices

Top Cloud App Activities on Mobile

Through this report Netskope isolated the cloud app activity data originating from mobile devices. The data validate that users see mobile devices as a viable extension of cloud apps for completing easily accomplished tasks like “send,” “share,” and “post.” Interestingly, the frequency of activities such as “create” and “approve” may be evidence that app vendors’ efforts to improve the user experience and streamline workflows on mobile devices are paying off.

Beyond the activities themselves, a high number of activity-based policy violations occur on mobile devices, the highest of which is 59 percent of “download” violations. Moreover, more than one-third (34 percent) of all data leakage policy violations occur on mobile devices. This is disproportionately high as compared to total cloud app consumption from mobile devices. Netskope researchers suspect that IT administrators have set stricter policies for mobile devices based on the higher inherent risks associated with mobile access, whether through a device purchased by the company or brought in by the employee through a BYOD program.

Which Cloud Apps are Most Popular?

The report identified the top 20 apps used by enterprises based on distinct app sessions. This reflects all cloud app access points tracked by the Netskope Active Platform, which includes perimeter device (e.g., firewalls, gateways, etc.) log analysis and real-time visibility of campus PC, remote PC, and mobile device (e.g., smartphones, tablets).

Netskope Resources

• To download the Netskope Cloud Report™: www.netskope.com/netskope-cloud-report
• To learn more about how to gain visibility into enterprise cloud apps and how to ensure they are secure and compliant, visit: www.netskope.com/netskope-one
• For the latest commentary and insight on trends from the Netskope team, visit the Netskope blog: www.netskope.com/blog

About Netskope

Netskope™ is the leader in safe cloud enablement. Only the Netskope Active Platform™ provides discovery, deep visibility, and granular control of sanctioned and unsanctioned cloud apps. With Netskope, IT can direct usage, protect sensitive data, and ensure compliance in real-time, on any device, including native apps on mobile devices and whether on-premises or remote, and with the broadest range of deployment options in the market. With Netskope, businesses can move fast, with confidence. Serving a broad customer base including leading healthcare, financial services, high technology, and retail enterprises, Netskope has been named to CIO Magazine’s top 10 cloud security startups and featured in such business media as CBS News, Wall Street Journal, and Forbes. Netskope is headquartered in Los Altos, California. Visit us at www.netskope.com and follow us on Twitter @Netskope.

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[1] The Netskope Cloud Confidence Index™ is a database of more than 5,000 cloud apps that are evaluated on 40+objective enterprise-readiness criteria adapted from the Cloud Security Alliance, including security, auditability, and business continuity. The results of the evaluation are normalized to a 0−100 score and mapped to five levels ranging from “poor” to “excellent.”