SaaS vs. Cloud: Key Differences and Security Risks

There’s a growing disconnect in the industry: while many IT and security leaders remain focused on securing their cloud infrastructure, the real risk increasingly lies within the SaaS applications their teams use every day.

“SaaS security” and “cloud security” are often used interchangeably — but in reality, they require fundamentally different strategies. Failing to distinguish between the two can leave organizations vulnerable to unmanaged access, data leakage, and compliance failures.

In this article, we’ll break down the core differences between SaaS and traditional cloud environments, unpack the hidden security risks unique to SaaS, and show how DoControl helps modern businesses take back control of their SaaS stack — without slowing down productivity.

What’s the Difference Between SaaS and Cloud Environments?

In 2025, the lines between SaaS environments and general cloud computing can become blurred. But for security teams, understanding these differences is essential – especially when it comes to protecting data and applications across an increasingly sophisticated technology stack.

Cloud Computing Explained

At its core, cloud computing refers to the delivery of computing services – including servers, storage, databases, and networking – over the internet through a cloud provider. These services are typically offered by large third-party providers like AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud, and they’re delivered under three primary models:

• IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service): Offers raw infrastructure components such as virtual machines, load balancers, and object storage, allowing organizations to build and manage their own applications.
  
  
• PaaS (Platform as a Service): Provides a managed development environment for building and deploying software applications without handling the underlying infrastructure.
  
  
• SaaS (Software as a Service): Delivers fully operational, ready-to-use applications hosted and managed by the cloud service provider.
  
  

While all three models fall under the umbrella of cloud computing services, SaaS environments are uniquely positioned, and uniquely vulnerable.

What Makes SaaS Environments Different?

In a SaaS environment, the end-user accesses the software application directly through a web browser, with little or no control over how it’s hosted or secured. The software delivery model is fast and scalable, offering obvious benefits like reduced maintenance, automatic updates, and lower overhead. 

But that convenience comes with a price: limited visibility, reduced control, and a whole bunch of security risks.

Security Implications of SaaS

Unlike IaaS or PaaS, where the company is responsible for configuring and securing their infrastructure, SaaS shifts most of that responsibility to the provider (think Google Workspace, or Slack). However, what’s often overlooked is that SaaS security doesn't stop at the vendor level – it extends to how your employees and collaborators use the application.

Modern SaaS environments like Google Workspace and Slack are built for openness, collaboration, and speed. That same flexibility, however, can quickly become a liability if you don't have the right controls in place:

• Employees can grant external access to sensitive files, inadvertently exposing critical company data with a few clicks.
  
  
• Legacy accounts or over-permissioned users can continue to access critical data unnoticed until it's too late.
  
  
• Shadow apps and unapproved third-party apps that connect via OAuth can silently siphon off data and obtain access to files and information.

These risks highlight the growing need for data access governance, insider threat monitoring, and real-time remediation – areas where traditional cloud computing security tools fall short.

When to Choose SaaS vs. Cloud: Key Business Scenarios

Choosing between SaaS environments and broader cloud computing services like IaaS or PaaS isn't just a technical decision – it’s a strategic one that affects cost, compliance, scalability, and security posture. The right model often depends on how much control the company needs over infrastructure, how much visibility they require across applications, and how much operational complexity they’re willing to manage.

Why Many Businesses Start With SaaS

For modern businesses, SaaS is often the default choice – and for good reason. SaaS offers a low-friction path to software adoption, with fast deployment, minimal IT lift, and clear pricing structures. It's ideal for adaptable, agile businesses that have emerged within the last decade, especially those that are rising up in a post-pandemic boom where SaaS is the norm.

You don’t need to manage virtual machines, provision storage, or patch operating systems. Instead, you get immediate access to fully managed software delivery platforms via the internet, which is especially valuable for teams working remotely or across global offices.

SaaS adoption has surged across industries for everyday tools like file sharing, communication, collaboration, and even security. Google Workspace, Slack, and Salesforce are foundational applications in many organizations, and they’ve helped redefine the speed at which teams operate.

Importantly, this shift accelerated post-pandemic. As remote work became widespread, companies needed solutions that allowed employees to collaborate from anywhere with just an internet connection, making SaaS not just attractive, but essential.

When Cloud Infrastructure Offers More Control

In contrast, cloud infrastructure (IaaS) and platform services (PaaS) offer more flexibility for teams that need to build and host custom applications or maintain strict control over their environments. These models are ideal for:

• Highly regulated sectors (e.g., healthcare, financial services) requiring tailored security architectures.
  
  
• Organizations with mature DevOps teams and internal security resources.
  
  
• Workloads involving sensitive IP, proprietary data models, or machine learning pipelines.
  

They are also a natural fit for large, legacy enterprise companies that historically operated on-premises. These organizations – think UPS, Stryker, and other supply chain or manufacturing giants – often have centralized physical locations with hundreds or thousands of devices on the same internal network. Their security strategies have traditionally relied on firewalls, physical access controls, and VPN connections for remote access.

The Hidden Security Tradeoffs: SaaS vs. Cloud

While all forms of cloud computing services promise flexibility and scalability, the security implications vary widely depending on the delivery model. SaaS environments, in particular, present a unique set of challenges that are often underestimated – especially when organizations mistakenly assume that security just comes with the package of the SaaS app.

Why SaaS Environments Create New Security Gaps

The rise of SaaS has fundamentally changed how applications, users, and data interact. With software applications delivered directly over the internet, and users accessing them from anywhere, the traditional security perimeter has all but disappeared. And while SaaS applications reduce infrastructure overhead, they also introduce risk in new, subtle ways:

1) Lack of Data Access Governance

Most SaaS applications don’t offer a centralized way to manage access across platforms. There’s no universal dashboard to see who has access to what, or for how long. 

For example, a marketing lead might share a Google Drive folder containing brand strategy playbooks with a freelancer – but without proper controls, that access remains indefinitely. The result? You’re left in the dark, with no real visibility into how your sensitive data is being used or by whom – opening the door for both insider threats and accidental exposure.

2) Shadow IT and App Sprawl

It only takes a few clicks for an employee to connect a new tool to their work account. Maybe they install a Chrome extension that syncs with Gmail, or authorize a project management app to access their Google Drive and give read and write access. 

These tools might make work easier, but they often come with broad, unmonitored permissions – and IT usually has no idea they’ve been added. Multiply that across an entire company, and you’ve got a growing web of unsanctioned apps putting your data at risk.

3) Over-Permissioned Access

Without ongoing oversight, users tend to accumulate access they no longer need. Think about tax season: an accountant is given access to sensitive financial documents in Google Drive. Months later, they’re long gone – but still shared on folders containing the company’s latest financial data. This type of access is hardly ever revoked after the fact. This type of permission sprawl increases the risk of both internal misuse and accidental data leaks.

4) Data Exfiltration Risk

SaaS makes sharing data fast and seamless – which is great, until it isn’t. Picture a sales rep who’s accepted a job at a competitor. On their last day, they quietly forward a proprietary sales playbook to their personal email, or do a mass download of all the companies’ prospect lists. Without alerts, automation, or oversight in place, this type of exfiltration often goes unnoticed until after the damage is done.

SaaS is fast, scalable, and cost-effective – but securing it requires visibility, context, and solutions that operate inside the applications themselves. Legacy network or perimeter defenses weren’t designed for this model, and they shouldn't have to be. It's like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole

IaaS and PaaS: Flexible, But Heavyweight

By contrast, cloud infrastructure models like IaaS and PaaS give organizations more control over their computing, storage, and network layers. For some use cases – especially in highly regulated industries – this level of customization is necessary.

However, with that control comes complexity like configuration risks, security teams being responsible for setting up and maintaining logging, access controls, encryption, and disaster recovery, and tool sprawl. 

While powerful, IaaS and PaaS can feel heavy and outdated for fast-moving teams. They remain common in legacy enterprise environments, where on-prem systems, VPN connections, and highly specific architecture requirements still drive decisions. 

These are the types of companies that have the resources for all of this management and oversight. But for organizations prioritizing agility, remote work, and distributed collaboration, SaaS has clearly become the cloud computing model of the future.

The Bottom Line: Different Models, Different Risks

SaaS trades backend control for ease and speed, but brings new responsibilities around data governance, insider risk, and third-party access. IaaS/PaaS offers customization, but at the cost of agility and operational simplicity.

In a modern threat landscape defined by collaboration, mobility, and decentralized data, securing SaaS applications requires more than firewalls and VPNs – it demands purpose-built solutions that can operate at the speed of SaaS.

Where DoControl Fits: Securing Modern SaaS Stacks

By now, the message is clear: SaaS environments unlock speed, scale, and simplicity, but they also create serious blind spots for security teams. As the number of SaaS applications, users, and integrations continues to grow, so does the risk of data exposure, misconfigurations, and insider threats.

That’s where DoControl comes in.

At DoControl, we help security-conscious organizations embrace the benefits of SaaS without giving up visibility or governance. Our platform is purpose-built for securing modern cloud-based services all at the SaaS layer.

Here’s how we help:

• Data Access Governance: Know who has access to what across every connected software application in your SaaS stack. We give you continuous, detailed visibility into user permissions, including internal employees, contractors, and external collaborators.
• Data Loss Prevention: Control how sensitive data and applications are shared both internally and externally. DoControl enforces policy-based controls to prevent accidental or intentional data leakage, with automated workflows to revoke risky sharing in real time.
• Shadow App Detection: Detect and remediate unauthorized tools and applications that users connect to your environment. Our platform monitors OAuth activity and connected apps, so you can eliminate shadow IT and reduce your attack surface.
• Identity Threat Detection & Response (ITDR): Monitor for unusual, high-risk user activity. Think mass downloads, anomalous employee behavior or access patterns, and suspicious third-party app usage. Automatically respond before damage is done.
• Misconfiguration Management: Ensure your SaaS applications are configured according to security and compliance best practices. DoControl continuously audits settings like file sharing defaults, access expiration policies, and integration scopes, ensuring nothing slips through the cracks.

The DoControl Difference: Built for the Modern SaaS-First Enterprise

As businesses continue their shift to cloud computing, the rise of SaaS environments has created both massive opportunity and growing risk. 

Whether you're securing 10 apps or 100, managing hundreds of users or thousands, or just need to get a handle on what's happening in your SaaS environment, DoControl scales with your business. Our solution is designed for tech-forward, cloud-native businesses that need to move fast without compromising security.

The truth is, SaaS applications are now the backbone of modern productivity – and they demand a modern security approach. IT and security leaders must go beyond surface-level protections and adopt tools that work inside the SaaS layer, where data lives and collaboration happens.

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