You’re responsible for your company’s IT security which includes protecting customer data. You’ve been waving the proverbial stick of security policy and regulatory compliance, but you’re not making any friends. Even if it’s for the greater good.

Corporate directors and managers see you as a necessary evil – a roadblock or speed bump on the path to business agility. They try to outflank you which leads to bad behavior. In your world, SaaS has become both a blessing and a curse. The cloud makes doing business easier and cuts costs, but at the departmental level you’re no longer in control or called upon to influence technology purchasing decisions that further business goals.

In short, you and IT are at risk of becoming irrelevant. It’s time to get your IT mojo back.

The easiest way to do that is by using a carrot, not  a stick. Don’t pull the security risk and insubordination card on SaaS renegades that are popping up all over the organization.

Instead, take advantage of one of the most powerful weapons at your disposal — SSO. Your fellow employees will thank, admire and respect you for giving them the convenience of using just one username and password to access all their on-premises and cloud-based apps.

A lot of companies that approach us for SSO tell us convenience is their number one priority. Employees who have experienced the benefits of SSO within their own departments are now demanding it universally for all applications. And why not? It seems simple and logical enough.

In addition to helping IT regain its mojo, the irony is a comprehensive SSO/IDaaS solution provides significant ROI in the areas of security, provisioning, authentication, authorization, and compliance. (I’ll be covering this in greater detail this afternoon in a free webcast on best practices for identity management in the cloud era. Sign up here if you’re available, or visit our site next week for related resources.)

But for now, think of SSO as the easiest way to restore your relevance, and perhaps even make you a hero among fellow employees.