Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know about Coax, shadow IT discovery, and SaaS management.
Shadow IT refers to any software or cloud service used in your organization without IT's knowledge or approval. The average mid-market company has 3-4x more SaaS apps than IT is aware of. This creates wasted spend (30% on average), security vulnerabilities from unvetted tools, and compliance gaps that can lead to audit failures or regulatory fines.
Coax connects to your Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 environment and analyzes email metadata (sender domains, not email content) and identity provider logs. This lets us identify every SaaS application that has sent a confirmation, invoice, or notification to any employee — including free trials and apps purchased with personal credit cards.
Most mid-market companies save 25-35% on their SaaS spend after implementing Coax. Savings come from reclaiming unused licenses (the biggest source), eliminating duplicate tools across departments, right-sizing overprovisioned plans, and improving negotiation leverage with vendors through consolidated spend data.
No. Coax only analyzes email metadata — specifically the sender domain and subject line — to identify which SaaS services are sending messages to your employees. We never access email body content, attachments, or personal messages. Our processing is GDPR compliant and we have a full Data Processing Agreement available.
Setup takes about 15 minutes. You connect your Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 account through a secure OAuth flow, and Coax immediately begins scanning. Most customers see their first results — a complete SaaS inventory with cost and usage data — within the first hour.
Coax integrates with Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 for email and identity provider analysis. We also connect with major SSO providers including Azure AD and Okta. Our platform is designed to work with your existing IT stack without requiring any agents or software installation on employee devices.
Most SaaS management tools focus only on sanctioned apps you already know about. Coax starts with discovery — finding the shadow IT you don't know about. We're also built specifically for European mid-market companies, which means GDPR compliance is native, not bolted on. We offer EU-based data processing and pricing designed for companies with 50-500 employees.
Yes. Coax is built and operated from the EU (Copenhagen, Denmark). We process data in accordance with GDPR, have a comprehensive Data Processing Agreement, maintain a transparent list of subprocessors, and implement technical and organizational measures that meet EU data protection standards. We never transfer personal data outside the EEA without appropriate safeguards.
Coax provides a comprehensive dashboard with real-time visibility into your SaaS landscape. Key reports include: complete application inventory with user counts and risk scores, spend analysis with waste identification, security risk assessment with prioritized remediation steps, license utilization rates, and duplicate tool detection across departments.
Yes. We offer a free assessment where you can connect your environment and see your full SaaS landscape, including discovered shadow IT, potential cost savings, and security risks. There's no credit card required and no commitment. Book a demo and we'll walk you through the results together.
If you cancel your Coax subscription, we delete all your data within 30 days in accordance with our Data Processing Agreement and GDPR requirements. You can also request immediate data deletion at any time. We provide data export functionality so you can retain any reports or insights before your account is closed.