Containing Data Sprawl — Secure Collaboration for Distributed Partner Ecosystems

The problem

Enterprises routinely exchange sensitive documents (contracts, PII, financials, IP) with vendors, suppliers, and channel partners via email, Google Drive, or consumer cloud storage. These files are often downloaded onto partner machines with no oversight — creating uncontrolled data sprawl, weak chain-of-custody and high compliance risk.

IT and security teams lacked a way to:

• Enforce least-privilege access across external users

• Prove who viewed or exported a file and when

• Onboard partners quickly without issuing corporate identities

ZapperEdge solution

ZapperEdge delivered a secure external collaboration platform built around Zero-Trust principles and enterprise-grade governance.

Key elements:

• Zero-download secure viewer — prevents local copies while preserving workflow access.

• Granular RBAC & conditional privileges — configurable read/view/download rights per partner, per folder, per file.

• Tamper-proof audit trail — timestamped access events (view, download, share) with exportable logs for SIEM/eDiscovery.

• Lightweight partner onboarding — invite external users without needing corporate email provisioning, reducing operational friction.

• Integration friendly — designed for SSO (SAML/OIDC), Azure AD alignment and API-level connectivity to existing MFT, DLP and SIEM stacks.

Implementation (high level)

• Map partner roles and required privileges (supplier, vendor, auditor)

• Configure RBAC policies and conditional access rules in ZapperEdge

• Invite partners via secure links; enforce MFA and viewing controls

• Route audit logs to centralized SIEM for monitoring and compliance reporting

Business & security outcomes

• Eliminated uncontrolled local copies of sensitive documents across partner ecosystems

• Reinstated verifiable chain-of-custody — who accessed what and when — enabling swift audit responses

• Reduced operational overhead: no need to create corporate IDs or manage lifecycle for short-term collaborators

• Strengthened compliance posture and simplified evidence collection for audits and eDiscovery

Why Azure partners and enterprise customers should care?

• Azure-ready: Fits into Microsoft-centric environments (SSO, Azure AD integration, SIEM/export).

• Compliance acceleration: Provides the auditability enterprises need for regulatory frameworks.

• Operational efficiency: Fast partner onboarding without IT provisioning overhead.

• Risk reduction: Implements least-privilege and Zero-Trust controls on third-party collaboration.