Data Flow Mapping

The next step, and one of the most important, is to map out the data flow between the company's internal servers and the various cloud-based applications being used by employees. Based on the findings of the scan, the map includes all the people that touch the data and the processes that set the data in motion. Data flow mapping can be tricky when apps contain APIs to other applications, Motiwala said. (For example: HubSpot integrated with Salesforce.) The activity wouldn’t be going through the company's environment since integrated or interconnected apps will authenticate directly, he said.