In a recent roundtable, industry leaders explored how organizations are modernizing access security and user experience. The conversation centered on the challenges of securing applications in multi-cloud and hybrid environments, and how enterprise browsers may provide a viable alternative to legacy solutions like VPNs, VDIs, and Citrix-based access.
Legacy Challenges
Many companies continue to run applications built a decade or more ago. While back-end systems remain stable, front-end interfaces often lag behind in modernization. At the same time, organizations are juggling AWS, Azure, on-prem, and SaaS applications with a patchwork of firewalls, WAFs, and segmentation tools. Managing vulnerabilities in traditional access gateways was highlighted as a constant “fire drill,” with critical patches emerging every few weeks and complex scheduling requirements to avoid client disruption.
Extending Beyond Internal Staff
A key theme was the question of whether secure browsers should be used only for employees or extended to customers, contractors, and BPO partners. While adoption within the workforce is relatively straightforward, extending this requirement to clients presents challenges. Convincing external users to download and adopt a new browser introduces friction, but it can also streamline access by removing VPN and Citrix dependencies.
The Enterprise Browser Advantage
Enterprise browsers emerged as a potential solution to bridge the gap between productivity and security. Built on Chromium, these tools inherit broad application compatibility while layering in enterprise-grade features such as:
- Centralized management without endpoint agents.
- Copy/paste controls and data boundaries between approved corporate apps and personal apps.
- Contextual printing restrictions and watermarking for sensitive data.
- Integration with existing SASE, SIEM, XDR and SOAR platforms to extend “last-mile” protection.
- Support for contractors, BPOs, and unmanaged devices without VPN or VDI overhead.
Practical Use Cases
Participants discussed practical applications, including:
- Protecting SaaS platforms like Salesforce and M365 with consistent controls across all users
- Securing contingent workers and contractors without the complexity of provisioning full corporate devices- enabling the business with less friction options
- Reducing dependency on Citrix and other heavy access solutions, particularly for development and global workforces
- Applying data protection policies even to thick applications, ensuring sensitive data cannot leak through local copy/paste, personal email, or external apps.
Broader Concerns: SaaS and AI Sprawl
Another recurring theme was “sprawl,” both SaaS and AI. With employees interacting with dozens of third-party applications and increasingly experimenting with generative AI tools, visibility and control have become top-of-mind. Enterprise browsers offer a way to insert uniform controls and logging across disparate platforms, without waiting for individual vendors to adjust their security posture.
Adoption Considerations
Despite the promise, adoption hurdles remain. Some expressed concerns that introducing yet another browser could meet resistance from end users who are deeply tied to their personalized Chrome or Edge setups. A potential strategy to overcome this is rebranding the enterprise browser as the organization’s own, making it part of the corporate identity and positioning it as a productivity booster rather than a restriction.
Looking Ahead
The discussion highlighted that while not every organization is ready to embrace enterprise browsers, the use cases are growing, especially for those managing contractors, BPOs, and multi-cloud SaaS environments. As AI usage and SaaS sprawl continue to expand, enterprise browsers may become a critical part of the modern security stack, providing the elusive balance between frictionless access and airtight protection.
