• Implementing application control isn’t a one-and-done effort.
• Rolling it out in phases builds protection without disrupting systems or operations.
• The Application Control for Dummies eBook covers the NIST-backed five-step approach for ensuring success. 

Rolling out application control can feel like repairing a ship mid-sail. Abruptly add one control without visibility or planning, and you risk unnecessary friction for the business-critical systems that keep the ship sailing. Meanwhile, overworked security teams are already juggling the day-to-day work of keeping operations afloat. 

But the goal of application control deployment isn’t to lock down everything overnight or overhaul every app in one sweep. The real objective is lasting control without disruption. 

For the sake of your dashboards (and sanity), structured, phased approaches—like those recommended by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)—turn application control into a strategic advantage. Savvy, steady implementation can protect your daily operations while creating a resilient foundation that scales with your business. 

Make a plan

The NIST recommends a five-phase rollout plan. This multi-step mapping is intended to help identify and address any potential issues before deploying a solution across your entire organization. By breaking the rollout into clear, manageable steps, you can introduce control gradually, learn from each stage, and make adjustments as you go. It’s not about slowing down, but staying in command.

Lucky for you, this recent guide, Application Control For Dummies, breaks down those five steps.

Step 1: Assess your current environment

An initial needs analysis should be the first step of your application control efforts. Before any controls can be enforced, you need a clear view of your current operating environment, any existing constraints, and how the platform will be applied across the environment.

As part of this initial inventory, document any systems that must interact with the platform and what the platform will monitor. This may also include drafting approval policies and recognizing non-functional requirements.

This phase is about clarity. No enforcement yet—just watching how things run. Know the environment first and avoid surprises later. You’ll thank yourself later.

Step 2: Design policies with intention

With improved visibility, it’s time to plan for success. This phase is about deciding where application control will take hold and how you’ll introduce it. Think placement, scope, and timing—not raising every sail at once.

In the design system phase, start creating a pilot. A small, controlled rollout lets you validate performance, fine-tune policies, and prove early wins without risking your production environment. It keeps the rollout safe, steady, and full of fast feedback, which is exactly what you want before scaling—ensuring every policy works as intended before it touches the wider environment.

Step 3: Deploy your pilot

This is where planning meets reality. The pilot phase introduces application control to a small, strategic set of systems—just enough to quickly learn how it behaves in real conditions without putting your environment at risk. 

Start in monitor mode and observe how the platform impacts performance, fits into existing workflows, and integrates with other tools. Then, you can refine policies and processes with minimal disruption and shift into enforcement once you’ve worked through the kinks. 

Step 4: Scale with confidence

With a successful pilot behind you, it’s time to extend application control to a wider set of users and systems. This is where training and clear onboarding processes matter. There is no such thing as over communication during this process: Proactively train your IT and support teams on what to expect, how to help users, and how to escalate issues quickly. 

Roll out in waves. Start with a small group, assess performance, and adjust one set of policies before moving to the next. Some systems may stay in monitor-only mode indefinitely—don’t panic. Let flexible controls reflect how your environment actually works, without sacrificing security.  

Step 5: Sustain the system

Once application control is deployed broadly, the goal shifts from rollout to long-term maintenance and refinement. This is where the platform becomes part of your everyday security operations.

This phase includes routine tasks like applying patches, tuning policies, and reviewing approvals as new tech enters the environment in the long term. Regular testing ensures your platform continues to accurately detect changes as your ecosystem scales, and responds as expected. 

Keep it tuned, not forgotten 

Application control isn’t something you switch on and walk away from. Environments change, users install new tools, updates roll out, and threats are always lurking in the shadows. If your controls aren’t evolving, you’re not protected—you’re exposed. 

Regular testing and tuning keep your policies aligned with how your organization actually works. Even small tweaks, like verifying patches before rollout or adjusting approvals based on new behavior, go a long way in preventing friction. Think of it as maintenance with intention—light, continuous calibration that keeps your security and operations running  smoothly.

Legendary application control at your fingertips 

Equipped with a realistic rollout plan and a solution purposefully designed for testing and fine-tuning, you can manage the challenges of implementing new controls. And with Carbon Black App Control, rollout and maintenance is a lot easier than you might think.

Tried, tested, and true, Carbon Black App Control has led the charge in enterprise-grade, user-friendly application control for over 10 years. Driven to demonstrate its numerous tangible benefits—and help you make your business case faster—we turned to Forrester Consulting for a detailed study on how it helps businesses in the wild.

In the Total Economic Impact™ of Carbon Black App Control, a study commissioned by Carbon Black, organizations reported measurable gains across security operations and IT productivity, including faster malware remediation and less time spent on extensive investigations. Together, those benefits and cost savings led to a 207% ROI over three years for the composite organization, with payback in under seven months.