What is Shadow IT? Defined, Explained, and Explored

Shadow IT is the use of information technology systems, devices, software, applications, and services without explicit Information technology section approval. It has grown exponentially in recent years with the adoption of deject-based applications and services.

While shadow IT can ameliorate employee productivity and bulldoze innovation, it tin can besides innovate serious security risks to your organisation through data leaks, potential compliance violations, and more.

One of the biggest reasons employees engage in shadow It is only to work more efficiently. A 2012 RSA study reported that 35 per centum of employees feel like they need to work effectually their company’due south security policies just to get their task done. For example, an employee may discover a better file-sharing awarding than the one officially permitted. Once they begin using it, use could spread to other members of their section.

The rapid growth of deject-based consumer applications has too increased the adoption of shadow IT. Long gone are the days of packaged software; common applications like Slack and Dropbox are bachelor at the click of a button. And shadow IT extends beyond work applications to employees’ personal devices such equally smart phones or laptops, aka Bring Your Ain Device (BYOD).

The bottom line is that if IT isn’t aware of an application, they tin’t back up it or ensure that it’due south secure. Industry analyst house Gartner predicts that by 2020, ane-tertiary of successful attacks experienced by enterprises will be on their shadow IT resources. While it’s articulate that shadow IT isn’t going away, organizations tin can minimize risk by educating cease users and taking preventative measures to monitor and manage unsanctioned applications.

Shadow Information technology isn’t all inherently dangerous, simply certain features like file sharing/storage and collaboration (e.g., Google Docs) can result in sensitive data leaks. And this adventure extends beyond simply applications—the RSA study also reports that 63 percent of employees send piece of work documents to their personal email to work from dwelling house, exposing data to networks that can’t be monitored by IT. Beyond security risks, shadow IT can also waste coin if unlike departments are unknowingly purchasing duplicate solutions.

Despite its risks, shadow IT has its benefits. Getting approval from IT tin can require fourth dimension employees can’t afford to waste. For many employees, Information technology approval is a bottleneck to productivity, peculiarly when they can become their ain solution up and running in just minutes.

Having Information technology act like an Orwellian “Big Brother” isn’t always conducive to productivity and distinguishing between good and bad shadow It may be the best compromise. Finding a eye basis tin can allow cease users to find the solutions that work all-time for them while allowing IT to control information and user permissions for the applications. This lessens the It department’s burden; if end users don’t need to asking new solutions, that frees upward Information technology’s fourth dimension to focus on more business-critical tasks.

Applications: Dropbox, Google Docs, Slack, Skype, Excel Macros, Microsoft Office 365

Hardware: Personal laptops, tablets, and smartphones