Shadow IT refers to technology of any kind – whether that's an app, a cloud service, or a device – that someone in the business uses and manages without the IT team's knowledge or authorization. Although this phenomenon has been around for some time, it has accelerated in recent years. According to G2, experts estimate that 40% of all IT spending at a company now takes place outside of the IT department. Here's what you need to know about the risks and opportunities of unauthorized tech and how to work with shadow IT rather than against it.
The serious risks of shadow IT
Shadow IT may seem harmless at first, but it comes with serious drawbacks. Security is first and foremost among them. As IT professionals will tell you, businesses almost always face a tradeoff between security and convenience. To get more of one of those things, you usually have to give up some of the other. And because IT professionals are not involved with configuring or administering shadow IT technology, this means that no one with cybersecurity expertise or responsibility is paying attention to the security side of that equation. Employees who do an end run around IT and install shadow technology are usually laser focused on convenience and productivity. They have a clear idea of how the tech will help them and their colleagues get more work done or collaborate more effectively, but they don't often appreciate or understand the risks it could pose to the company as a whole. To a certain degree, this is understandable. Most employees are proficient in using consumer technology in their personal lives, but they usually don't have a formal IT background and their job descriptions typically don't include making high-level risk management decisions for the entire business. The problem is that no one is carrying out that mission-critical oversight. As a result, shadow IT has a higher risk of cybersecurity and compliance issues than tech that the IT team has officially vetted and approved. As G2 points out, the main danger lies with data leaks, which can cost millions of dollars and wreck the company's reputation in short order. Seventy-nine percent of employees say that the biggest threat of introducing new technologies without IT's approval is risking the security of the company. If the business is in a highly regulated industry, the penalties and consequences could be even more severe. Companies with a large amount of shadow technology may also be making duplicate investments in similar services without even realizing it, and they may be missing opportunities to integrate various tools with one another so that the business as a whole can benefit even further.The surprising opportunities of shadow IT
It may be alarming to think of rogue technology humming away on your network without any IT oversight, but shadow IT can also be a blessing in disguise. In essence, the presence of shadow IT is information. It tells the IT team that there are technology enthusiasts at the organization who have demonstrated a need for a particular business capability or advantage. With a little outreach and partnership, the IT team might be able to help these employees accomplish their goals while gaining better visibility into how employees are using technology in the process, resulting in a win-win for IT and its colleagues. Some veteran IT professionals bristle at the notion of individual users setting up apps or devices without permission, of course, and with good cause. Shadow IT can inadvertently wreak havoc on the business, by releasing malware, for example, into the environment that grinds network performance to a halt and results in a sudden spike of stressed-out calls to the help desk. Even these IT pros must admit that the horse has left the barn to a certain degree, though. Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policies are enormously popular at many companies, and the sudden transition to remote work during the pandemic has only further blurred the distinction between personal and business technology. It's also true that IT has far better tools for securely supporting users' personal technology than it once did. IT leaders are under pressure to accelerate digital transformation on a larger scale than ever before. They will only be able to do this by gaining an accurate and up-to-date understanding of how their colleagues use technology to get work done today. Shadow IT, once detected, can actually help them identify the technology advocates in their midst and, by collaborating with them, come up with innovative technology strategies that enable business growth.How to use shadow IT to your advantage
As the old adage goes, you can't manage what you can't see – and shadow IT is, by definition, tricky to glimpse, let alone control. This is even more challenging for an organization with a remote workforce. But you can learn to use it to your advantage and, in doing so, you can even achieve a more rewarding balance between security and convenience for everyone involved. First, you'll want to gain visibility into the hidden technology or practices that could be of greatest concern from a security perspective. For example, a centralized solution for employee identity and access management (IAM) can help your IT team better manage access to every application and device, whether it's being used on the premises of a traditional office or an employee's home office. You can take this a step further by deploying single sign-on (SSO), which not only grants IT more granular control over access but also gives employees a more convenient experience. A business password manager gives your employees a secure option for storing their passwords while giving IT better tools for managing password security across the entire business, even on shadow IT devices or apps.Illuminate your shadow IT
Although shadow IT can seem threatening and it certainly is an important issue that every company should take seriously, it can be remedied with a little light. By using intelligent tools to gain visibility into how employees are using technology at your company, and by collaborating with enthusiastic technology adopters to learn why they are using certain apps or devices and what they ultimately want to achieve, IT can turn the liabilities of shadow IT into advantages. With a thoughtful approach for addressing shadow IT in place, your company will be in a far better position to maximize the benefits of technology while minimizing their risks. Discover how LastPass' effortless password management improves password hygiene and security.Share this post via:
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