The growth in ‘Shadow IT’ is leaving IT departments caught between a rock and a hard place, according to Simon Bain, CTO of search specialists, Simplexo, who suggests that the concerns existing around managing unsupported devices are equally matched by the need to bring IT expenditure in on budget.
“IT departments are constantly coming up against challenges. Whether it’s overspend, projects running late or even security threats, it’s never a dull moment in the IT department, and currently the latest challenge is managing the emergence of Shadow IT.
“Shadow IT can either be hardware or software, based within the enterprise that is not supported by the organisation’s central IT department. On the surface, this is deemed as neutral, however, ask anyone from the IT department for their thoughts and this instantly makes them uneasy.
“Simply, the concerns exist around employees plastering around the internet sales records, internal forecasts or predicted budgets via devices and software which the IT departments have absolutely zero control over,” stated Simon.
He continued: “IT departments already have enough on their plate, this, in their eyes, is one headache they could do without. The problem though is the growing, and somewhat reluctant acceptance that this is here to stay. Users want these services – after all the likes of Dropbox, Sky Drive, G-Drive, Evernote and all the others do a great job at helping us access information. It allows us to share things simply. They don’t want a clunky, corporate IT system, which is not compatible with other systems. That is why they are using them and not the Doc Management system that costs thousands of pounds. A downloadable, universally compatible app, which is free, is perfect.”
Simon concluded: “The key is giving confidence back to the IT department, while adhering to budget. Instead of reinventing the wheel, look at how you can enhance and add on additional functionality to these downloadable apps, that addresses issues surrounding security. This gives you back control of your enterprises IT, ensuring compatibility with unsupported technology.”
