With digital transformation, ensuring control over an organization’s technological infrastructure has become a complex challenge for IT leaders. Thus, trends like shadow IT are gaining increasing prominence in the business environment.
According to a survey conducted by Cisco with various large-scale companies, on average 80% of the interviewed employees stated that they use unauthorized software to perform professional tasks. Furthermore, the study also states that only 8% of companies are aware of the practice of shadow IT.
In this context, we see that it is essential to understand, assess, and address the concept of shadow IT to ensure compliance with IT policies and the security of corporate data.
So, if you want to learn more about the subject, check out examples of shadow IT, its risks, and how to address this issue, just continue reading the article.
What is shadow IT?
Shadow IT is the practice carried out by employees of a company when implementing, using, and managing technologies, such as software, hardware, and cloud services without the approval, knowledge, or supervision of the IT department. This behavior often occurs because employees assume that the available corporate tools do not meet their needs. Moreover, it is also commonly done because users do not want to wait for IT department approval to use the new system, as this process can be time-consuming.
Therefore, shadow IT is a practice that requires attention since any type of technology not approved by a company’s IT team can result in security vulnerabilities and governance, putting at risk the organization’s important data and processes. It is also important to note that shadow IT does not refer to malware or any malicious assets used by hackers.
Examples of shadow IT
The practice of shadow IT can manifest in various ways within an organization. The list can vary depending on the company’s sector and the specific needs of the employees, for instance. Below, we have listed some examples of how shadow IT can manifest:
- Collaboration applications: teams may adopt tools like Trello or Slack without prior authorization from the IT department;
- Cloud storage: many employees normalize the use of personal cloud storage services, such as Dropbox or Google Drive, to store professional files;
- Communication software: messaging and video conferencing applications, such as WhatsApp or Zoom, may be used without company approval;
- CRM solutions: sales and marketing teams may use customer relationship management systems not adopted by the organization;
- Unapproved hardware: hardware like servers and storage devices may be used by employees without the IT team’s knowledge;
- Automation systems: often when companies use low-code platforms, issues like expensive licenses and robot and parallelism limits are common. Thus, many developers end up using their own code automation with systems and frameworks that are not part of the company’s policy;
- Backup solutions: backup copies, in personal backup solutions, containing important business data may be made by employees without ensuring compliance with the company’s security policies;
- Networks and connections: connecting to unauthorized Wi-Fi networks can pose security risks.
Learn more: What is RPA software and what are the best ones?
What are the risks of shadow IT?
Shadow IT can pose various risks to your company. Check out the main ones:
Data Security
When it comes to shadow IT, undoubtedly, the security of business data is one of the major concerns. Since the technologies and solutions implemented by employees without the company’s authorization can result in significant risks and vulnerabilities to the organization’s data.
This is because often shadow IT solutions do not follow the security standards and policies established by the company, leading to poorly protected and exposed data.
Moreover, many applications may contain vulnerabilities that can pose risks to sensitive data, as these operational weaknesses were not identified and mitigated by the company’s IT team as is done with official applications.
Control and Visibility
Since they are not recognized by the company’s IT management, shadow IT applications become invisible to the organization’s monitoring and control systems.
This invisibility limits the organization’s ability to identify and respond to threats that these tools may bring to the business environment. Furthermore, the lack of visibility over the applications used daily by employees can hinder integration and collaboration between different departments and software.
Cost Management
Shadow IT can directly affect a company’s cost management since with employees using unapproved software, the chance of hidden expenses arising is significant.
This is because with the increased use of shadow IT solutions in the company, unexpected costs, such as licensing, maintenance, and support, may be introduced by different departments.
How to identify shadow IT?
To identify shadow IT within companies, it is necessary to employ some strategies capable of guiding this process. Check out some options below:
- Network and system monitoring: analyze traffic and identify patterns of suspicious activities from unauthorized applications using network monitoring tools;
- Orchestration systems: it is important to rely on automation orchestration software in different environments, whether in the cloud, desktop, containers, or web applications. This facilitates automation governance and repository and user management;
- Log analysis: regularly review the logs and records of applications to identify activities indicating the use of shadow IT applications;
- Employee feedback: provide a channel where employees can report the use of unauthorized applications and share their needs and concerns related to the IT area;
- IT inventory: maintain an updated inventory of software, hardware, and services in use to identify technologies that have been implemented without approval.
By adopting these measures, companies can easily identify shadow IT. With this, it is possible to understand the risks and assess measures to manage and resolve the issues caused.
Finally, to maintain a secure and aligned IT environment, it is necessary to maintain collaboration and continuous monitoring of the other areas of the company.
How to resolve shadow IT in your company?
Knowing that shadow IT can bring various risks to your company, it is necessary to understand how this practice can be effectively addressed.
This process requires a combination of technological tools, effective communication, and organizational processes. Here are some steps and practices to assist in addressing shadow IT:
Education and awareness
An important aspect of dealing with shadow IT is to encourage employees to use technology in accordance with the company’s security guidelines and policies. To do this, it is necessary to conduct an awareness process promoting the correct use of technology.
Moreover, make it clear to employees the risks associated with using shadow IT and present best practices for selecting and using technology in the business environment.
Approval policies
Approval policies are extremely important within a company. Since these guidelines are responsible for evaluating, approving, and managing the implementation and use of applications, services, and solutions. The policies aim to ensure alignment between the technologies adopted and the organization’s objectives.
Often, shadow IT arises from the lack of policies within a company or when these rules are not well-defined and communicated to employees. So, to combat shadow IT, it is necessary for the entire team to be familiar with business processes and best practices of orchestration related to technology.
Governance
To combat shadow IT, it is essential to structure the company’s IT governance. In this way, decision-making related to technology can be established, ensuring compliance and transparency.
Since IT governance ensures alignment of IT with business objectives and strategies. Thus, this area plays a crucial role in preventing, identifying, and managing shadow IT.
Monitoring and Maintenance
To control shadow IT within organizations, it is fundamental to invest in monitoring and maintenance to, through a proactive approach, identify, assess, and manage the use of unauthorized technologies.
For this, it is possible to use network monitoring tools analyzing traffic and identifying suspicious activities. It is also necessary to conduct IT audits to assess compliance, identify areas of risk, and validate whether policies and guidelines are being followed.
Trend Analysis
Lastly, analyzing trends is a strategic approach when applied to combating shadow IT. This is because it aids in identifying technologies, applications, and services that are becoming popular among employees.
With this, the company can adopt new technologies that meet the needs of the teams and also the business strategies. This is an opportunity to understand user preferences, their needs, and behaviors, which contributes to efficient alignment between IT solutions and employee expectations.
Furthermore, investing in trend analysis can provide opportunities for innovation and improvement for the company. As it tends to always be updated with market news and releases.
Want to avoid shadow IT in your automations?
We hope this content has clarified your main doubts about shadow IT. Remember that identifying and resolving shadow IT in your company is important to prevent issues with data security and cost management.
As mentioned in the article, many companies face problems with shadow IT by using low-code RPA platforms that are often too limited or even by lacking an automation operation.
BotCity is a high-code RPA automation platform that can help you solve this problem, especially when it comes to automations in code spread across different technical and business areas of companies.
BotCity offers flexible orchestration, great cost-effectiveness, runs in containers, virtual machines, and in any environment (Mac, Windows, Linux). This gives autonomy for RPA developers to create automations in various environments.
However, shadow IT is avoided since these automations are centralized in the orchestrator. They can be created and viewed by other departments and IT management according to rules established for each repository or group of users.
So, if you are looking for an RPA platform that helps in the governance of automations in your company, how about creating a free account on BotCity right now? Or, if you prefer, talk to our experts!
