You might like to think your team keeps to your officially assigned technology, but is this actually the case for your business? The real world is often messier and less clear-cut, and you might have a team that has downloaded unapproved tools to their devices in an effort to make their workdays easier. You have a responsibility to manage this chaos—also known as shadow IT—before it becomes your company’s downfall.
Shadow IT, or the implementation of software, hardware, or cloud services without the approval or oversight of your IT department, can lead to the following three complications if left unchecked.
Threats Will See Themselves In Through the Back Door
Even something as simple as a free online PDF converter can be a problem for your business, allowing company data to pass through unapproved and potentially dangerous applications.
When we say “unapproved applications,” we’re basically saying that the solution hasn’t been deemed secure by IT. This means that the tools often lack the type of enterprise-grade encryption you expect, as well as additional features such as multi-factor authentication and routine security patches. These tools could easily become compromised, and you have no real guarantee that these tools are being maintained.
Remember that it doesn’t take a major threat to impact your business. It could be something as simple as an unauthorized calculator or other such application.
Your Data Becomes Impossible to Govern
By virtue of its nature, Shadow IT creates data silos, or parts of your business’ network that are disconnected from others.
Data might exist in these siloes and be completely inaccessible to the rest of your network. If you rely on this data for your reporting, then you’ll never have all the necessary information in one place, making it difficult, if not impossible to get a clear picture. If none of your systems can talk to your isolated apps, you’ll end up wasting time and putting your data at risk.
The key is to standardize processes and eliminate Shadow IT at its source. Implement solutions that help you avoid duplication of work, compliance concerns, and data backup incidents.
You’re Paying for Unnecessary Applications That Impact Your Bottom Line
Shadow IT impacts your bottom line, directly influencing how much money your business retains.
Consider how many tools your business is using that don’t actually see any use. With SMBs especially, you might pay for specific solutions for different departments to do the same action, and worse, you might not even realize this is the case. It’s wasteful and unnecessary. We recommend you conduct a tech audit to determine what you use and what you can do without.
Shadow IT is a problem, but it doesn’t have to rule your business. If you clean up your processes, start listening to your employees, and give them tools they’ll actually want to use, you might see a significant drop in unapproved software downloads.
NetSolutionsPro can help you fight back against Shadow IT. Learn more today by calling us at (574) 453-3323.
