Managing IT Shadows in your Company

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Non-approved technologies create significant risks for your IT department because untested devices and applications can compromise cybersecurity by creating opportunities for hackers.

Jul 23, 2024

Co-Managed IT Services

Non-approved technologies create significant risks for your IT department because untested devices and applications can compromise cybersecurity by creating opportunities for hackers. Plus, they can hinder data governance by complicating compliance with regulatory requirements.

Why? Because employees often operate unauthorized gadgetry and apps outside company policies and facilities in a literal way. The resulting array of systems function beyond your IT team’s figurative sight, making monitoring and managing this tech extremely difficult, if not impossible.

Unofficial IT practices fall into these three common overlapping categories:

Rogue IT—Staff members connect non-business smartphones, tablets, wearable technologies (e.g., fitness trackers, smartwatches) and other personal devices to your firm’s network. This term also covers using personal cloud services and applications in the workplace.
Shadow IT—Individual departments procure and/or implement technologies without the knowledge, consent or support of your IT group. While company executives may have approved of these activities locally, these applications and devices can disrupt and compromise security, data and workflow policies, practices and procedures at the organizational level.
Hybrid working environments—Mixing remote locations into business operations can elevate and exacerbate the risks of rogue and shadow IT, as some employees may feel less urgency and fewer inhibitions about following rules and guidelines when working outside company facilities.

These issues are more about comfort than rebellion. In fact, many staffers may feel their unapproved IT enhances productivity. This means your best approach is minimizing, not eliminating, these tendencies.