Unnamed Professor Views Shadow IT as "Positive Nonconformity"
Professor Nelson Philips of Imperial College Business School sheds light on the benefits and potential drawbacks of shadow IT, a phenomenon where employees use public cloud services without IT department approval.
Benefits of Shadow IT
Shadow IT offers several advantages for organizations. Firstly, it allows businesses to respond quickly to business needs as employees can independently use technology and resources without waiting for IT department approval.
Secondly, it enables employees to customize their workplace environment, leading to improved productivity as they adopt tools tailored to their workflows.
Thirdly, shadow IT helps organizations stay current with technological requirements by facilitating timely adoption of necessary software or hardware upgrades.
In certain cases, shadow IT can even improve security when employees proactively update to newer, more secure versions of software.
Potential Drawbacks of Shadow IT
Despite these benefits, shadow IT also presents some challenges. It can cause loss of productivity if employees use unauthorized tools that divert them from their core tasks.
The lack of centralized control and oversight from the IT department can introduce security risks, potentially exposing the organization to vulnerabilities.
Shadow IT can also lead to compliance issues if unsupported software or hardware do not meet industry or regulatory standards.
Unmanaged shadow IT can weaken IT governance, making it harder for organizations to ensure data integrity and maintain system compatibility.
Balancing the Equation
Philips argues that the legitimate reasons for curtailing "shadow IT" are security and cost-control. However, he questions the need to prevent it altogether, suggesting that CIOs should consider deciding which public cloud services are acceptable for employee use.
He differentiates this behavior from bring your own device (BYOD), which employees often demand for personal reasons. Philips warns that CIOs should not necessarily assume their own systems are any more secure than cloud offerings.
According to a survey by content marketing agency Vanson Bourne, funded by VMware, 72% of IT decision makers suspect off-radar cloud usage is beneficial. Of the office workers surveyed, 42% would use "unapproved" cloud services to get a job done, with 36% already having done so.
The survey also revealed that 53% of IT decision makers believe off-radar cloud usage allows employees to find solutions faster than IT can provide, and 38% believe it allows businesses to be more responsive to customer needs.
These insights are drawn from Indeed.com's comprehensive discussion on shadow IT, referencing organizational research and practical examples associated with Professor Nelson Philips' expertise at Imperial College Business School.
[1] Indeed.com (2021). Shadow IT: What it is and how to manage it. [Online]. Available at: https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/what-is-shadow-it-and-how-to-manage-it [Accessed 28 March 2023].
Shadow IT can play a significant role in business operations by facilitating quick responses to business needs and enabling employees to customize their workplace environment using technology. However, it can also pose risks, such as loss of productivity due to the use of unauthorized tools, security risks due to lack of centralized control, and compliance issues if unsupported software or hardware do not meet industry standards. To balance these considerations, CIOs might consider approving certain public cloud services for employee use, striking a balance between innovation and regulated IT practices.
