Shadow IT is a description of software and hardware being used by an organization without the knowledge or approval of the IT department. While the term is a neutral one, to many it suggests a negative feeling since the IT department is unaware that other members of the company are using it.
Unknown and unapproved software and/or hardware could lead to serious data theft, corruption, or even the installation of ransomware on any business’s computer system – be it a sole proprietorship or a huge company.
How to Mitigate or End the Use of Shadow IT?
Before you can fix something, you need to know how a situation got to be where it is. Shadow IT began becoming a problem as IT departments could not keep up with new technology. Individuals, and even entire departments, began ignoring the IT department to acquire software that met a specific need or hardware to make access to systems easier. Access loosening gave rise to the Bring Your Own Device phenomena taking place in many businesses, especially those that support cloud computing. In addition, cloud computing provides many services that lone employees or whole units of the company can easily use.
Following are some tips to end the use of Shadow IT in your company:
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4. Have IT and other business units talk to each other. One way is to have an advisor from IT meet on a regular basis with each business unit to share advances in technology that might be worth further exploration.
It seems that IT is becoming more of an in-house consultancy than a hands-on department. But, what about startups and SMBs without large budgets to even have an IT department? Many companies run on a “don’t call until it doesn’t work” mentality – they don’t have an IT department and use outside resources at the last possible minute. It is more efficient to outsource IT to an experienced vendor – your company will become more dependent on IT in the future, not less.
BEC Technology Consultants is the trusted choice when it comes to staying ahead of the latest information technology tips, tricks, and news. Contact us at (504) 282-2236 or send us an email at customersupport@bectechconsultants.com for more information.
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