The Case For Shadow IT
Jim Marascio
📈 Helping Businesses Maximize Salesforce ROI | Expert in Post-Implementation Optimization | Global Talent Pool
Shadow IT, or information technology systems built within an organization but not with the organization's absolute endorsement or control, are typically looked upon as problematic. Historically this was true, as IT governance often isn't applied in these scenarios and support can be limited or at best a distraction.
With the evolution of consumer technology, rapidly increasing technical skill sets, and the growth of "as a service" solutions, it's time to revisit the role of IT in most businesses. The simple fact is that nearly every business function now requires, or could be greatly enhanced, by technology beyond PCs, network connectivity, office productivity tools and industry specific software systems.
Most corporate IT departments focus is on infrastructure (servers, storage, networking, security and employee PCs) and core business software. Security and data management needs monopolize the attention of technology leaders. Meanwhile, tremendous business opportunities for department-, role- and task-specific activities arise.
End users are more technically savvy than ever, and often the most qualified to identify opportunities for efficiencies and improvement that may be addressed via software and systems. IT leadership should be facilitating the auditing and evaluation of activities and processes throughout the business, with a goal of automation, efficiency and improved data accuracy. For most businesses, human resource limitations, coupled with the quantity of opportunities and frequency of new solution introduction, prevents this from happening effectively.
These factors leave well-run and agile businesses no choice but to allow, or even encourage employees to seek and implement solutions without the assistance of IT. Not doing so will hold the organization back.
This is not an endorsement for rogue applications and systems that bypass corporate IT governance, but one for collaboration between IT and other department leaders. Proper cooperation ensures that when technology that is beyond the scope of that organization's IT management is implemented, it's done so in a way that's consistent with corporate IT policies, but remains the responsibility of those who selected and implemented the solution.
In ideal situations, the IT department should be made aware of the implementation — and given a chance to suggest alternatives that may better serve overall organizational needs.
What are your thoughts?
Periop Medical Equipment Repair Technician lll / CBET
7yPatrick I love your comment Sir, Cheers...! I am leading an education endeavor within my CE Department to rapidly increase the knowledge of our Team in IT. It is a Shadow IT training program.
Biomedical Equipment Technician
7yI think ultimately IT will become a utility. Our outlets are powered, our water piped in, and our sewage pumped out, reliably and effectively without any intervention or real consideration on the part of the end user, yet our data is still subject to the many variables and moving targets that come from independent organizations with incompatible policies and practices bureaucratizing together. This utility would maintain the internetworking quality, reliability, and security, while end users maintain the infrastructure that belongs to them. This would mean network and security technicians would be akin to electricians and plumbers, with a mixed market of large and small service companies and in house organizations. Residencies will probably be left to manage their own tiny intranets, but small businesses seem likely to use common services to manage theirs, similar to the way Healthcare facilities choose one of a handful of EMR and equipment database vendors, meanwhile large organizations would still have dedicated IT departments to manage the inherent complexities of that scale of an intranet.