Shadow IT – IT devices, software and services outside the ownership or control of IT – is growing. Whilst there are obvious disadvantages to this, organizations need to view it as a wakeup call from employees who find their IT provisioning too slow and cumbersome to cope with the realities of their working lives.

From BYOD to new software, IT needs to look long and hard as to why this is happening in the first place before coming up with an answer that meets the needs of both the organization and end users.

Before looking at how shadow IT should be embraced, it is probably a good idea to examine the problems it brings.

Non-compliant

Probably the main issue surrounds software licensing and compliance. Even with strong SAM procedures in place, shadow IT can introduce software that is unlicensed onto corporate devices. This leaves the organization at risk of audits and fines.

SOURCE: certero.com