Personally, I love shadow IT—most employees do. But is it a problem? Let’s explore.

Wondering what shadow IT is? Shadow IT refers to the use of software and hardware tools or services by employees without the knowledge of the organization’s IT department.

The use of shadow IT tools has been a topic of discussion for years, with each company having its stance. Using these tools is often more about personal preference than anything else, and the same applies to how companies handle them. Most people lean toward shadow IT because official IT software tools often do not offer features that cater to individual preferences.

Some commonly used tools that fall under shadow IT include project management tools like Trello and Notion, messenger apps like WhatsApp, and file transfer apps like WeTransfer and Dropbox. The common factor? They’re all easy to access and use. However, with the rise of GenAI, everyone’s new shadow IT tool is ChatGPT.

The problems
I’m sure you already know the main issues that make companies dislike shadow IT tools: privacy and security.

Let’s look at ChatGPT. The use of ChatGPT isn’t regulated in most organizations, and many companies are still at a crossroads regarding GenAI tools. There’s a risk of employees unintentionally sharing sensitive information, leading to data leaks. This could include intellectual property, like code used to build applications, or personal information such as phone number, email address, house address, and more.

Whatever the sensitive information may be, it’s not safe to share it with tools like ChatGPT. Threat actors are constantly trying to breach systems, especially widely used tools like ChatGPT, where there’s much to gain. There’s still an obvious vulnerability here despite companies providing best practices to employees.

Another problem with shadow IT tools is that they restrict collaboration. If one team member uses a cool, new project management app to track progress and others use a different tool, it’s difficult to stay on the same page. For example, design and development teams often work together on the same project, such as designing web pages.

If the design team uses one project management tool and the development team another, how can they collaborate and work in sync to meet deadlines? It creates unnecessary friction. This is why organizations provide the same, approved project management tools for everyone. While using different tools might boost individual productivity, it can cause productivity issues within the project as a whole.

From a financial standpoint, companies pay for business tools that their employees use. If employees start using free online tools instead, the money spent on approved tools for a user who uses a shadow IT tool instead becomes a loss for the company.

Additionally, when organizations approve software solutions, those tools are vetted by a team of professionals and comply with the laws and regulations that the company must follow. However, we can’t be sure those tools are compliant when employees download apps on an ad-hoc basis, and employees usually don’t check for these things when they download or use shadow IT apps.

The good
Shadow IT tools are awesome. We all agree on that. The tools organizations give us, or approve, are often outdated. They’ve been around in the tech landscape for years (for good reasons, of course), but as technology advances, we don’t want to be tied to old tools that lack new features, which could make our work easier.

Restricting access to apps doesn’t feel great. We all work differently and have unique preferences. Using shadow IT tools that we like makes us feel more productive, and empowered, and allows for individuality in the workplace. When we use tools we love, we tend to be more efficient compared to when we’re stuck using approved, traditional tools that may lack the features we need.

The verdict
Shadow IT comes with many advantages, and dismissing it solely because of the risks isn’t wise. If we think about it, all tools carry some degree of risk. It’s up to us to be educated and understand how to use them securely and efficiently while benefiting the team and the company we work for. Shadow IT tools might benefit you individually, but what’s more important is to look at the bigger picture and ensure that your teamwork doesn’t get affected because of this.

Speaking of the financial loss that a company incurs while giving out tools that an employee may not need, what can be done instead is that organizations can avoid giving all the tools that an employee might need. Even if it’s a tool that employees may need regularly, us a request-based system so that employees reach out to get a paid tool by the company only if they need it and want to use it. This eliminates the unnecessary cost incurred by the company when an employee is provided with paid tools by default but chooses to use a shadow IT tool instead.

At first glance, shadow IT might seem like a problem, but with employee education and empowerment, it doesn’t have to be. Restricting shadow IT tools is easy, but educating employees is key.

ManageEngine is a company that believes in employee-driven innovation and encourages its employees to be aware of secure cybersecurity practices while allowing room for individuality. To learn more about ManageEngine and its offerings that allow you to have a secure and efficient IT infrastructure, click here.

Written by Roman Cuprik, Content Writer at ESET (more…)

Written by Rob Rashotte, Vice President, Global Training & Technical Field Enablement at Fortinet (more…)