The term Shadow IT is perhaps an unfortunate description, as a lot of people see negative connotations with the term. But we have found that really people should be approaching Shadow IT as an opportunity.
TIP #73 - February 2021: Shadow IT is not something to be afraid of, on the contrary, it is a great opportunity for ITAM!
Although many companies are worried about software being purchased outside of the normal procurement structure and by employees that are bringing their own devices (BYOD), others see this differently.
- Innovative companies for example might be looking to give their employees more freedom to pick and choose products that suit them. But this can leave a trail of subscriptions which are not being used.
- More traditional companies may have a more defensive approach and want to ensure that employees are limited to agreed products. They are probably very interested in the security issues relating to SaaS.
The thing to understand is that no matter what sort of company you are, you need to have the information to be in control.
With the correct approach you can identify multiple products being used that do the same thing, unused subscriptions and information about BYOD, to help to take back control without impacting on the culture of your company. Softline Solutions can help to create this approach, leveraging best practices and experienced ITAM consultants.
If you want to know more, we have several tips on shadow IT, such as Tip #65: Countering tunnel vision with discovery tooling.