Shadow IT Never Went Away Entirely

Shadow IT: consistent MSP support is key to keeping employees from turning to the dark side
More individuals are turning to unauthorised IT solutions, threatening modern compliance standards

As cloud and SaaS services have rapidly grown in popularity over the past decade, so has the importance of modern digital security and data compliance. No longer is company data solely secured on in-house servers, kept secret from potential access by threat actors, as companies are now entrusting their data to accessible off-site cloud data centres. However, as companies employ cybersecurity solutions across operations, the rise of "Shadow IT” solutions has become more prevalent, threatening elements of modern compliance standards to give companies quick security fixes.

Shadow IT arises when employees lack access to productivity tools and technologies, and so turn to loopholes without approval from their IT department. Borne out of a need for convenience, this is not inherently malicious behaviour but can pose long-term compliance and security risks if unchecked, unmonitored and from untrustworthy sources.

New trends, such as the major shift to hybrid working, the continued growth of subscription-based SaaS and, most recently, Shadow AI, have meant that Shadow IT is creeping back to the surface as a significant challenge for enterprises of all sizes. With the rise of this threat back to the forefront of cybersecurity challenges, understanding the responsibilities of MSPs in leading the fight against these obscure threat actors is of the utmost importance if they wish to retain customers and promote holistic security solutions.

Mark Appleton, Chief Customer Officer at Also Cloud UK, comments: "Shadow IT never went away entirely, instead opting to, as the name suggests, operate without organisational supervision. When members of your organisation don’t have faith in existing operations and happen to be swayed by software that may improve productivity or output, this can lead to purchasing individual software licenses simply out of convenience.

"This results in business risks emerging, such as software debt, security threats, data implications, and a greater workload for regaining control for technical teams. One department’s desire for efficiency may result in major inefficiencies elsewhere or companywide. These risks with Shadow IT may even be greater for SMBs, which lack the technical resources and may not monitor their software management.”

The issue of Shadow AI has arisen in recent years, as artificial intelligence has rapidly advanced to supercharge the capacity of existing SaaS solutions. Microsoft previously reported that 75Prozent of global knowledge workers are already using AI as part of their daily tasks, with many bringing their own AI tools to work.

"While leaders agree AI is a business imperative, many believe their organisation lacks a plan and vision to go from individual impact to applying AI to drive the bottom line. Individuals with a BYOAI (bring-your-own-AI) to work mantra ignore the security and compliance enforcements for the sake of productivity but can unknowingly bring security, compliance and productivity issues long-term.

"Ensuring your team members comply with internal software policy and preventing unsanctioned AI applications from being added to the business’s software stack are major challenges for IT teams to oversee. But most importantly, a direction for integrating AI into operations and channelling a greater business return on investment can both reassure teams of a plan in place, while boosting long term SMB growth.”
Appleton concludes: "Giving your customers confidence is a key step in managing and deterring turning to Shadow IT alternatives. MSPs therefore have a responsibility to not only provide the most reliable and secure solutions to handle unauthorised applications, but also demonstrate their expertise and commitment to protecting client data.

By offering tailored value-added solutions, MSPs can deliver a managed service designed to identify and defend against risks while delivering on the needs of modern business. Shadow IT solutions can be added into a broader security-managed service, but awareness of the problems surrounding them is the first step to ensuring that clients stay secure and can trust in auditing and monitoring of their IT environment. (Also: ra)

eingetragen: 10.12.24
Newsletterlauf: 17.02.25

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