In every company there is someone who "knows computers" or is perceived that way by coworkers. When a problem arises, and contacting external IT means cost or waiting, that person simply solves it. It sounds harmless. In practice, it is a serious problem we encounter in companies.
What shadow IT is
Shadow IT includes all tools, systems, and IT solutions used in a company without the knowledge and control of the IT department. The name is no accident - it is infrastructure that exists "in the shadows", outside the official environment.
It may be an employee who installed their own software on a company computer because the company-provided one seemed too slow. It may be a team that started using a personal Dropbox to exchange project files because it was more convenient. Someone may use a private email account because only a little had to be done and emails could be sent. Or it may be the person who simply "handles IT" in the company - solving colleagues' problems, configuring new devices, setting up access - because that is how it worked out and everyone is happy.
Each of these scenarios has one thing in common: the company loses control over what happens to its data and infrastructure.
Where shadow IT comes from
Shadow IT rarely arises from bad intentions. Most often it is a response to real needs that official IT does not fulfill for some reason.
When IT support is billed by the hour, every ticket becomes a cost. Employees therefore start filtering issues - the "unimportant" ones they solve themselves or ask someone on the team. Over time, that someone becomes the company's informal IT person.
A similar effect appears when official tools are cumbersome, processes are too slow, or IT is not available when employees need it. People look for shortcuts - and usually find them.
Why it is a problem
Informal IT solutions can work smoothly for months, even years. That makes the problem hard to notice - and therefore even more dangerous.
- 1
Brak kontroli nad danymi. Jeśli pracownicy przechowują pliki firmowe na prywatnych dyskach, synchronizują dokumenty przez prywatne konta w chmurze albo wysyłają dane przez niezatwierdzone komunikatory, firma nie wie, gdzie jej dane się znajdują. Nie może ich zabezpieczyć, nie może ich odzyskać w razie awarii i nie może udowodnić ich bezpieczeństwa w razie audytu lub incydentu.
- 2
Luki w bezpieczeństwie. Oprogramowanie zainstalowane bez wiedzy IT nie jest monitorowane, nie jest aktualizowane zgodnie z procedurami patch managementu i może zawierać luki bezpieczeństwa. Jedna niezałatana podatność w nieoficjalnym narzędziu może stać się punktem wejścia do całej sieci firmowej.
- 3
Zależność od osoby, nie od procesu. Gdy nieformalny "firmowy informatyk" odchodzi z pracy, zostawia po sobie środowisko, którego nikt inny nie rozumie. Brak dokumentacji, brak procedur, brak przekazania wiedzy
- 4
Zgodność z regulacjami. Firmy przetwarzające dane osobowe mają obowiązek wiedzieć, gdzie te dane się znajdują i jak są chronione. Shadow IT sprawia, że część danych wymyka się spod tej kontroli - co może prowadzić do naruszenia RODO i poważnych konsekwencji prawnych.
- 5
Jakość działań bez weryfikacji. Pracownik, który "ogarnia IT", działa w dobrej wierze, ale bez weryfikacji, bez znajomości standardów bezpieczeństwa i bez świadomości konsekwencji. Błędna konfiguracja sieci, nieodpowiednio ustawione uprawnienia, źle skonfigurowane konto - to zagrożenia, które nie powstają z czasem, lecz istnieją od razu, od momentu wykonania. Profesjonalne wsparcie informatyczne opiera się na sprawdzonych procedurach i wiedzy, której nie zastąpi nawet najlepsza wola i pewna doza technicznego ogarnięcia.
How to detect shadow IT in your company
Shadow IT is invisible by definition - but it leaves traces.
It is worth paying attention to a few signals: employees use personal accounts for work purposes, tools and applications operate in the company that no one officially deployed, one person "knows everything" about a system and is the only one who can support it, and project data ends up in different places depending on who is currently working on the project
An audit helps identify such situations. This is one of the first steps we take when onboarding a new client.
Daily monitoring of the environment prevents this phenomenon from emerging on an ongoing basis.
How to prevent shadow IT
Simply banning the use of unofficial tools rarely works. Employees bypass bans if official solutions do not meet their needs.
A more effective approach is to understand why shadow IT appears at all, and remove the causes. If employees use a personal Dropbox because the company file storage system is inconvenient - the problem lies in the tool, not the employees. If someone configures hardware on their own because the IT ticket takes too long - the problem lies in the availability of support.
The basic requirement is easy, continuous, and fast access to IT support - the kind you can report anything to: both a major outage and a minor irregularity that "may go away on its own". Why reporting every issue, even the smallest one, to IT matters - we explain in the article Why Your IT Should Know About Everything.
Employees should know who to contact about every problem and be confident that they will be handled without unnecessary complications. Only then does shadow IT cease to have a reason to exist.
What it looks like at Helpwise
When taking over IT care for a new company, one of the first steps is to assess the environment - including identifying the tools and solutions that operate outside the official infrastructure. Not to hold anyone accountable, but to understand what we are actually dealing with.
We also strive to create an environment where shadow IT simply has no reason to emerge: support is available, processes run efficiently, and employees know that every ticket - even a minor one - is welcome. Responsible IT wants to know everything. That is the only way to maintain real control over the company's security.