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As technology takes center stage on the operations and success of businesses, Houston IT companies have noted a growing trend in the use of shadow IT. To begin with, shadow IT refers to any technology, solution, or IT system that employees use in an organization without the approval or knowledge of their IT department or relevant authorities.
Why Do People Use Shadow IT?
Most employees result to shadow IT, which they think will make their work faster and more efficient. Others simply want to use their own set of software, which they are familiar with. At times, the approved software may seem less effective or incompatible with the employee devices, which make them opt for shadow IT.
Houston IT companies feel that whatever reason drives people to use shadow IT, most of it is attributed to the fact that they do not understand the security risks it poses.
Security Risks of Shadow IT
The major risk associated with shadow IT is data loss. Most businesses let their employees handle endpoint backup. Some of them will probably use external hard drives, while others may use cloud-based solutions such as Dropbox. Some will not even bother to back up at all. Generally, corporate data will be scattered all over, and it can be hard to trace if an employee leaves the organization or if there is a data disaster. Other possible risks include unpatched vulnerabilities and errors, compliance issues, and data breaches.
How Do You Mitigate These Problems?
An endpoint protection strategy is the best solution for mitigating possible shadow IT risks. Choose an endpoint protection product that makes frequent backups to the cloud and that which offers security so that data is inaccessible to the unauthorized personnel.
Houston IT companies advise against leaving endpoint data protection to employees, as this poses a big security risk to your data. It is best to deploy a solution in which all data is stored in a centralized place. Contact us now at ICS and learn more on how to approach shadow IT issues.
Further reading
ICS is a Texas-based 40-year-old technology company specializing in Managed IT, VoIP, Video Conferencing and Video Surveillance solutions for US and International businesses. ICS has over 4000 regional installations and specializes in multi-site businesses between 25 and 2500 employees. ICS’s customers enjoy the experience of ICS’s Total Care program which provides clients flat fee services with obsolescence and growth protection. Whether a customer elects to deploy their IT, Video Conferencing or VoIP in the cloud or on the customer’s premise, ICS can provide a full turn-key solution for our clients under one flat monthly fee.