Shadow IT Surprise: Look Who Loves Rogue Apps

Anyone who has worked in IT for any amount of time probably has a few guilty secrets about their own rogue IT activities. Shadow IT -- that is, using SaaS applications that have not received the blessing of the IT department or were not obtained in ways that are strictly above board when it comes to IT procedures and policies -- is everywhere, whether CIOs want to admit it or not.

In a recent survey by Frost & Sullivan's Stratecast group, more than 80% of respondents admitted to using non-approved SaaS applications as part of their day-to-day business activities. In fact, only 17% of IT employees are toeing the line when it comes to limiting their technology to corporate-sanctioned products. The survey, sponsored by McAfee, polled 600 IT and line of business employees in the U.S., UK, Australia and New Zealand.

Authored by Frost & Sullivan’s cloud computing program director, Lynda Stadtmueller, the study revealed that IT professionals themselves are by far the worst offenders when it comes to using unauthorized services. What’s more surprising is that IT holds itself above its own policies.

An incredible 91% of IT departments are currently using at least one unapproved SaaS app as part of standard procedure, and 25% are using six or more unauthorized apps. What’s more, about a fifth of individual IT users (19%) are also personally opting to break the rules in embracing a half dozen or more SaaS apps that aren’t sanctioned by the IT department, either officially or unofficially.

Why is IT breaking the very rules that it sets for the rest of the company?

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