{"id":1775,"date":"2016-05-09T08:37:24","date_gmt":"2016-05-09T08:37:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cloudbyz.com\/blog\/?p=1775"},"modified":"2023-04-16T19:27:51","modified_gmt":"2023-04-17T02:27:51","slug":"the-app-gap-and-shadow-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cloudbyz.com\/resources\/project-portfolio-management\/the-app-gap-and-shadow-it\/","title":{"rendered":"The App Gap and Shadow IT"},"content":{"rendered":"

What is the App Gap, beyond a fun expression?\u00a0 Today\u2019s post looks at the issue of the APP GAP, an issue we touched on <\/span>previously<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

We are well into the App Revolution, with all types of organizations effectively using apps to better engage customers, reaching them where they are, providing timely and relevant information, driving awareness and loyalty.\u00a0 Apps are also impacting how employees work, enabling \u201cwork anywhere\u201d, enhancing productivity, and promoting connectedness.\u00a0 <\/span>Yet it is estimated that today\u2019s IT organizations are only able to meet about 25% of their businesses\u2019 demand for apps \u2013 we call this the App Gap:<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

IT\u2019s inability to deliver on business demand, the lack of dependency on IT infrastructure afforded by the cloud, and the ease with which apps can be procured outside traditional IT governance and approval processes has driven a huge increase in Shadow IT. \u00a0 For decades IT has raged against shadow IT, desperately trying to assert (or reassert) control over their organization\u2019s entire IT landscape; today it would appear that the battle is lost.\u00a0 How can IT respond?\u00a0 Many CIOs simply turn a blind eye to shadow IT, considering it beyond their control, oversight, or influence.\u00a0 We don\u2019t see this an acceptable strategy as it overlooks critical issues of data security, standards, and risks.\u00a0 Other CIOs attempt to clamp down on and eliminate Shadow IT, but their own function\u2019s inability to meet business demand makes this a risky strategy that can result in further stakeholder dissatisfaction.<\/span><\/p>\n

At QuePro, we prefer an approach that accepts the reality of today\u2019s \u201cdispersed IT\u201d, where some traditional IT decisions are made elsewhere in the organization, while taking advantage of CIO value-added competencies in security, configuration management, compliance and regulatory issues, and supplier selection.\u00a0 Our approach is to bring \u201cshadow IT\u201d out of the shadows, make it transparent, and provide services that support it. Once brought to light, IT can adapt to the new reality by managing the most critical and complex enterprise solutions, while advising, guiding, and overseeing business IT initiatives.<\/span><\/p>\n

How do we bring Shadow IT out of the shadows?\u00a0 As with most decisions an organization makes, data is key and it is precisely information regarding the entire IT landscape that is lacking in most organizations.We recommend to start the process by building an applications roadmap or database to discover duplicated technology, security risks, inefficiencies, and lack of alignment to business strategies.\u00a0 The roadmap should include, at minimum:<\/span><\/p>\n