scholarly journals IT Outside of the IT Department: Reviewing Lightweight IT in Times of Shadow IT and IT Consumerization

2021 ◽  
pp. 554-571
Author(s):  
Marie-E. Godefroid ◽  
Ralf Plattfaut ◽  
Björn Niehaves
Keyword(s):  
It Department ◽  
Shadow It

A Multiple Case Study on the Nature and Management of Shadow Information Technology

2016 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephan Zimmermann ◽  
Christopher Rentrop ◽  
Carsten Felden
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Transaction Cost Economics ◽  
Multiple Case Study ◽  
End User ◽  
It Department ◽  
Multiple Case ◽  
It Departments ◽  
Shadow It

ABSTRACT In several organizations, business workgroups autonomously implement information technology (IT) outside the purview of the IT department. Shadow IT, evolving as a type of workaround from nontransparent and unapproved end-user computing (EUC), is a term used to refer to this phenomenon, which challenges norms relative to IT controllability. This report describes shadow IT based on case studies of three companies and investigates its management. In 62 percent of cases, companies decided to reengineer detected instances or reallocate related subtasks to their IT department. Considerations of risks and transaction cost economics with regard to specificity, uncertainty, and scope explain these actions and the resulting coordination of IT responsibilities between the business workgroups and IT departments. This turns shadow IT into controlled business-managed IT activities and enhances EUC management. The results contribute to the governance of IT task responsibilities and provide a way to formalize the role of workarounds in business workgroups.

scholarly journals Conceptualizing Shadow IT Integration Drawbacks from a Systemic Viewpoint

Systems ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 42
Author(s):  
Melanie Huber ◽  
Stephan Zimmermann ◽  
Christopher Rentrop ◽  
Carsten Felden
Keyword(s):  
Switching Costs ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Scientific Discussion ◽  
Business Units ◽  
Innovative Solutions ◽  
It Department ◽  
It Integration ◽  
Third Dimension ◽  
Shadow It

Business units are increasingly able to fuel the transformation that digitalization demands of organizations. Thereby, they can implement Shadow IT (SIT) without involving a central IT department to create flexible and innovative solutions. Self-reinforcing effects lead to an intertwinement of SIT with the organization. As a result, high complexities, redundancies, and sometimes even lock-ins occur. IT Integration suggests itself to meet these challenges. However, it can also eliminate the benefits that SIT presents. To help organizations in this area of conflict, we are conducting a literature review including a systematic search and an analysis from a systemic viewpoint using path dependency and switching costs. Our resulting conceptual framework for SIT integration drawbacks classifies the drawbacks into three dimensions. The first dimension consists of switching costs that account for the financial, procedural, and emotional drawbacks and the drawbacks from a loss of SIT benefits. The second dimension includes organizational, technical, and level-spanning criteria. The third dimension classifies the drawbacks into the global level, the local level, and the interaction between them. We contribute to the scientific discussion by introducing a systemic viewpoint to the research on shadow IT. Practitioners can use the presented criteria to collect evidence to reach an IT integration decision.

The Impact of Shadow IT Systems on Perceived Information Credibility and Managerial Decision Making

2017 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 105-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noah Myers ◽  
Matthew W. Starliper ◽  
Scott L. Summers ◽  
David A. Wood
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
Managerial Decision ◽  
Managerial Decision Making ◽  
It Systems ◽  
Information Credibility ◽  
It Department ◽  
Shadow Systems ◽  
Shadow It ◽  
The Impact

SYNOPSIS Business trends show that more and more employees are creating shadow IT systems—IT systems that are not sanctioned or monitored by the IT department. This paper examines how the use of shadow IT in product costing impacts managers' perceptions of information credibility and managerial decision making. Using two experiments, we find that participants view information from shadow IT systems as less credible and they are less impacted by and less willing to rely on costing reports produced from shadow IT systems versus non-shadow IT systems. We also find that although participants are concerned about the credibility of shadow IT systems, they are not more likely to find simple mathematical errors embedded in shadow IT costing reports relative to non-shadow IT reports. This suggests that although concerned about shadow IT systems, managers still do not exercise sufficient care in evaluating reports created using these systems. The results of our study should prove informative as shadow systems become more prevalent in organizations. Data Availability: Contact the authors.

Knowledge Management in the Dark

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Shahper Richter ◽  
Lena Waizenegger ◽  
Melanie Steinhueser ◽  
Alexander Richter
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Management ◽  
It Department ◽  
Widespread Phenomenon ◽  
Knowledge Intensive ◽  
Shadow It

The voluntary use of private devices by employees without the formal approval of the IT department, commonly termed Shadow IT, is an increasingly widespread phenomenon. In this article, the authors study the role of private smartphones (and related applications like WhatsApp) in knowledge-intensive practices in the manufacturing domain. With an in-depth case study based on data gained from observations and interviews, the authors are able to empirically illustrate why workers use their private smartphones (contrary to company guidelines) and how they find significant gains of productivity by using the forbidden applications. This study gives rich insights into the rise of Shadow IT in a manufacturing context which takes place in a self-organised way without knowledge of the management.

The influence of shadow IT usage on knowledge sharing

2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriela L Mallmann ◽  
Antonio Carlos Gastaud Maçada ◽  
Mírian Oliveira
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Sharing ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Collaborative Systems ◽  
Theoretical Contribution ◽  
It Department ◽  
Geographically Distributed ◽  
It Usage ◽  
Shadow It

Employees increasingly use unauthorized technologies at the workplace, which is referred to as shadow IT. Previous research identifies that shadow IT is often collaborative systems used by employees to collaborate, communicate, and share content with coworkers, clients, or external partners. Based on these previous findings, we propose that shadow IT usage may positively influence organizational knowledge sharing (KS), which is central to knowledge management practices. Thus, this research aims to (1) identify the types and occurrences of shadow IT used by employee in the workplace, (2) investigate how KS (donation and collection) occurs via shadow IT, and (3) investigate how shadow IT influences KS. This is an exploratory study based on a qualitative approach. We performed interviews with IT users to answer the research question. Our findings identify that most of the interviewees use collaborative systems and mobile devices unauthorized by the IT department to share knowledge and communicate with their coworkers. The most common IT cited are WhatsApp and Skype, as well as solutions to store and share content, like Google Drive. In addition, several employees reported using shadow IT mainly because organizations do not provide suitable tools to communicate efficiently. We conclude that shadow IT can facilitate KS, primarily when people are geographically distributed since these unauthorized systems provide real-time communication. Our theoretical contribution is to expand current knowledge about shadow IT and reinforce the importance and prevalence of informal and decentralized KS within organizations. As for the practical implications, our article can help IT managers to better understand the usage of shadow IT and how they can balance the risk and benefits of this phenomenon.

Agile or waterfall development: The Clementon Company dilemma

2021 ◽  
pp. 204388691987054
Author(s):  
Karthikeyan Chandran ◽  
Madhuchhanda Das Aundhe
Keyword(s):  
Market Research ◽  
Initial Study ◽  
Management Tool ◽  
It Services ◽  
It Infrastructure ◽  
It Service ◽  
Software Product ◽  
It Department ◽  
Significant Milestone

This case study documents the challenges faced by Iota Consultancy Services, an IT Service organization, as it simultaneously developed and deployed an IT Services Management software product for one of its premier clients, The Clementon Company. A leading market research firm, The Clementon Company had its footprints across the globe. Its recent acquisition of several smaller research agencies had created a complex IT landscape, in terms of the technologies adopted and the processes followed. In Iota Consultancy Services’ 10-year-old history, this engagement with The Clementon Company was a significant milestone, consisting of two parts—(1) Streamlining and standardizing The Clementon Company’s IT processes and (2) maintaining The Clementon Company’s organization-wide IT infrastructure. Iota Consultancy Services began this crucial assignment with an initial study to identify a product for the The Clementon Company’s IT department. Iota Consultancy Services, a rapidly growing player in the sector, had indigenously developed a few IT products, as well. It had an IT Services Management product called Helpdesk Management. Being the sole service provider for maintaining The Clementon Company’s entire IT infrastructure, Iota Consultancy Services felt that Helpdesk Management could be deployed as a single tool across the organization. However, until now, Helpdesk Management had never been deployed as a comprehensive IT Services Management product for any organization. This meant that Iota Consultancy Services needed to simultaneously enhance its Helpdesk Management tool by developing new features, and also deploy it for The Clementon Company. This was Iota Consultancy Services’ chance to earn a reputation as a successful product company, which would result in increased revenue. However, if things did not go well, Iota Consultancy Services could lose face forever. Iota Consultancy Services’ dilemma was whether it should propose Helpdesk Management as a tool for The Clementon Company, or not. At this juncture, everything depended on whether Iota Consultancy Services could successfully customize the Helpdesk Management tool to suit The Clementon Company’s requirements.

A Study of Lean Behavior in Business Development and IT Department

2015 ◽  
Vol 761 ◽  
pp. 566-570
Author(s):  
A.P. Puvanasvaran ◽  
N. Norazlin ◽  
C. Suk Fan
Keyword(s):  
Continuous Improvement ◽  
Essential Element ◽  
Business Development ◽  
Clear Understanding ◽  
Time Data ◽  
The Social ◽  
It Department ◽  
Lean Tools ◽  
Questionnaire Method ◽  
Self Administered Questionnaire

Lean behavior is an essential element to create a culture of continuous improvement culture in a service organization. Continuous improvement is defined as the never-ending efforts for improvement involving everyone in an organization. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the changes of behavioral practices after the introduction of lean tools and discuss the effects of lean behavior in developing a culture of continuous improvement in an office environment. This study adopted a self-administered questionnaire method to obtain real time data for the analysis of behavioral practices. Ford Questionnaire was used and distributed to employees of different management levels in the Business Development and IT Department. The obtained results were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software. The same questionnaire survey was distributed after the introduction of lean tools. The expected outcomes of this study were to determine the level of lean behavioral practices in the office department and to provide a clear understanding of some lean behavioral practices that need to be nurtured among the employees in order to produce a healthy work environment.

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