In the shocking no one department, a report out from Capterra. The 2023 Shadow IT and Project Management Survey offers that 58% of small and midsize businesses (SMBs) have experienced high-impact shadow IT efforts outside the purview of their official IT department.
Half of the SMBs say shadow IT teams are most commonly formed because employees lack understanding about the process for acquiring new technology. This is closely followed by 41% of SMBs attributing it to a perception that the IT department is too slow or cumbersome. Another 37% say an incubator team was created with a senior manager’s approval but without it the IT team’s awareness.
SMBs have reported financial and productivity improvements due to shadow IT teams despite potential short-term negative impacts. 80% say that shadow IT efforts have ultimately contributed to a positive financial impact in the long run. Businesses have also attributed these initiatives to higher productivity.
While I’m on this, some Gartner data – they’re predicting that within a year, developers outside of IT departments will account for at least 80% of the user base for low-code tools — up from 60% in 2021.
Shadow IT happens because of the reasons outlined. Employees don’t know how to get the tech they need, are used to the department of No, or just are disconnected from IT entirely in their business function.
As a provider of IT services, focus here. Remove the friction on getting solutions into the hands of users, and link them back to the business function. Simple yet very powerful.
Because what Gartner’s analysis misses is that AI will change the way code is generated too – and put more into the user’s control.