From shadow IT to data sprawl: managing the explosion of ungoverned information

For many organizations, the widespread use of decentralized tools, apps, and cloud provider platforms by individual teams is both a blessing and a curse.

On the one hand, it gives employees maximum flexibility and control over the work-related technologies they use.

Many people will testify to the productivity and convenience benefits this provides, especially when in-house or officially sanctioned solutions fall short of alternatives that can be sourced elsewhere.

On the other hand, the proliferation of departmental tools and platforms represents a significant management and visibility challenge for IT management tasked with maintaining oversight of data, storage, and compliance.

In the worst-case scenarios, the data generated by ...