Hillary Clinton has been all over the news recently for having a personal email server, an action rather ominously referred to as “shadow IT.” Shadow IT is a blanket term for when employees utilize technologies or systems that are not approved by their IT department. This is not often a malicious act, but rather efficient employees attempting to work around the frustrating technology at their workplace. So why is it such a big deal and what can employers do to reduce this practice?
In this episode of The Kennedy-Mighell Report, Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell explain why shadow IT happens, discuss implications to the company’s IT and legal departments, and suggest steps employers can take to resolve the prevalence of shadow IT in their own companies (hint: it doesn’t involve more regulations). Kennedy and Mighell describe the different forms of shadow IT that have been used over time, from personal instant messaging before companies introduced accepted ones, to current cloud-based softwares like Basecamp and Dropbox used for project management and collaboration. Mighell even suggests that backing up your email on a home computer can be considered shadow IT due to issues created in data preservation and discovery. Shadow IT causes issues for IT departments, because they can’t control the hardware and software being used, legal departments, because of regulatory issues in electronic discovery, and even human resources departments due to unseeable employee interactions. Tune in to hear what Kennedy and Mighell explain as a relatively simple solution to technology workarounds.
In the second part of this podcast, Kennedy and Mighell discuss which PowerPoint slide transitions lawyers prefer. Can the choice of slide transition really enhance your presentation? Do you have any favorites? As always, stay tuned for Parting Shots, that one tip, website, or observation that you can use the second the podcast ends.
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